You just need a plastic spray bottle to make your own DIY oven-cleaning detergent

Even new oven can get dirty quickly with regular use: there is no escape from having to periodically clean the insides and the grills. Indeed, putting this chore off for too long will make eventual cleaning even harder, but can also pose a health risk.

The residue that adheres to an oven's interior walls and grills, will burn and char, producing sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide gases - all harmful for one's health. So why run this risk? Clean the oven regularly and do it easily using a handy DIY spray detergent.

A DIY spray detergent to clean the oven quickly

Creativo

If you don't want to use commercially available oven cleaners, you can use products that you probably already have at home. Along with these (detailed below), you will need a spray bottle (perhaps the only thing you have to buy)!

We provide here two "recipes" to make this DIY detergent for the oven: the ingredients are different, but the preparation and use are almost identical:

• With white vinegar: fill half the spray bottle with water, the other half with white vinegar and just a drop of dishwashing liquid.
• With lemon juice: put the juice of two lemons, 150 ml of hydrogen peroxide and 150 ml of water in the spray bottle. If you want, you can add a drop of liquid Marseille soap (or melt solid Marseille soap flakes for the same purpose).

Shake up the spray bottle to mix thorougly, and now you're ready to clean the oven.

Some useful tips to make cleaning the oven even easier

Freepik

The first tip is to start the cleaning process with a hot oven. As soon as your cooking is finished, turn off the appliance, and put a small bowl of water and vinegar (in equal parts) inside it. Close the door and leave closed for 30-60 minutes.

The heat will cause the water-vinegar mixt to steam, allowing the acid in the vinegar to soften up the grime: then, you just have to take a cloth or sponge, your DIY oven detergent, and start removing the loosened dirt and residue.

If there are any particularly stubborn dirt spots, here is the second piece of advice: have some baking soda (or, alternatively, citric acid) at the ready. You can sprinkle the baking soda on the stubborn residue and then spray a little vinegar on it to start a foaming reaction. Once the reaction has finished, wipe off with a sponge. Alternatively, you can put a teaspoon of baking soda or citric acid onto a damp sponge, creating an abrasive that will lift stubborn dirt. Finish off by spraying the rest of the oven with your DIY detergent and wiping down.

This process won't take long, and in less than ten minutes (plus the 30/60 minute wait time), your oven will be clean again!