If you like cleaning your oven, this post is not for you. If you're one of those clean-types who puts on lively music and a cute cleaning outfit (you've got those sweet gloves, don't you?) and you just go to town, stop reading. You already know what to do. And that's great if that's how you want to spend your Saturdays. You probably run marathons, too.
Me? I don't like to clean. But every once in a while, I look inside that oven and I think to myself, "self, you are disgusting." And that's when I know that I can escape it no longer and I must force myself to get down and dirty with (admittedly, my favorite) kitchen appliance.
My Oven Is An Old Soul
My home was built in 1983. My oven? I have no idea but it's definitely been here for at least two decades, if not more. It's not fancy, it's not attractive, it doesn't even cook all that evenly, but it's mine and I use it daily. I should show it more love, or at least not bake cookies in a grease trap. So, here's how to make two different oven cleaners, depending on the severity of your situation.
How To Make All-Natural Oven Cleaner (Informal / Serious)
There are two oven-cleaning jobs- Serious cleaning and informal cleaning. I have different recipes for each occasion.
1. INFORMAL OVEN CLEANING
If your oven is just kinda greasy, or if you clean it monthly (or more) and it just needs to be maintained, then I recommend this informal cleaning treatment:
Supplies:
-Spray bottle
-1/2 cup White Vinegar
-1/2 cup natural Dish Soap (or 1 tbls. Castille Soap)
-1 cup Water
-20 drops Essential oils (optional) OR 1/4 cup lemon juice
-Rag
Directions:
Mix vinegar and water in the spray bottle. Add in the dish soap or the Castille soap. Shake lightly (it will bubble). Now, you need a degreaser so, if desired, add about 20 drops of your favorite citrus essential oils (lemon, orange, grapefruit, etc). You can also use just plain lemon juice, which works great! Shake bottle gently to mix.
Spray the liquid all over the oven, let sit for a few minutes and then wipe clean with a rag. Simple.
2. SERIOUS OVEN CLEANING
This is the type I do, inadvertently, because I so rarely clean my oven. Since I sat down to write out the easy steps of the informal process, I am making a pledge to myself to just do that more often. Duh. But for those of you, like myself, who need an Everest to climb, I present to you the SERIOUS OVEN TREATMENT.
Supplies:
-Mixing bowl
-1/2 cup dish soap
-1 1/2 cups baking soda
-1/4 cup white vinegar
-Spoon
-Sponge
Directions:
In a bowl, with a spoon, mix the dish soap, baking soda, and vinegar together. It will be a bubbly paste. Do not be tempted to eat it! With a sponge, wipe that paste all over the inside of your oven. Don't forget the ceiling and the back (the paste is thick enough to stay). Leave it overnight.
The next day, wipe all that paste out with a damp sponge and take your nasty, greasy, filth outta there too.
DON'T DO THIS AGAIN! Mark your calendar and please just do the informal cleaning in three weeks. Look, we'll make a promise together. We don't have to climb Everest! We can just be normal people. You, me, and a spray bottle of homemade freedom.
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