How to clean an oven without harsh chemicals

Oven cleaner is the reason most people have a bottle of something under the sink they're afraid to touch. The fumes, the gloves, the twenty-minute ventilation window, the yellow caution sticker — it's the most aggressive product in most kitchens, and it exists because oven grease is genuinely hard to shift.

It doesn't have to be that way. A plant-based cleaner, a bit of bicarb, and some patience will do the same job. It takes slightly longer. It smells like citrus instead of solvent. And your kitchen doesn't turn into a hazmat zone for the afternoon.

Here's how it's done.

Step 1: Clear the oven

Take out the shelves, the trays, the pizza stone if you have one — anything that isn't fixed to the oven itself. Soak them separately in the sink with hot water and a squeeze of washing-up liquid (or a spray of Foaming Washing-Up if you've got it). They can sit while you do the rest.

Step 2: Make a bicarb paste

Mix half a cup of bicarbonate of soda with a few tablespoons of water until it forms a thick, spreadable paste. Not runny; not crumbly. The consistency of icing.

Bicarb is the workhorse here — it's mildly alkaline, which breaks down grease, but it's food-safe, non-toxic, and won't strip enamel. It's what commercial oven cleaners try to be, minus the caustic soda.

Step 3 — Coat the inside of the oven

Wearing rubber gloves (bicarb is gentle but grease is filthy), spread the paste across the inside of the oven — walls, floor, roof, door. Avoid the heating element and the fan. Get into the corners; that's where most of the burnt-on grease hides.

Leave it. Overnight if you can, at least a few hours if you can't. The bicarb needs time to break down the grease.

Step 4 — Spray, wipe, repeat

The next morning, take a damp cloth and wipe off the bulk of the paste. It should come away brown — that's the grease it's lifted.

Now spray the whole inside with a plant-based multi-surface cleaner and wipe again. This is where a good spray earns its keep — you want something that cuts residual grease without bleach fumes in an enclosed space. A Neat Multi-Surface Refill will do the job (it's plant-based, kills 99.9% of bacteria, and doesn't leave a chemical film on food-contact surfaces). Wipe until the cloth comes away clean.

Step 5 — The glass door

The oven door is usually the worst-looking bit and the most satisfying to clean. Same method: bicarb paste, leave 30 minutes, wipe. If there are baked-on spots the paste doesn't lift, add a splash of white vinegar directly onto the paste — it'll fizz, which physically loosens the residue.

Step 6 — Put it all back

Rinse the shelves you soaked, dry them, slide them back in. Preheat the oven to 100°C for ten minutes to burn off any remaining moisture. You're done.

How often should you do this?

Once a quarter for most kitchens. Once a month if you cook a lot of roasted meat, or every time you have a major spill (better to tackle it while it's still soft than let it bake on).

Between deep cleans, wipe the oven down with a plant-based multi-surface spray once a week. It stops build-up before it becomes a project.

What to avoid

Traditional caustic oven cleaners work fast, but they contain sodium hydroxide (lye) — the same thing that unblocks drains. It'll strip grease and skin and enamel in equal measure. You don't need it.

Wire wool on enamel is worse — it scratches, and the scratches trap grease worse than smooth enamel does. Stick to microfibre or a non-scratch pad.

Steam cleaners are fine for maintenance but don't shift baked-on grease on their own. They're supplementary, not a replacement.

Frequently asked questions