You know your oven needs cleaning. You can see it. There are chunks of burnt food and charred particles sitting on the bottom. Then there’s the grease caked on the lights and racks. It’s so filthy that you start having second thoughts about whether you should even be using it to cook food anymore.
While some manufacturers do make a self-clean feature on their appliances, these cleaning cycles aren’t as effective as you might like. They can perform some basic cleaning functions, but they aren’t removing scoops of burnt food matter.
You may think cleaning the oven is the worst job in the house, but it really doesn’t have to be. We assure you that you won’t blow yourself up if your oven is gas. And when you’re done, you’ll wonder why the hell you put it off for so long. Trust us!
The Dangers of a Dirty Oven
A dirty oven is more than an eyesore. It actually comes with a number of dangers and unwanted side effects, including:
- Safety issues. A dirty oven can be a fire hazard. When food and grease build up inside the oven, it could eventually give way to excess smoke or even flames. The smoke is not only a risk to the house, but it could prove dangerous when breathed in.
- Unwanted flavors. Some foods, like a steak or chicken breast, taste good with a smokey flavor. But leave smoking to the backyard barbeque. Nobody wants smokey bread or cupcakes – especially when the smoke is coming from year-old grease caked on the bottom of your oven.
- Unpleasant smells. Finally, let’s not forget about the unwanted smells that a filthy stove creates. All it takes is a little bit of buildup and your entire house will smell when you use the oven..
In other words, just clean the damn oven – it’s not worth it!
Thankfully, cleaning your oven doesn’t have to be a pain. Below, you’ll find a fool-proof how-to for oven cleaning where YOU get all the credit!
4 Steps to a Sparkling Clean Oven
Step 1 – Take Out Your Oven Racks
If you’re a part of the #cleaningarmy, you know the drill. Whether it’s an entire laundry room, a playroom, or an oven, a good deep clean always starts with removing everything from the space so that you can get into every nook and cranny. This means step one is to take out your oven racks.
- Place the racks in the sink with two dishwasher tabs and very hot water. Let them soak for 2 hours. The dishwasher tabs lift the grease easily, usually without much scrubbing. You can also use a large Tupperware container or bathtub, but if using your bathtub, please protect it from scratches by placing towels down first.
- If there is a lot of grime, you may need to spray them down with an oven cleaner and place them in a garbage bag (instead of soaking them).. The bag holds in the heat from the chemical reaction between the gunk and the cleaner, and it helps the product penetrate better. Please be VERY careful when spraying oven cleaner. It will eat the finish off countertops, backsplashes and hardwood floors.
Step 2 – Spray The Inside Of Your Oven
An essential part of this job is using the correct product for your type of oven. If your oven is self-cleaning, use only a fume-free oven cleaner. The heavy-duty oven cleaners can erode the interior lining of self-cleaning ovens, making this feature less effective and causing damage.
If your oven has a self-cleaning feature, you can find it on the control panel and the door will have a lock feature. Always follow the directions as stated on the product label. Open a window when using oven cleaner. You might even want to wear a mask to prevent breathing in the fumes. These are stable aerosol chemicals but do not use them near an open flame.
- Lay down some paper towels or newspapers on the floor surrounding the oven before you start. This will prevent the oven cleaner from ending up on your floor.
- Spray the inside of your oven, including the glass on the door. Don’t be shy and spray it down well! Ensure that it doesn’t drip down to the warming drawer or any cabinets below and immediately wipe down any overspray that may have occurred.
- Close the oven door and walk away. Oven cleaner needs time to work, so let it sit and penetrate for at least an hour.

Step 3 – Send In The SOS
Now for some light elbow grease and an SOS® pad. Wearing gloves is necessary as this is a messy job, and the chemicals will burn your skin.
- Scrub the entire oven, including the interior door glass, with an SOS® pad. If there is excess burnt-on grease, you may need to repeat these steps as the oven cleaner works in layers. (If you haven’t cleaned your oven in a while, this might be the case.)
- Use a wet sponge, cloth, or paper towel to wipe off the mess from scrubbing.
- When it’s clean, and you’ve removed all the oven cleaner residue, spray the interior oven glass with Windex® and polish it like a shiny penny.

Step 4 – Cook Off The Chemicals
The final step is to heat your oven to eliminate any excess oven cleaner. Keep pets and children out of the kitchen while doing this.
- With the oven door closed, heat your oven for 15 minutes, leaving the windows open and hood vent running. If there is any excess oven cleaner residue, it will burn off.
- When the inside is done, polish the exterior, Windex® the exterior oven glass and call it a day.
Or if you’re feeling really brave you can check out our video below on going all the way!
Technically, you can use your oven immediately after cleaning it, but we recommend ordering dinner!
For a list of our favorite products, click here.
– Katie W @gocleanco
We're big on Instagram.
Follow @GoCleanCo for seriously satisfying videos and top-secret tips. Don’t be shy, come say hi.
