Cleaning a Stubborn Oven
Keeping a clean house means staying on top of areas of repeated messy use – for those of us who do a lot of home cooking, the stove and oven are focal points for splashes, drips, and all sorts of grime and goo. While it’s best to clean up the messes as they occur, sometimes an ultra-busy lifestyle leads to taking a pass, and that gunk will receive the heat of the next quick meal thrown together as old re-runs play in the background. Enough time passes and we have a grimy stove top and an oven with a baked on crust. Longer still, and the oven might start putting off an offensive oder when used. When that time comes Lexi Maids can do the dirty work for you, as we offer it as an add-on service, but if you are in a pinch and need to get the task done before the guests arrive and your next turkey is about to bake in a cauldron of smokey fumes, well, then it might be time to get down and power through! Here’s a few tips that may help.
1. Many ovens have a cleaning cycle which cranks up the heat to such a high degree the crusty spills will sort of incinerate, making them easier to scrape off.
2. There are special oven cleaners, and they are not all equal, as the cheaper ones put off fumes which you end up breathing with your head sort of in the cooled oven as you scrub. Fume-free oven cleaner can be found at most grocery or hardware stores.
3. Pumice stones are an abrasive that deteriorates as you use them – the reason they are mostly considered scratch free. Also harder green scrub pads can do a great job if you don’t want to deal with pumice. In an absolute emergency steel wool can be used on grill grates, but there is a risk of scratching paint and other surfaces.
4. Chemical free cleaning agents can be made with ingredients such as baking soda and essential oil. They might not gut the grime as quickly, but in a pinch, with a lot of extra elbow grease, you’ll probably get the job done quickly enough to start baking that day. While oven cleaners are better at cleaning, it might be best to let them evaporate and all unsensed fumes to dissipate for a day or two before cooking a nine course meal in the same oven.
Ovens are a tough clean, but no matter the build-up you can get the device back into reasonable working order. Remember some homes have stoves that are 30+ years old. if they can do it, so can you, but if you don’t want to do it, give use a call and we can possibly add an oven cleaning to your house cleaning regimen specifically for the visit you need it.
We love helping our clients achieve the clean they need, and we have been serving excellent clients for quite some time now. If you are ready to try a cleaning service for a first time, or try ours specifically for the first time, we’d love to get to know you. Our staff is eager to drop in and help you get your house into that condition that makes you feel proud to own a home!