How To Clean Your Oven Without Harsh Chemicals

Want to get your oven clean without passing out from the fumes? It’s quite possible to achieve a spotless interior without the use of harsh chemicals, or using some not-so-effective cleaning setting. If you cook food in your oven, it will inevitably get dirty from drips, slips, explosions and other use related events. It doesn’t matter if you are cleaning up a single accident after a major catastrophe, or if you are performing some routine  maintenance to the whole interior. Sooner or later we will all have to tackle this job in order to avoid embarrassment when friends or family get a look,  and get rid of that lovely smell that re-cooked food gives off. Dangerous sprays and heavy duty cleaners are the go to option for most people, but they are often ineffective, and the safety risk, and annoying smell are really not necessary. If you want to clean up that crusty black cheese, or gooey, tar-like confection that is crusted and glued to the bottom of your oven, but you want to do it without blast frying it, or wearing a gas mask, then continue reading for an effective method that takes little time, less effort, and almost no scrubbing.

Traditional Methods

When attempting to clean the inside of an oven, most people will go one of two routes, and many of us will try both without really completing the job to satisfaction. If you have a self cleaning oven, then you will most likely try the cleaning mode that it has because it is expected to be a simple and automatic way to eliminate dirtiness. If you don’t have one, or if you have tried self -cleaning and it did not work, then you will most likely head out to the store to get something that says oven cleaner on it.

Self Clean – Blast Fry Method

When you let your oven clean itself, it does not release a team of tiny cleaning elves on the inside of your oven, and in fact, no real cleaning will ever take place. What will happen is your oven will get real hot, and it will use a bunch of energy in the process. If you are lucky, your house will not fill with thick black smoke, and the area around your oven will not discolor as the build up is cooked off. If you are even more lucky, the entire mess you were attempting to remove will be incinerated to the point of turning to dust, and there will be nothing left over, or more glued due to cooking but a fine dusting of dust that used to be food. Most of us will not be that lucky, so often times, a stinky, smokey afternoon full of good intentions will only result in frustration rather than the satisfaction that comes from a job well done. In some cases, this technique will reduce build up  to ashes, but in others, it may just cement it on there better due to the cooking process.

The main up side to this method is that it is a set and forget style of work. The down side is that much like other things that seem too good to be true, this one often is as well. You may get the food cleaned out by going this route, but you may also just waste time as you fill your kitchen with smoke, and prolong the inevitability of you running to the store for that can that says oven cleaner. It is also important to note, that even if this technique does work, the extended period of high heat will be taking a tole on your energy bill. Using this method would be kind of silly for a single small spill or drop of sauce, but when the whole interior gets grimy, it makes a little more sense. When the cooking stage is finished, this method still requires you to clean by hand a bit to finish up. After the cycle completes, the best case scenario will leave burnt remains that will need to be wiped out in order to consider the area clean. The high heat will obliterate many of the caked on layers, but it will  not actually remove anything without manual effort, after the fact.

NOTE: Due to the high heat that will rise up out of the front of your oven, you may want to remove plastic knobs and any other meltable pieces prior to beginning the blast fry session. This simple step will help you to avoid warped parts or larger problems that may occur due to the prolonged use of hot temperatures to do the work.

Oven Specific Cleaner – Hold Your Breath And Scrub Method

If your self cleaning oven did not do the trick, or if you never had one in the first place, then you probably headed to the store when you decided that it was time to clean your oven. If you take a look at the back of whichever container you purchased, you will notice a long list of warnings. This stuff is so toxic that you are recommended not to touch it or breathe it, but you are, at the same time, encouraged to eat food cooked in material that has been “cleaned” by it. If you can handle the fumes, and you are up to slipping on some gloves as you bury your face in the oven, then you may be able to get some cleaning done. You can not really say that these types of cleaners don’t work, because they do. The problem is that you don’t need to undergo the risk, and there are actually safer products, that don’t smell as bad, and actually do a better job at cleaning.

The main benefit to powerfully toxic oven cleaners is that they will produce more thorough results than a self clean would. Unfortunately, it will take actual effort on your part to make it sparkle, but with enough spraying and scrubbing, you should be able to get the inside spotless. You do not need to worry about energy usage or smoke damage when you clean this way, but you do need to worry about passing out before you finish, and it is pretty important to remove any cleaner residues prior to cooking food again. Also, certain surfaces like rubber seals should not be touched by these products as it can cause wear, and render them ineffective. This technique is ideal for small spills or full cleanings because you can easily adjust based upon the size of the job. Always make sure to open a window, or use a fan to create adequate ventilation when using these types of cleaners. You will need to scrub and scour to complete the job, so make sure you have a good tool that is safe for the surface you are cleaning. A tool that is overly abrasive may seem like a good idea at first, but once you realize that you have destroyed the finish as you removed the cooked on food, you will start to think otherwise.

