homemade oven cleaner

I have a shameful secret. And it lies within my oven. I've been cooking and making messes in there for just over four years... and I've only cleaned it once!

That one time I cleaned my oven was long ago and not a happy experience. I was intimidated by all the grease and burnt up food bits so I figured I would need the most heavy duty cleaner that the store offered. And this one said it right on the can. 

Big mistake. Even with the windows wide open and every fan I own on full blast, the air was so heavy with fumes it was hard to breathe. I wanted to finish as quickly as possible and when I was done I worried about all the chemicals that were left behind. 

I never wanted to do it again. But recently I noticed that I could hardly see through my little oven window and I knew it was time. Even though I still had tons of oven cleaner left I looked for an alternative method that would be more bearable. 

eww

There are lots of safe oven cleaning methods online. I have to admit I'm a bit of a skeptic when it comes to homemade cleaning remedies. So I used ingredients that a lot of people had success with... plus I already had this stuff.

To make this cleaner just form a paste out of baking soda, lemon juice, and vinegar (all I had was apple cider vinegar). I didn't measure. Just add the ingredients until it's not too thick or too thin. The mixture below is a bit too thick. 

I ended up adding more vinegar and lemon juice to thin it out. This mixture just crumbled up when I tried to use it.

Before you start scrubbing your oven be sure to remove any burnt food or ash that might be hanging around in there. 

double eww

Then take your paste and slather it all over the greasy icky stuff. I even used a lemon half as my applicator. 

Once you've got a good coating let it rest overnight. And order takeout for dinner. 

The next day the paste had dried out and hardened. 

I took a damp, warm, washcloth and laid it over small sections of the paste and rubbed in circles until it came up. And to my surprise most of the grossness came with it! Although getting the gunk off the door took a little more elbow grease.

I used a toothbrush (my favorite cleaning tool!) and a plastic scrapper to make my oven window super clear and see through. 

Other than waiting over night this was a pretty speedy cleaning method. Cleaning with lemon was a joy and there were no harmful fumes or chemicals to get in the way of my breathing! Major plus. Check out the results!!

This method was cheap, quick, easy and safe. How marvelous! I couldn't believe how well it worked. Maybe I'll be cleaning my oven more often!! 

Have you ever made your own cleaning products before?