How often do you clean your oven? Probably not as often as you should, right? It's not your fault, though. Ovens are difficult to clean, so it's easier to just ignore them and hope they clean themselves. (Fun fact: Some of them do!) But if you don't have a self-cleaning oven, then you need other options.
Fortunately for you, cleaning your oven no longer has to seem like an impossible task. With just a few simple hacks, you can have a spotless oven in a matter of hours. So figure out which cleaning tip is best for your oven, gather your supplies, and get to work.
1. Ammonia (h/t One Good Thing)When you're ready to clean the interior, preheat the oven to 150 F, then turn it off. Place two heat-safe dishes inside the oven, one filled with ammonia (top rack) and one filled with boiling water (bottom rack). Leave them overnight, and in the morning remove the dishes and wipe everything down with a damp, soapy sponge.
2. Dish soap If the oven racks are the only dirty part of your oven, then you won't need to do as much heavy-duty cleaning. Just remove the racks, and soak them in hot water and dish soap for a few hours. After they're finished soaking, scrub the racks with a scouring pad, and rinse them off with warm water. When they're dry, put them back inside the oven.
3. Baking soda 
If you want to deep clean the inside of your oven door, try this terrific treatment. Start by combining 1/4 cup of vinegar, 1/8 cup of dish soap and 2 cups of hot water in a spray bottle. Shake it up well, then spray it all over the inside of your oven door. Add a thick layer of baking soda to the door, and spray again. Leave it overnight, and in the morning wipe it away with a damp, soapy cloth.
4. Salt Sometimes you might notice a spill while you're in the middle of baking. Instead of letting it burn onto the oven floor, you can make the cleaning process easier on yourself. Sprinkle salt over the spill, then close the oven door so your food will finish baking. After it's done and the oven is turned off and cool, you can use a damp sponge or a scrub brush to easily wipe up the spill.
5. Thieves Household Cleaner If you need a heavy-duty cleaner but don't want something filled with chemicals, then try Thieves Household Cleaner. Spray the Thieves cleaner on every surface inside your oven, and let it soak in for at least 2 hours (an overnight soak is best, though). When you come back to it, scrub everything with scouring pads and a steel brush. Wipe out any excess grime with a damp washcloth. Depending on how dirty your oven was to begin with, you might have to repeat this process.
6. Clorox wipes After you've cleaned every inch inside your oven, you might notice that you still can't see through the window on the door. This means you need to clean between the panes of glass in the door. The easiest way to do this is to use a rubber band to attach a Clorox wipe to a straightened-out wire hanger. Remove the drawer below your oven and slide the hanger up through one of the slats on the underside of the oven door. Move the hanger back and forth so the Clorox wipe slides around between the glass. When you're finished, just pull it back out, and return the drawer to its position.
