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A few steps on how to quickly get rid of the grime and debris that make your kitchen smell horrible every time you turn on your oven.
Things You Will Need
Things You Will Need
- Baking Soda
- Vinegar
- A bowl or a squirt bottle (Preferably a squirt bottle)
- A dirty oven
-
A spatula
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First things first
Remove the racks. Using a spatula, scrape up as much of the debris as you can, and throw it away. Most of the big stuff should come up pretty easy. Tip: move the trash can closer to the oven....
THEN
Using about a cup of baking soda, more or less depending on the size of your oven, sprinkle it all over the floor of your oven.
THEN
This is where a squirt bottle comes in handy. Spray vinegar all over the baking soda. Use your fingers or a rubber spatula to spread the baking soda around so that it comes into contact with the vinegar and every dirty part of your oven floor. Let sit for 10-20 minutes.
(alternative: Mix vinegar and baking soda in a bowl to form a paste, and then spread that over your oven floor. Make sure to pour the vinegar slowly because it fizzes up pretty high.)
Remove the racks. Using a spatula, scrape up as much of the debris as you can, and throw it away. Most of the big stuff should come up pretty easy. Tip: move the trash can closer to the oven....
THEN
Using about a cup of baking soda, more or less depending on the size of your oven, sprinkle it all over the floor of your oven.
THEN
This is where a squirt bottle comes in handy. Spray vinegar all over the baking soda. Use your fingers or a rubber spatula to spread the baking soda around so that it comes into contact with the vinegar and every dirty part of your oven floor. Let sit for 10-20 minutes.
(alternative: Mix vinegar and baking soda in a bowl to form a paste, and then spread that over your oven floor. Make sure to pour the vinegar slowly because it fizzes up pretty high.)
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Worked great! Thanks ejarrell!
And generally, though this varies by how the rental agreement is set up and local laws, a failed inspection loses you your deposit or gets you kicked out.
I'd hate to own rental property in Canada. Sounds like a renter can pretty much just use it as a party house and destroy the place without being responsible for it at all.
:-)
Seems like the baking soda & water would be more effective.
The throw away foil barrier sounds like the most practical method of keeping the oven clean.
Uses more energy (bad), but involves less work (good) and no toxic cleaners (good).
That "fizzing" action observed is evidence of a chemical reaction between the soda [which is basic] and the Vinegar [which is acedic]. This reaction destroys the soda AND the Vinegar, and thus reduces the amount available to attack the greasy baked on coating.
With the amount of soda reduced, the action on the oven grease and grime will be reduced.
The "cleaning" action of the Baking Soda on the oven grime is a chemical reaction called "Saponification" in which the soda compound [a "base"] combines with the grease creating brown SOAP, resulting in a softer mass which can be wiped off. Even the STRONG store-bought oven cleaners work on this principle of Saponificaiton.
So... agreeing with you, I suggest making a paste of Baking Soda and water, apply it to the oven crud, close the oven door tightly to retain the heat from the pilot light [IF one has a gas oven and a pilot light] and allow to sit overnight. By morning most, if not all, of the greasy baked on crud will be softened and more easily removable.
Another principle of chemistry is that the WARMER the chemicals are, the faster and deeper the chemical reaction. IF one does not have a gas oven and thus no pilot light to heat and thus speed up the reaction, then occasionally turnng on the electric oven just enough to keep the interior WARM NOT HOT, will enchance the chemical reaction.
Also, it improves the Saponification action IF you keep the soda layer damp [by MISTing/dampening the soda layer with a pump spray as often as possible as the chemical reaction works better in a wet environment. Totally dry, the reaction will almost cease.
Use either/or depending on what the *dirt* is. The baking soda is for grease based (suspended) grime while the vinegar is for breaking down mineral deposits and other non-grease particles. If a job needs both actions to effectively clean, apply the baking soda, clean it as well as possible getting as much as possible of the remaing baking soda off, THEN use the vinegar containing cleaner.