gocleanco
May 31
I’m in the hot seat answering your burning questions on @downy Rinse & Refresh! I’ve been using the new @downy Rinse & Refresh for a while now, and this stuff is so good at making your fabrics fresh on the daily. Odors get trapped in fabric because we have a residue (like minerals, hard water, or body oils) coating the fabrics. @downy Rinse & Refresh breaks down the residues and helps eliminate the odors. You put it in the fabric softener dispenser cup and wash with your regular detergent (I use Tide in case you are new around here). Plus, it is safe for all washable fabrics. I just used it on my musty towels and it blew my mind! What have you tried Rinse & Refresh on? Tell me in the comments! #ad #downypartner #odorisnttheend
gocleanco
May 23
Petition to have all toilet seats removable from now until the end of time. Sign below ⬇️ #cleaningtips
gocleanco
May 21
Needed this to live on the feed forever cause you folks ask me about it everyday. This is the @malibucpro hard water treatment I use on my hair. If you have super hard water, it sticks to your hair just like your shower doors. It makes your hair coated and feel like straw—your shampoo doesn’t work as well and your hair feels limp and lifeless. It’s super to easy to use, you can do it at home and it’s safe for highlighted/colour treated hair. Linked it up in both our Amazon storefronts and on stories. @hairhouseyeg 💁🏼♀️ #hairtutorial
gocleanco
May 12
Dawn Platinum means serious business. Did you know that 3 bottles of the leading non-concentrated dish liquid equals ONE bottle of Dawn Platinum? @dawndishwash has a powerful formula to help you get through more dishes with less product, which will save you some moola plus you can use it outside of the kitchen! Dawn Platinum cleans windows and BBQ grills, tire rims…anywhere you need to fight a greasy mess, you can reach for Dawn Platinum. We love Dawn Ultra around here, but Dawn Platinum is even more concentrated so it’s the best grease-cutting you can get. You know it works on dishes but where else are you using Dawn, outside of the kitchen sink? Share your best stories below so I can test them out! #ad #dawnpartner
gocleanco
May 9
If you give a Mom a coffee…😵💫 ☕️ Don’t overdo it this week leading up to your big “day off”. #happymothersday
gocleanco
May 3
April in nutshell. #springcleaning
gocleanco
Apr 28
dump scare > jump scare 🫣
gocleanco
Apr 27
DING 🛎️ DING 🛎️ DING 🛎️ If you guessed: Spray Tan Residue, you win 5 gold ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and bragging rights to your friends. #dontdothisathome
gocleanco
Apr 26
You each get one guess: GO! #springcleaning
gocleanco
Apr 17
Check out my IG Live on Wednesday—I'll be chatting with P&G dishwashing scientist, Morgan Eberhard, to answer all your burning questions about the new Cascade Platinum Plus. Remember…the dishwasher pod that blew all your minds a couple weeks ago?! It’s the solution we have all been waiting for; cabinet-ready dishes without pre-rinsing or the need to dry them out of the dishwasher. My DM’s were DEEP when I showed you Cascade Platinum Plus in action and tbh, I didn’t think loading the dishwasher could get so many people steamed up! Drop your questions below so we can answer them on the live with Morgan. She knows her stuff —she’s a legit 👩🏼🔬 folks. #sponsored #cascadeplatinumplus #cascadepartner
gocleanco
Apr 15
Happy National Laundry Day! Not sure why we need a national day for laundry since we do it everyday but hey hey I’m always in the mood to hug a box of tide so here we are! Anyways, in celebration of Laundry Day, we have a blog post all about my new washer and dryer to answer your pressing questions. It will live on the blog so you can go back and check when (touch wood) your machine kicks the bucket. Link is in our bio to read! #laundryday
gocleanco
Apr 13
Nothing like a few before and afters to get your asses motivated! Remember you can start one drawer a day and build from there if you don’t know where to start. Also, try to rope in some friends to help you—6 hands are better than one! Pick a designated day each week for about a month and get everyone together and tackle projects around your homes together. It’s way more fun to clean/organize someone else’s house. Trust me, I made a business out of it. 😉 #springcleaning
gocleanco
Apr 12
Vacuum round up and break down of how they made it into our Amazon Storefront in stories today! We are also planning a Vacuum Fight Club…so drop your favs or the ones you want to see us test in the comments and I’ll hook us up.
gocleanco
Apr 2
#sponsored Did you know that household bleach is derived from sodium chloride - common table salt? During household use, it breaks down to mostly salt and water. Did you also know that you can use Clorox® Disinfecting Concentrated Bleach to keep your flowers beautiful longer? Wearing gloves, add ¼ tsp. of Clorox® Disinfecting Concentrated Bleach to every 1.27 L of water you use in the flower vase and stir well to mix. Make sure to trim off the end of each flower stem before arranging it, to increase absorption. Check your flowers weekly and refresh the water as needed. Just mix up a fresh batch of Clorox® Disinfecting Concentrated Bleach and water solution. #yeahbleachdoesthat @clorox_canada
gocleanco
Apr 1
Wanted to catch y’all before you had breakfast. #cleaningmotivation
gocleanco
Mar 30
Some products you just have to see to believe. 🤯 Cascade Platinum Plus is a brand new product (you might have seen it on the shelves already) that is changing the GAME for your dishwashing routine. For years we’ve been doing work that really should be our dishwasher’s job! Spoiler alert: it’s not your dishwasher, it’s your dish detergent. TBH I was skeptical when @mycascade told me not to rinse and to let the dishes SIT OVERNIGHT BEFORE WASHING THEM but here we are. #sponsored #cascadepartner
gocleanco
Mar 29
It’s the final week of the Spring Cleaning Challenge! How y’all doing? Thrown in the towel yet?! 🫣 This round was fast and dirty (in the best way possible) and I’m telling ya—it feels like a fever dream 😮💨 😵💫 I’ll be recovering on my heating pad come Monday. #springcleaning
gocleanco
Mar 25
Spring cleaning isn’t over until we clean the windows. Sparkling windows make all the difference, you can actually see outside and let the sunshine in! I have a Spring Cleaning offer with @oceansalesltd up in my stories, it is a package deal with the AquaBLADE and the Carbon Tuff Cloths. Check it out! #sponsored
gocleanco
Mar 23
Carpet Cleaner Fight Club 👊🏻 coming at you 3.23.23 get your 🍿 and pull up a 🪑 *Carpets were harmed in the making of this video* #springcleaning
gocleanco
Mar 19
Remember to change your mop head every once in awhile 😎 @hairhouseyeg #shorthair