Simply Good Method

When trying to tackle any tough cleaning job, it is most important to begin with the right tools. You could just stick with one of the regular methods above, but you could also reduce your effort,and improve your results by trying something different. In the same way that it is amazing at hundreds of other jobs, Quick N Brite may also be the best oven cleaner available. It will cut through, and lift off, sticky or hard messes that those toxic versions often leave behind, and it is way quicker and more thorough than any self cleaning cycle could be. It is an all natural formulation that does not use harsh chemicals or anything dangerous to get the job done, so it can be used in complete confidence in any area that you prepare food. A superior blend of high quality ingredients combine to produce a powerful paste that can eliminate any food on the inside of your oven, no matter what it is, or how long it has been there.

There are several ways to use this cleaner that would be effective, but we will outline the quickest and most simple way to use it in order to clean your oven without using harsh chemicals. Other techniques would expand or modify this basic method, but for most folks, these steps should take you from disgusting to spotless in matter of minutes. It does not require intense scrubbing, but you will be able to completely remove any build up on all surfaces.

How To Clean Your Oven – Non-Toxic And Effective

  • To begin, lightly brush out any loose chunks of food debris, just to get them out of the way. Take a dry microfiber cloth, or something similar, and give the whole inside a quick wipe to empty out any pieces that are not stuck. This step makes the job easier, and it will reduce the time that the rest of the process takes.
  • Once the area is prepped, take some Quick N Brite Paste full strength, and apply it to any surface that is dirty. You can use a damp rag, a scrub sponge, a light brush or anything similar that would be safe for the surface, and you will put it on in a circular motion, as if you are waxing a car. You do not really need to scrub, and you are not trying to clean anything off at this point. You want to completely coat any grime, and sort of work the cleaner in to make sure it is penetrating all over.
  • It may be easier, depending on how severe your oven is, to do one section at a time. This cleaner is safe for glass and metal, and you can apply ti on any surface inside you oven, but to make the job easier, you may want to do one side at a time.
  • Once the cleaner is applied all over, turn your oven on to a low setting, and leave it on for about 10-15 minutes. This time and heat will allow the cleaner to work. It will break apart any stains and crust, and it will begin to float it all up off the surface. This makes it incredibly easy to wipe away without any real scrubbing necessary.
  • After the oven has been on for about 1q5 minutes, turn it off and let it cool down. DO NOT TRY TO CLEAN YOUR HOT OVEN.
  • Once cool, take a damp terry cloth towel, and wipe out all of the yuckiness. It will not require elbow grease or hard work, and most anything should sort of slide right out at this point. All of the dark stuff that was coating your oven will now transfer onto the towel for easy removal and disposal.
  • Once it looks mostly clean inside, take a new towel and give it one last wipe down. If any dirt is still there, a quick spray with a heavy solution(3 Tbsp. into 1 quart of water), followed by one more wipe should easily do the trick.

No fumes to breathe, no smoke to inhale, and no more dirty oven. Most people dread this job due to the gross nature of the dirt, the perceived effort required to remove it, and the extreme nature of the product usually used to complete it. When you use Quick N Brite instead, you don’t have to worry about putting on a gas mask, unplugging the smoke detectors, or scrubbing away with half your body inside your oven. De-greasing and removing set in organic stains are two things that this cleaner does best. No dirt encountered in your stove will be too tough for this powerful cleaner, and the pleasant smell, and amazing results will have you shocked and pleased at the same time.

Powerful chemicals will do the trick, but why use them if you don’t have to? Those stinky substances are only good for one job, and they can be pretty darn expensive. With results that take effort to achieve, and outcomes that are not at all guaranteed, most of us only resort to them because we are not aware of anything better. This cleaner is safe for use around your food, you can touch it with your bare hands, and you might not even notice it’s smell, but despite all this, it will easily outperform traditional options while remaining safer and easier to use. Get it to clean your oven in the safest and most simple way possible, and then keep it around to discover hundreds of other jobs it does just as well with.

Quick N Brite

SimplyGoodStuff

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