How to clean an oven, inside and out

The short answer: how to clean an oven depends on the type and your time: a baking soda paste is the gentlest, the self-cleaning cycle is the least effort, and a commercial spray is the fastest.

• Baking soda: mix the paste, coat the inside, wait, mist with vinegar and wipe
• Self-clean: read your manual first and ventilate
• Racks and door glass cleaned separately
• How often to clean the oven
• Next step: Plan it with the Cleaning Schedule ($4.49).

How to clean an oven depends on what kind you have and how much time you have. A baking soda paste is the gentlest method and works in any oven. A self-cleaning cycle is the least effort, and a commercial spray is the fastest for very heavy grime. Cornell Cooperative Extension's guide to cleaning your oven covers all three. Below are the steps for each, plus how to clean oven racks and the oven door glass, and how often to do it.

What you need

How to clean an oven with baking soda

This is the method Cornell calls the safest, and it suits any oven type.

1. Empty the oven. Take out the racks, thermometer and any foil. Lay old towels on the floor in front.
2. Mix the paste. Combine 1/2 cup of baking soda with 2 to 3 tablespoons of water until it spreads easily.
3. Coat the inside. Spread it over the walls, floor and inside of the door. Keep it off the heating element of an electric oven and the gas inlet of a gas oven.
4. Wait. Close the door and leave it for 30 minutes for light grime or 10 to 12 hours, or overnight, for heavy buildup.
5. Mist with vinegar. It bubbles and helps loosen the paste.
6. Scrub and wipe. Use a plastic scraper or a synthetic pad dipped in vinegar, then a damp cloth.
7. Finish. Spray vinegar once more and wipe dry so no white film is left.

How to use the self-cleaning oven cycle

A self-cleaning oven burns soil to ash at very high heat. Cornell notes the cycle takes about two hours and reaches 800 to 1,000 degrees F.

1. Read your manual first, since cycles and lock times vary.
2. Remove the racks and accessories, unless the manual says your racks can stay in.
3. Wipe up spills and grease so the cycle smokes less. Wirecutter's guide to the self-cleaning setting passes on similar safety advice from the CPSC, including keeping the vents clear and leaving the door gasket alone.
4. Clear the cooktop and nearby counters of anything that could melt or burn.
5. Ventilate with the range hood and open windows.
6. Stay home, but keep children and pets out of the kitchen. Pet birds are very sensitive to fumes, so move them well away.
7. Let it cool, then wipe out the white ash with a damp cloth.

Skip the self-clean cycle right before a big holiday meal. If anything goes wrong, you do not want to find out on the day you need the oven.

Using a chemical oven cleaner

Spray oven cleaners are fast but caustic. Cornell recommends gloves and eye protection, protecting the floor, and keeping spray off heating elements and gas inlets. University of Illinois Extension's cleaning guide adds two cautions: cold-oven formulas are stronger than those for warm ovens, and oven cleaner should not be used on self-cleaning ovens because it may damage the surface.

Open a window, follow the label exactly and rinse well. Never mix oven cleaner with other cleaning products.

How to clean oven racks

Racks are easiest to clean outside the oven:

1. Lay an old towel in the bathtub to protect it, and put the racks on top.
2. Fill with hot water to cover them and add a generous squirt of dish soap.
3. Soak for several hours or overnight.
4. Scrub with a stiff brush or steel wool, rinse and dry fully before putting them back.

For heavy grime, sprinkle baking soda on the racks and spray vinegar before soaking. Racks are often left out of the self-clean cycle because the heat can discolor them, so check your manual before leaving them in.

How to clean oven glass

How often to clean the oven

A baking tray on the rack below a bubbling pie or casserole catches drips before they burn onto the oven floor. Do not lay foil on the oven floor, though, since many manuals warn it can damage the finish or block airflow.

How to clean an oven fast

If guests are coming tonight and you have no time for an overnight paste, do a quick clean:

1. Turn the oven off and let it cool until warm, not hot.
2. Scrape off loose crumbs and burned bits with a plastic scraper and sweep them out.
3. Wipe the walls and floor with hot, soapy water and a synthetic pad.
4. Clean the inside of the door glass with a little paste for 15 minutes, then wipe.
5. Dry everything and leave the door open for a few minutes to air out.

It will not remove years of baked-on grease, but it stops the smoke and smell. Plan a full clean for the next quiet weekend.

Removing specific stains

Gas vs. electric ovens

Both clean the same way inside, with a few differences:

If your oven has a removable bottom panel, lift it out and wash it in the sink. Some gas ovens have one, and many cleaning problems start with grease trapped under it.

Cleaning the outside of the oven

The outside gets fingerprints and grease from nearby cooking. Wipe the door, handle and control panel with warm, soapy water and a soft cloth, then dry. On stainless steel, wipe in the direction of the grain. Spray cleaner onto the cloth, not onto the control panel, so liquid does not seep behind the buttons. Clean the knobs on a gas range by pulling them straight off and washing them in the sink.

Next up: our guide on how to clean a microwave uses steam to loosen splatters in about 10 minutes.

Common oven cleaning mistakes

Our guide on how to clean stainless steel explains which cleaners to skip on appliance fronts.

Never put a cast iron pan through the oven's self-clean cycle to strip it; see how to clean a cast iron skillet for gentler methods.

Put it on the schedule

The oven is one of those jobs nobody remembers until it smokes. The Cleaning Schedule ($4.49, printable PDF) has a Daily Checklist, Weekly Cleaning Schedule, Monthly Checklist, Seasonal Deep Clean, Room-by-Room Checklists, a Family Chore Chart and a Cleaning Supplies list. Add "wipe oven glass" to the weekly page and "deep clean oven and racks" to the seasonal one.

For the rest of the room, see our kitchen cleaning checklist and the deep cleaning checklist.