Today is the day that I let you into a secret part of my life – the inside of my oven. It is gross. Gross, gross, gross. We really don’t use it that often since we cook mostly on the stovetop, so I just kind of ignore it. We’ve lived in this house for almost 6 years, and it’s possible that we’ve never cleaned it.
I can’t believe I just admitted that to the world. It’s horrifying!
Surely I’m not alone though, right? There have to be other ovens that look like mine. I’m going to keep telling myself that.
A few days ago, my husband, Tom, said something in passing like, “Maybe we should clean the oven so we can actually see the food that’s in there.” But by “we” he really meant “you,” because we all know there’s no way he’s getting involved in that.
I knew I could turn on the auto clean feature and it would take care of the stuff inside of the oven. However, I wasn’t certain that it would help the caked on grease or whatever it is on the window. Again, gross.
I also was sure that I didn’t want to use a chemical oven cleaner. I really don’t want to put my food in a box that I’ve sprayed down with chemicals.
I decided I’d give my HomeRight SteamMachine steam cleaner a shot. It did so well cleaning my tile and grout without chemicals, so maybe it would work the same on the oven.
I put the wire brush attachment on the SteamMachine and started steaming and scrubbing. My kitchen started smelling like garlic bread almost instantly, which was kind of yuck. But also awesome. We make a lot of garlic bread around here.
I worked on a small section at a time, spraying some steam on the glass and then scrubbing it with the wire brush. I couldn’t believe how well it worked. Here’s a shot with half of it clean and the other half still gross.
Amazing, right?
I finished cleaning the glass (took about 20 minutes total), and then set my oven up to self clean. The oven cleaned itself for 3 1/2 hours. When it cooled down, I used a wet cloth to wipe down the window and clean up the white ash left in the bottom of the oven.
The result is spectacular!
Although it’s not as clean as it was the day it was installed, I think it’s safe to say that it is infinitely cleaner than before I started. It was all done with the power of heat.
I can even see inside my oven again when the door is shot! And look – it’s more garlic bread.
I’m telling you, I know that I’m going to find more and more uses for my SteamMachine.
How do you clean your oven? Have you ever thought about using a steam cleaner on the glass?
This is a sponsored post from HomeRight. All opinions – and the gross oven – are my own.
My oven looks quite similar. :0 I have cleaned it, but the glass never cleans off properly. Fantastic tip! Thanks, I will try my steamer on the glass today, or tomorrow, or something like that 😉
Love love love your blog. In my top five. I hardly ever ever ever comment so I thought I should throw that in there since I am actually commenting here!
Okay… I have to say it. YUCK! It looks much better now. Just so you know, the self-cleaning cycle will clean the window. We got our oven off craigslist, and it wasn’t as dirty as yours, but the window was really dirty, and the cleaning cycle took it off no problem. That will save you a little work in the future. Now I actually clean my oven every other month. I just put it in the self-clean cycle at night and then wipe it out in the morning. I wish the toaster oven had one of those!!
That is awesome, and was also very entertaining. I have one of the first steam cleaners ever invented for as seen on tv. It still works great. Bought it one night during an insomnia episode about 2 a.m. I use it on everything. I wish I had a drain in my floors so I could hose the inside of the house.
I love this! Thank you for posting. I have a steam cleaner which rarely gets used and I’m so excited to learn another great use for it.
Please don’t set your oven to clean overnight or when you leave the house. Sometimes appliances do not function properly.
I have cleaned the window of my oven by making a paste of baking soda and water and spreading it on the glass. Leave it on for about 20 mins. Then just a wet cloth to wipe. A little elbow grease if super dirty. Works great.
I know I’m suppose to say this, but seriously these are amazing results!
Laura Clark
HomeRight
That is awesome! It looks so good! I don’t think I’ve ever cleaned our oven either…
Hi ladies…I have a 45 year old oven…same age as the house…that never heard of self-clean. It still looks great. I have used my HomeRight steamer inside the oven with good results. As for the window. Clean it as you soil it. It stays sparkling and you can always see through it 😉 The best thing for seriously burned on splatters is a single edged razor blade. Just slide it under the gunk and scrape it off like paint. For less serious soil I use a magic eraser. The best cleaning product ever invented…in my opinion that is.
Great suggestions! Thanks, Jane!
Thanks for the ideas! I’m going to try it right now.
Love steam cleaning, but please don’t ever use a self cleaning oven if you own pet birds, as it will destroy their respiratory system and cause them to die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!