We Tested Five Oven Cleaning Hacks — Here's What Worked

Everyone loves a good cleaning hack — especially one that makes a tedious or scrubbing-heavy task a little easier. (Bonus points for cleaning hacks that are faster, too.) If you're oven has a self-clean setting, you may not think you need a hack for tackling this tough kitchen appliance. But if your oven doesn't have this feature or if you're concerned about running your oven at such a high heat, the HGTV editors tested five viral oven cleaning methods to see which ones are worth the hype. Plus, these cleaning hacks are budget-friendly and (mostly) natural, too. Read on for all the details.

Cleaning an Oven With a Pumice Stone

"I’ve already used a pumice stone to clean built-up grease on my stove top, so I wasn’t completely shocked at how well it worked inside my oven. What did surprise me? How easily it cleaned all the surfaces — the interior enamel, the glass door and the oven racks. All you need is a pumice scouring stick, which costs way less than a typical household cleaner, water and a rag. Wet the stick (and the surface you're cleaning, if you like) and get scrubbing. Periodically wipe down the surface you're working on with a wet rag to remove the grime you've scraped up and any residue from the stone.

I honestly wasn't planning to clean the racks with the scouring stick because I assumed it would be too tedious. Instead, I planned on just testing a small spot to see if it would work on that surface. To my surprise, it worked like a dream, and then I couldn't stop scrubbing. I got addicted to the satisfaction of making my greasy oven racks look like new.

All in all, this hack is easy, cheap and all natural (the trifecta). The only drawbacks were reaching all the way into the back of my oven (I'm short and my arms just couldn't get back there), and the amount of time it took. You have to scrub the entire oven — all the little nooks and grooves — with the stick in order to achieve that sparkling look. It took me about an hour and a half to get my very dirty oven looking good — and I could have kept going."

— Noelle Paredes, Online Editor

Cleaning an Oven With Baking Soda

"I usually clean my oven with Bar Keepers Friend. It does a great job but, after seeing various oven cleaning ‘hacks’ floating around the internet, I wondered if there was a way to get the same result with even less effort.

Baking soda is great at tackling oil-based messes, with some claiming that it can clean your oven ‘without a lot of elbow grease’ — and in a matter of minutes. I did a little bit of research and, although the specifics vary a bit, every source agreed on the basic method: make a paste from baking soda and water, spread it on the interior of the oven, wait — then wipe the oven clean.

I followed steps 2, 3 and 5 from this tutorial about how to clean an oven with baking soda closely. (I wanted to see what kind of results I could get without doing a full oven cleaning.) First, I emptied the oven and removed the racks. Then, I mixed about ½ cup of baking soda with a few tablespoons of water to create a paste, which I spread all over the door and interior of my oven. I waited one hour before wiping all surfaces clean with a damp, soft cloth. The paste didn’t remove much grease and grime, so I mixed up a little more and scrubbed it into the stubborn spots with balled up aluminum foil, which gave me the like-new look I was after.

It’s possible that leaving the paste on for a longer period of time (or, spritzing the paste with white vinegar before wiping the oven out, as some sources suggest) could have resulted in less scrubbing, which would make this method feel more like a hack to save time and effort. Nevertheless, I was able to get the results that I wanted in the end, making this a tried-and-true way to clean your oven using only items from your pantry."

— Kristie Collado, Editorial Manager

Cleaning an Oven With Lemon

"This hack suggests that you fill a baking dish with water and sliced lemons, and place it in the oven at 350°F for about 30 minutes, allowing it to boil and produce steam. Then, you let it cool for about 20 minutes with the door closed, dip a rag into lemon water and wipe away the grease. (It was still pretty hot when I tried this; I had to wear a heat-proof glove.)

The steam plus the acid from the lemon is supposed to help loosen the grime. I can’t say I really saw any magic happen — the amount of acid from the lemon in the water would pale in comparison to something like vinegar solution, which I bet would be more effective. While I do think the steam released some grease, I’m sure a rag dipped in hot water from the tap would have done a similar job — without the 50-minute wait time."

— Lauren Piro, Digital Editorial Director

Cleaning an Oven With Ice

This hack is most popular on Instagram and TikTok for cleaning the stove top, but we attempted this steam-cleaning technique on the inside of the oven to see if it has the same grime-removing power. (Spoiler: It didn't.)

"I preheated my oven to 350°F, then set a sheet tray with a few large ice cubes on the top rack. I let the ice melt and create steam for about 15 minutes, then I let the oven cool enough to remove the tray and scrub the racks safely. It might have loosened up the grease on the oven racks a bit, but it would took a fair amount of scrubbing with steel wool to get it all off — definitely not a drastic difference from cleaning them normally."

— Sabrina Choudhary, Online Editorial Coordinator

Cleaning an Oven With Dishwasher Pods

"I had high hopes for this method, based on some pretty convincing TikToks. Maybe that's what made my so-so results feel like such a let down.

Since I was cleaning a double oven, I opted to try two different techniques using dishwasher pods. On the main, lower oven, I submerged a pod in hot water for a few seconds, and went to work scrubbing the pod directly on the inside of the oven and the door. Once the pod disintegrated, I went in with a scrub brush and a damp microfiber cloth. After a full hour of scrubbing, lots of grease and grime did come off, but I was nowhere near the spotless look I was hoping for.

For the oven racks, I wasn’t about to waste any more pods (they aren’t cheap!), so I used whatever soap was left on my cloth and some piping hot water from the tap. Again, some gunk came off, but not enough to satisfy me. All in all, this method worked okay, but it wasn’t fast or easy enough for me to call it a hack (or to ever do it again).

For the top oven (which wasn't as dirty), I preheated it to 215°F, and added hot water to a glass baking dish with the dishwasher pod. I put the dish in the oven, and let it steam for one hour. I was almost impressed with how easily grime came off the oven rack with just a soapy cloth and a hot water rinse in the sink afterwards, but other than that, the results were mediocre. I would potentially use this method every other week or so to maintain an already-clean oven."

— Noelle Paredes, Online Editor

How to Clean Stove Grates

Once your oven is clean, the stovetop can tend to look worse for wear by comparison. Follow these easy steps to give it a good wipe down.