How to Clean an Oven Quickly

Ovens are excellent appliances, but the reality is that they can be a nightmare to clean. No one likes to crawl into their oven and spend the afternoon on their hands and knees, scrubbing away at stubborn grime. While we may not be able to avoid crawling into the oven, there are strategies for how to clean an oven quickly to make the build-up easier to remove.

In this guide, we’ll go over the most effective ways to clean grease from your oven, from the DIY remedy to the store-bought cleaner.

Different cleaners work in different ways, so by the time you finish with this guide on how to clean an oven quickly, you should know which solution will suit your needs. Read on to learn more!

Clean an Oven Fast the Fast Way

Ovens are not the most natural things to clean. In a lot of them, there are heating elements to clean around, and don’t even get us started on how tough the oven racks are to clean!

Gas ovens and electric ovens have different requirements for cleaning, too. Fortunately, with a few different cleaners and the information in this guide, you’ll know how to clean an oven quickly in no time at all.

We’ll go over the best ways for how to clean an oven quickly, ranging from powerful chemical products to natural cleaners and your oven’s self-cleaning function. Depending on how dirty your oven is, one or more products might work better, so make sure to check your oven before deciding on any one approach.

How to Clean an Oven Fast with Baking Soda and Vinegar

Baking soda and vinegar is our hands-down winner for a fast, natural oven cleaner. However, while it’s a quick way to clean an oven, it’s more effective if you leave the solution overnight. If you don’t have that much time, you can make up for this with a bit of elbow grease instead.

Before using this DIY oven cleaner, use a spatula or scraper to remove clumps of burnt-on food from the inside of your oven. Get rid of the tiny pieces by sucking them up with the vacuum cleaner. The baking soda comes after to tackle what can’t be scraped off, but you’ll need to use the baking soda less if you scrape off most of it first.

When that’s done, sprinkle the baking soda all over your oven, especially the worst areas. If you have areas along the sides that are hard to sprinkle baking soda on, mix some with several tablespoons of water to make a spreadable paste instead.

Spritz the baking soda with vinegar, then let the concoction fizz for a little while – 30 minutes should do the trick. Wipe down the vinegar and baking soda with a rag or scouring sponge soaked in hot water.

You may need to repeat this cleaning process more than once, depending on how dirty your oven is. That’s how to clean an oven fast with only natural cleaners. You’ll be amazed at the sparkling clean results.

Fastest Way to Clean Oven with Oven Cleaner

Oven cleaning products create the fastest way to clean oven, but they’re full of harsh chemicals. It’s not particularly pleasant to use. Regardless, though, if you need something speedy and practical, this is what you need.

For this method, purchase your favorite brand of oven cleaner and follow the manufacturer’s directions on the bottle. We also recommend that you use eye and skin protection while using chemical cleaners, and you might want to consider wearing a mask, too.

Oven cleaner is hands-down the fastest and easiest way to break down baked-on dirt and gunk from your oven. This is because the oven cleaner is made from abrasive, grease-fighting chemicals that break down any crusty messes and turn a dirty oven into an easy-off cleaning experience.

Clean Ovens the Easy Way with Self-Cleaning

Some ovens have a self-cleaning cycle that will burn away all of the baked-on residues inside your oven. The protocol for this differs from oven to oven, and each self-cleaning cycle works a bit differently.

To begin, make sure you scrape any loose or excessive gunk from the inside of your oven before starting the cleaning cycle. This will reduce the amount of ash that you’ll need to clear away after the oven finishes cleaning.

Activate the oven’s self-cleaning protocol and let it work its magic! Most self-cleaning ovens take a few hours to work, so this isn’t the fastest method available, but it’s one of the easiest.

Clean Your Oven and Make Your Kitchen Smell Spectacular with Lemons

Did you know that lemons and most citrus fruits make exceptional natural degreasers? Lemons are the secret to this recipe, and they’ll make your kitchen smell delicious in the process. You can’t get better than this solution to clean an oven naturally without chemicals and harsh fumes.

To clean your oven with a lemon, cut both fruits in half, then squeeze their contents into your oven-safe dish. Place the lemon halves in the baking dish, too, and add water to create a lemon juice mixture. Bake the dish, lemons and all, at 250°F for 30 minutes.

If you don’t have any lemons, you can also use lemon juice. More time will make the effect stronger, but half an hour should be enough to remove most dirt and grime.

