How to clean an oven: first, check which kind it is
Consumer NZ says to check the manufacturer's recommendations before you start, to cut the risk of damaging the oven or voiding its warranty. The manual tells you which of three types you have.
A standard enamel oven is cleaned by hand, with a paste or an oven cleaner. A pyrolytic oven has a self-clean cycle that burns residue to ash at 400 to 500 degrees. Catalytic liners are textured panels that soak up fat while you cook; Consumer NZ says they usually don't cover every inside surface, and oven cleaner shouldn't be sprayed on them.
Cleaning an oven with baking soda, step by step
Start cold
Turn the oven off at the wall if you can and let it cool right down. Lay newspaper or an old towel on the floor in front of it.
Take everything out
Lift out the racks, trays and runners and put them in the laundry tub or bath in hot soapy water to soak.
Make the paste
Mix about half a cup of baking soda with a little water until it's thick enough to spread. Make more for a big or very dirty oven.
Coat the inside
Spread the paste over the floor, walls and inside of the door, keeping it off the heating elements and any catalytic liners. Thicker on the worst spots.
Leave it
Several hours, or overnight for heavy grime. The paste dries and loosens the burnt-on layer.
Fizz and wipe
Spray white vinegar over the dried paste so it fizzes, then scrape and wipe it off with a damp cloth and a plastic scraper. Rinse with warm water and dry.
Racks and glass
Scrub the soaked racks with a stiff brush, rinse and dry them. Do the door glass last with the paste and a soft cloth, then put everything back.
If you use an oven cleaner instead
Store-bought oven cleaners are stronger than paste, and they're corrosive. The National Poisons Centre lists oven cleaners among corrosive household cleaners, and Consumer NZ says the strong ones can cause serious skin burns and eye damage and can harm airways.
Consumer NZ suggests a disposable mask, safety glasses and long chemical-resistant gloves. Switch the rangehood on, open the windows and close the doors to the rest of the house. Keep the spray off the heating elements, catalytic liners and the door glass, and follow the label exactly.
Oven cleaner is a corrosive: handle it with care
Use oven cleaner only the way its label says, and never mix it with bleach or any other product. Keep it in its own container, out of reach of children, ideally in a locked cupboard. If it gets in someone's eyes or mouth, ring the National Poisons Centre on 0800 764 766, and call 111 in an emergency.
How to clean a self-cleaning oven
For a pyrolytic cycle, Consumer NZ says to remove the runners, racks and any parts that aren't pyrolytic safe, take tea towels off the door rail, keep children and pets out of the kitchen, and ventilate, because the cycle can smoke. Wipe out the ash once it's cool.
For catalytic liners, Consumer NZ suggests heating the empty oven to 250 degrees from time to time, then wiping it once it's cool. The surfaces the liners don't cover still get cleaned by hand.
Clean the oven yourself, or hand it to a cleaner
Worth doing yourself
- Wiping spills once the oven has cooled, before they bake on.
- Soaking the racks and trays every so often.
- A paste clean when the grime is light to medium.
- Running the self-clean cycle, if your oven has one.
Where a cleaning business earns its keep
- Years of baked-on grease that paste won't shift.
- The oven as part of an end of tenancy clean, when you're busy with the move.
- The rangehood and its filters at the same visit.
- Glass with grime trapped between the panes, where the door comes apart.
Oven cleaning as an add-on to any clean
Ticked as an add-on, the oven means the inside, the racks and the trays. It goes with any clean in the form, and fits naturally with an end of tenancy clean or a deep clean, and the business quotes it with the rest of the job.
Our oven cleaning advice: try the paste first
Try the paste first. It's slower, but it's gentle on the enamel and the seals, and it isn't corrosive the way oven cleaner is. If the oven hasn't been touched in years, or you're moving out and short of evenings, tick the oven when you send the clean and spend the time on packing instead.