This post shares a simple six-step process to clean the oven without using unnecessary chemicals. By using soap and a few simple tools, you can restore your oven to its former condition in an environmentally friendly way.
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Clean the oven in six easy steps and completely without unnecessary chemicals!
1. Start by brushing out any loose "debris" from the oven with a brush.
This is what the oven looks like before we start the treatment with soap. A few simple steps will make it as good as new again.
* Water
* Solid soap
* Scraper
* Sturdy brush of a harder type
When it comes to the soap, it's much easier to clean the oven with a fatty soap. Fat dissolves fat – the like dissolves like principle. Dirt in the oven is often fat. What isn't fat is residue from food (plant or animal kingdom), a rule of thumb for natural cleaning is to use something alkaline to remove residue from the plant or animal kingdom. Västerbottenssåpa is both fatty and alkaline.
Another advantage of solid soap is that it is so solid and thick that you can make a thick foam from it without it running off the oven's interior walls and ceiling.
2. Work the soap with a little water over all surfaces of the oven. Some ovens have parts that can be removed and cleaned separately.
3. Remove trays and racks, soap them up. There should be plenty of soap and water. It must be really wet for this to work. Then put everything in a plastic bag and seal it. Let this packet lie wet for at least 24 hours, but preferably longer if you have time. Make sure that it is constantly wet, covered with soap and water. This will dissolve the dirt on the rack so that you can easily remove it with the ecofiber cloth or brush later.
3. Start the oven at 90 - 100 degrees Celsius for about 20 minutes to get extra effect, place a bowl of water inside. It is the steam we want! Hot water and soap work well together.
4. Now be careful when you start wiping out the oven! Let the water cool down before you start wiping out the oven. If you have time, let the oven stand with soap in it overnight. Then you can be sure that it has cooled down by the next day, and the soap and water have had a little extra time to work while you have time to do other things.
In our oven package there is a brush with really stiff bristles. Use that brush to scrub the surfaces in the oven. Wipe out with the cloth and repeat until you are satisfied. If there are really burnt-on residues, you may need to use the scraper, but be careful so that you 1 don't cut yourself 2 don't damage the surface.
5. The oven door. It's time to take it apart, but first take off the inside of the glass, it's always the most heavily soiled, and here you may need both an ecofiber cloth and a scraper.
A bonus tip: Take a couple of photos of clips and fasteners in the oven door so that you can look at the pictures and see how it should fit together. This makes it easier to reassemble the door later, there are lots of different oven doors and some are really tricky to get back together.
Clean, scrape the glass (there are usually two) on both sides and reassemble.
If you have problems with the oven door, there is a separate blog post about the oven door here.
6. Then it's time for the racks. Unpack them from the bag with soap and water and scrub them clean. This can be done advantageously in the sink, then it is easy to just rinse them off afterward.
Reassemble, and then you can start cooking again!
Can you do this faster? -Yes, of course you can! There is almost always a stronger chemical to find, but the question is whether you want to deal with it and whether you want to cook food in the oven afterward?
With this method, you let time, heat, and soap do the heavy lifting.
This is what it looks like when it's done!
We have put together a kit that contains everything you need: a package of solid, concentrated and unscented soap 230ml, an ecofiber cloth, a glass hob scraper and a small, coarse scrubbing brush. You can find the kit here.
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Questions and Answers
What are the basic tools and products needed to clean the oven as described?
To clean the oven you need a sturdy brush, solid soap, a scraper, water and an ecofiber cloth. You get all this in the Västerbottenssåpa Oven Cleaning Kit.
Why is it suggested to leave trays and racks soaked in soap and water for at least 24 hours?
Leaving trays and racks soaked in soap and water for at least 24 hours loosens the dirt, making them easier to clean later.
What is the advantage of taking photos of clips and fasteners on the oven door before disassembling it?
Taking photos of clips and fasteners on the oven door facilitates assembly after cleaning by providing a visual reference for how the door should be put back together.