Once the oven cools, scrub the loosened build-up from the inside of the oven with a sponge, paper towels, or a damp cloth. You can use the lemon water from the bowl to help you wash away any stubborn build-up.

Clean Your Oven Overnight with Baking Soda

Like we mentioned before, leaving baking soda on the worst areas of your oven overnight helps immensely in removing dirt and grime. While this method isn’t the best way of cleaning an oven fast, if you’re willing to take the time, it makes scrubbing the stove the next day more manageable.

For this recipe, mix the boiling water with the baking soda to make a thick paste. Apply this baking soda paste to the worst areas of your oven or even the whole thing. The next day, scrape away the baking soda and grime, then wash everything down with soapy water.

Clean Your Oven Racks with Ammonia

Ammonia is an excellent homemade oven rack cleaner for getting baked-on gunk off of oven racks. While you can try to scrub your oven racks by hand if you’d like, if your oven racks need some heavy-duty cleaning, we recommend doing this instead.

Ammonia mostly works via its fumes rather than by dousing things. You only need a small amount of the chemical. Just place your dirty oven racks into a trash bag (make sure it’s heavy-duty so that the shelves don’t poke through), add the ammonia, and let them sit overnight.

In the morning, the grease and grime should rinse right off. Use this simple yet effective method to clean stove grates, too. Add them to the bag and get all your racks and grates clean at the same time.

Clean Your Oven Effortlessly with Vinegar and Steam

Vinegar is a standard household cleanser, but did you know that there are more ways to clean with it than just elbow grease? As with our lemon recipe, use vinegar in your oven and let the power of steam do the work.

Mix the water and vinegar in an oven-safe dish, then place the small bowl in the oven. Heat the oven to 250°F and let the solution work its oven cleaning magic for several minutes. Next, turn the oven off and remove the dish.

Using more vinegar and water, spray the oven’s interior, then let everything soak for at least half an hour. Be very careful not to burn yourself on the hot stove during this step. Once the oven cools back down to room temperature, wipe everything clean with water.

Don’t forget that vinegar makes an excellent natural rust remover, too! If you’re one of many who suffer from rusty oven racks, vinegar may be just what you need.

Sanitize Your Oven Racks with Soap and Water

As you probably know by now, pure dish soap is one of the best grease-killers available. While it’s not ideal for cleaning out the oven, it’s great for scrubbing and rinsing your oven racks and cleaning grease off the oven door. It’s also ideal for cleaning silicone bakeware that may have built-up greasy gunk that clings to the surface.

To clean the window of the oven, use a homemade oven glass cleaner on both the inside and outside to get rid of greasy spots and allow great visibility when you look in the oven to see how your meal is progressing.

Wash your oven racks with dish soap and warm water as you would with any other dish. You may want to let the oven racks soak in warm, soapy water for a short time to loosen any stubborn, greasy areas. A good, abrasive sponge and a hefty squeeze of dish soap should remove any other grit.

Steam Your Oven Clean with Ammonia and Water

Since ammonia quickly evaporates into a gaseous form, you can use ammonia to steam clean your oven, too! While this isn’t the most pleasant-smelling method for cleaning your appliance, it’s one of the most hard-hitting strategies without a doubt.

For this recipe, bring your oven to 200°F, then turn it off. Fill one container with the ammonia and place it on the middle rack of your oven. Fill the other bowl with the boiling water and put it on the bottom rack.

Leave everything at least until the oven cools, but preferably overnight. The next day, wipe everything down with a wet sponge dusted with baking soda. The grease and grime should melt away.

Ammonia is also ideal as part of a DIY glass cleaning solution as it doesn’t leave streaks behind.

Make Your Oven Racks Sparkle with Dishwashing Detergent

Dishwashing detergent is another hard-hitter that isn’t the best for ovens themselves but can work wonders on removable oven racks. Before using this strategy, be sure that your oven racks are dishwasher safe.

Dishwashing Liquid Recipe

Fill your kitchen sink or bathtub with hot water so that the oven racks are entirely submerged. Add one-half cup of dishwashing liquid or 3/4 cup of laundry detergent to the water, then let them sit for several hours. You’ll get the best results by allowing them to soak overnight, but you may be able to shorten that time by using a bit of elbow grease instead.

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