How to Clean an Oven: A Step-by-Step Guide

Turn off your oven and ensure it’s fully cooled before you get started. Using baking soda and vinegar or commercial oven cleaner can require up to 12 hours for the cleaning agents to work, so be sure you won’t need to use your oven until the process is complete.

Next, take your oven racks, bakeware, and any other objects out of the oven. To clean the oven racks, place them in hot, soapy water to soak for at least two hours. Then, scrub them clean and rinse. If your oven racks won’t fit in the sink, consider placing them in a bathtub so they’re fully submerged in the suds.

Wondering how to clean a self-cleaning oven? Many ovens have a feature that uses extremely high temperatures to burn off any residue to clean inside of the oven. If your oven has this feature and you want to use it, follow the manufacturer’s instructions and run the self-cleaning cycle after removing the racks, then skip to Step 8 once it’s complete. This process will usually take several hours and is often accompanied by a strong smell, so make sure your kitchen is well ventilated.

Unfortunately, there are likely crispy bits of food debris left over from past meals inside your oven. Use a paper towel to remove any bits of food and debris from the oven.

Now, combine about one-half cup of baking soda with small amounts of hot water, stirring until it becomes a paste. The consistency of the paste should be thick enough so that it can be applied to the oven walls without running down. If your paste ends up too thin, simply add more baking soda to thicken it up.

Don rubber gloves and spread the baking soda paste all around the oven’s interior with your hands. You can also opt for a sponge. Ensure that all interior surfaces are covered, including the walls and the bottom of the oven, but avoid the glass on the inside of the oven door for now. For stubborn stuck-on spots, add a little extra baking soda paste and use your hand or sponge to scrub the spot a bit, leaving the paste to sit on the spot once you’re done.

Close the oven door and let the baking soda paste sit overnight or up to 12 hours. Ovens with a lot of burned-on food or other resistant spots will benefit from a longer time to let the baking soda break up the stuck-on material.

Once the baking soda has sat overnight, use a damp sponge to re-wet any stubborn spots and use the baking soda paste to scrub at the spot. Then, wipe down the oven’s interior with a clean, damp cloth or sponge. 

In your spray bottle, mix up a solution of equal parts vinegar and water. Spray all interior surfaces with the solution. If there is any remaining baking soda residue, the vinegar will bubble when it comes in contact with it. (While this reaction looks dramatic, once the two ingredients mix, they both immediately start breaking down and you’re essentially left with water after the bubbles stop.) Wipe the interior surfaces after spraying with vinegar for a like-new shine.

Sometimes stubborn stuck-on messes can stick around, even when the other elements of the oven are clean. Carefully use a razor blade or other sharp tool to remove any stubborn burnt food, if necessary. Follow up with a spray of your vinegar solution to remove any residue once the spot is removed.

Mix up a small batch of the baking soda paste and apply it in a thin layer to the glass on the inside of your oven door. Let it sit for about half an hour, then wipe clean. If any burned-on spots remain, carefully use a razor blade or plastic scraper to remove them. Finish by spraying the vinegar solution and wiping it away with a clean rag or paper towel to avoid streaks.

To clean the exterior of the door, use a sponge or rag dampened with a little dish soap and water to cut through any greasy residue. Finish by cleaning the glass with your vinegar solution and a paper towel or clean rag. If your oven is stainless steel, clean the stainless steel components with a cleaner formulated for that material.