Keep Your Oven In Tip-Top Shape With This Non-Toxic Essential

Keeping your oven clean is a difficult task, as pieces of food often burn onto the surface and grease splatters can coat the interior of your appliance. Luckily, a little dish soap and rubbing alcohol can get your oven sparkling in no time. This method allows you to easily clean your oven without having to work with harsh commercial oven cleaners or the self-cleaning feature, which can fill your home with harmful fumes or damage your appliance.

When cleaning your oven with dish soap and rubbing alcohol, it's best to use a dishwashing liquid that does not have added fragrances and is non-toxic. By combining these two household cleaning staples with some water, you'll be able to cut through all that burnt-on grease and keep your oven in great condition. While the soap will help to tackle grease, the isopropyl alcohol is great for disinfecting and killing germs, making this an effective cleaning solution.

First, you will want to mix your homemade cleaning solution in a spray bottle. Combine 1 cup of rubbing alcohol, 1 cup of water, and approximately 8 tablespoons of dish soap. You likely won't need to measure the soap, but simply squirt the washing liquid into your spray bottle several times. To thoroughly mix your cleaner, lightly shake the spray bottle. Once you've made your solution, spray it onto the surfaces of your oven, including the racks. If the racks seem in the way, you could also take them out and wash them separately in your sink.

After you've sprayed your powerful dish soap cleaner, let it sit in your oven for 20 to 30 minutes before using a damp cloth to wipe everything clean. If the food and grease in your oven are extremely burnt, this process may need to be repeated. You could also try using a sponge to scrub your oven or a plastic spatula to pry off difficult pieces of food.

If your oven has recently been used and is still slightly warm, try spraying the inside of your appliance with rubbing alcohol. Allow the liquid to sit for a couple of minutes before thoroughly wiping the oven with a damp rag. This will help to start lifting grease and debris, and since it's not cold it should be a little easier to get the grime off.

For those who don't have any isopropyl alcohol handy, dish soap alone is still a great tool for keeping your oven clean. When combined with dishwashing liquid, baking soda can work wonders for your oven too. The texture of the baking soda helps to scrub the dirt off your oven, while the powder also soaks up grease. Though sodium bicarbonate is slightly abrasive, it should not harm your oven's interior. Simply mix some baking soda and dishwashing liquid together, apply it to your oven, let it sit for 20 minutes, and wipe it off with a wet cloth.