Oven cleaning

[cjsmith]

Never truly had to do this before. May I say for the record that it is a major pain in the patootie?

1. Attempt self clean cycle. Minimal to no effect.
2. Repeat attempt (in the hopes that "minimal" was progress). No effect at all.
3. Buy oven cleaner and apply according to instructions. Gunk in oven is loosened but now the entire oven is gray-white and I can't get that off no matter how much rinsing and scrubbing I do.

At this point I would be happy to have the oven back in the state it was in before I started. Why do I try, people? Somebody, somewhere, tell me the answer to this fundamental question?

So now I'm doing something that I know is a not so good idea, but I'm out of options:

4. Repeat self clean cycle. Maybe it will burn some of this stuff off. (From the fumes, I can tell it's doing SOMETHING.)

Wish me luck.

Comments

[mrdreamjeans]

You have one other choice early on. It's my choice ... Never us your oven. :)

[nosrednayduj]

I hope you did this with the windows open...

[lcohen]

i wish you all the luck! (i am saved from this by the certain knowledge that encountering the chemicals that one uses to clean ovens would kill me at this point so my oven can just suffer in silence.)

[zipperbear]

Gunk in oven is loosened but now the entire oven is gray-white and I can't get that off no matter how much rinsing and scrubbing I do.

I think that means your oven is clean, even if it's discolored.

Traditional caustic oven cleaner is mostly lye, and the newer "safe" versions are mostly baking soda. Heat and oxygen turn oils (and vaporized oils) into a brown glossy varnish (and if you add pigment to drying oils without heat, that's how to make oil paintings that last for centuries). Alkaline solvents will slowly soften the oven gunk, somewhat faster with heat. Lye is nasty but effective. Ammonia smells awful, and is somewhat less nasty, but the vapors are effective -- a small dish of ammonia and a large pan of steamy water or a spray bottle of water will work overnight in a sealed oven to soften the gunk, so you can wipe it up with plastic spatulas, sponges, and damp paper towels. Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is mild, but with a drop or two of liquid dish soap to make a paste it's gritty enough to scrub away the layers of gunk as they soften. Baking soda is less visible when it's wet, so white streaks or spatters may appear after things are dry, but just rinse and wipe again, and plan on doing laundry afterward. With enough water, baking soda dissolves completely, but when it dries it reappears unless you get rid of it. Ammonia evaporates completely with enough ventilation (which is why Windex includes it), but it stings your eyes because it readily dissolves back into any water nearby.

Ovens (including microwaves) are awkward to clean, but a long-handled dish brush makes it easier getting into the back corners and quickly scrubbing the big surfaces with less arm motion.

[zahraa]

I am scared of the oven's self-clean cycle.

[hitchhiker]

oh man, i hope the oven isn't permanently discoloured :(

[marahmarie]

I do this (clean things!) for a living. So. While I can't think what to do for your specific issue (I'd need a pic, as I can't imagine what the grayish/whitish would be except for what hitchhiker's suggested) I can maybe give you an idea how I clean (other people's and my own) oven(s). Maybe good for future reference?...

--I don't use the self-cleaning feature, period
--I don't always even use oven cleaner. If the build-up's light enough I'll 1) spray the whole inside with vinegar and let it sit for a few minutes, 2) wipe it out with a clean microfiber cloth, 3) determine what's still stuck-on, 4) scrub the stuck-on-ness with Brillo, 4) literally use my paint scraper on anything that's not budging, 5) vinegar/wipe down again
--If the oven's any dirtier than lightly stained I'll use a fume-free spray (I haven't yet run into a continuous-clean oven in my adventures, but I'll keep a look-out for those from now on, as not spraying them with fume-free is not something I knew about before), then let it sit overnight if I can (or at least a few hours if overnight's not an option), then do steps 2-5 above as needed (and I wipe the spray out with microfiber cloths I just toss out afterward).

Self-clean scares me (not to mention I've no idea if it figured into any possible damage going on there...).

I read you're using vinegar now and it sounds like enough of it might help...maybe try lightly scrubbing a small, inconspicuous area - if needed - with Brillo to see if that helps remove the grayish/whitish, as well.

I use my vinegar straight (white, but apple works too; I can't rule out that in desperation I haven't grabbed wine vinegar, as it's all pretty much the same) with no water in a spray bottle. It'll be just a teensy bit fumey straight, but the effects will be super-temporary while it (usually) works wonders.

Another thing I like to do (with my own oven, as I don't always get the chance or have the time to do this with other people's) is after I make sure the oven spray's wiped out really well with vinegar, I run the oven empty at like 350ish for an hour or so with the oven door cracked open, the windows open, the house fan and the hood fan running to bake off/suck out any leftover fumes, as the oven will tend to smell *just awful* right after an oven-spray, no matter how well you wipe it, and I worry those fumes might be absorbed by whatever food goes in the oven next.