Vinegar and Bicarb Oven Cleaner

Hi there. After looking at my grotty oven for far too long I decided that today was the day to give it a good old fashioned scrub. I'm so totally in love with how vinegar works as a cleaner so I googled 'Vinegar Oven Cleaners'. (Don't you just love google? I don't know what I'd do without it now). I've made so many simply wonderful cleaners with vinegar but this was one I hadn't tried. 

The idea was to mix a paste of bicarb and vinegar, brush it all over the bottom of the oven and then wipe it all off to a sparkly shine. Sounds too easy doesn't it? Hmmmmm.....

First I wiped out the oven with paper towels and got rid of all the charred loose bits of gunk in the bottom. I then sprinkled bicarb in the oven and squirted it  with vinegar that I had put in a spray bottle. I let it  sit and fizz away (about 20 minutes or so) while I cleaned the oven racks with steel wool and lots of muscle. I made a paste for the glass door and smeared it on with my hands.

I probably should've taken a pic of the oven before I started but I was really too embarrassed because it was pretty bad and I didn't want you to think I was a total grot. 

Removing the baked on grime was not as easy as I'd hoped. I started with a toothbrush but gave up on that pretty  early on because that could have taken up a whole year of my life, and I can think of a million other things I'd rather be doing. I opted for the dishbrush and scrubbed as I've never scrubbed before.  It took a whole lot of hard work and in the process  I put my shoulder out. Ouch... (Luckily a friend called in for a visit later on in the day and gave me a lovely massage, thanks Re)...:)

I managed to get the worst of it off and although it still has a few spots on it, it's cleaner than it's been for a long time. I still had the glass door to clean though. OMG!!! I will NEVER leave it that long again. I have  to admit that I used steelwool on the glass (even though I know it's a no no) Even that didn't want to shift it but I perservered and I think I've got it as clean as I can get it now. I've decided that if I  do this once a week, instead of every 6 months it should be a breeze. Well, that's my plan anyway. (We'll see how long that lasts, haha).

At least I didn't  stink the house out with nasty chemicals or have to wear a mask or gloves. Actually, gloves might have been a good idea. My hands are a bit dry but nothing a bit of hand moisturiser won't fix. I love my oven and I use it a lot. In fact I'll be baking in it tonight. And that's the beauty of it. I can pretty much turn it on straight away without that awful burning off smell that you get when you use a commercial oven cleaner. Anyway, here's the final pic. Shiny,a bit spotty but much cleaner. 

If you're not into chemicals give it a go but try to do it before it gets too bad.