Ovens need to be cleaned regularly, but even if it's been a while since you've done a thorough cleaning, you can easily freshen up your oven.
Strong chemicals can remove dirt, but you risk toxic fumes circulating in your home. Additionally, using harsh chemicals may require you to wear a face mask, gloves, and open windows during the cold winter months.
According to Pensionist, Jessica Samson suggests it's much better to use a "safe and simple solution" that you can make at home. She continued, "Skip the chemical oven cleaner and instead use a safe and simple solution that still gives you impressive results. A great homemade oven cleaner is a mixture of baking soda and water."
Baking soda is abrasive and thus loosens burnt-on food residues, making them easy to wipe away.
How to Do It
She then explained how to do it: "Make a paste and apply it generously to the oven's interior surfaces and let it sit for at least 20 minutes to break down the burnt food."
To enhance the cleaning effect, you can add a little vinegar to the baking soda mixture. Simply spray the vinegar on top and let it bubble and sit for 20 minutes.
Afterward, you can easily wipe away the dirt with a non-abrasive cleaning pad, followed by a damp microfiber cloth.
For extra ease, you can remove the metal-made oven racks and let them soak in boiling water and a bit of dish soap.
It may take a couple of hours of soaking to remove heavily soiled racks, but it gives you time to do other things around the house.
Once the oven racks have soaked sufficiently, you can scrub them with a stiff brush, rinse and dry them before returning them to the cleaned oven.
Freshen Up the Oven
You can then refresh the scent of your oven by making a lemon water mixture.
Place sliced lemons in a small ovenproof dish with water, then put it in a heated oven (200°C) for 20 minutes.
Turn off the oven, let the water cool down, then use the lukewarm water to wipe down the oven. Wipe with a clean microfiber cloth, and you have a clean and freshly scented oven back.
