Tackling the oven is among the most detested household chores, particularly when you’re relying on inappropriate products. While white vinegar and bicarbonate of soda represent the two go-to ingredients that cleaning devotees generally swear by for battling oven grime, one woman has insisted she’s unearthed a natural alternative that “worked better” — and cleaning experts are backing her discovery.
Posting in the Mrs Hinch Cleaning Tips and Tricks Facebook group, Becca Dwyer shared a photograph of her mother’s oven glass door, which was smothered in dark brown, almost black, grease and filth, revealing exactly what she used to return it to a “sparkling” condition. She wrote: “Hi. This is the glass from my mother’s oven door. I was cleaning her oven today, as she can’t bend down. I’ve tried Pink Stuff paste, Elbow Grease cream, dishwasher tablet, aerial pod, also baking soda and vinegar, but nothing shifted it.”
A quick online search for oven-cleaning remedies will see countless websites pointing you towards a concoction made from bicarbonate of soda and vinegar. Yet in reality, this combination proves largely ineffective at shifting stubborn grease from oven glass, reports LiverpoolEcho.
Consequently, Becca decided to try something entirely different. She revealed: “Someone then suggested soda crystals to me, and it worked so much better than anything I’ve tried. It’s now sparkling.”
Even specialists at Dri-Pak have acknowledged that bicarbonate of soda and vinegar don’t quite produce the desired outcome.
They clarified: “One thing that isn’t really the best solution, despite lots of internet tips, is to use bicarbonate of soda and then add white vinegar.
“The effect will be reduced because the acid white vinegar is neutralising the alkalinity of the baking soda and it’s that that dissolves the grease.”
Soda crystals have also been proposed as a potent alternative. They observed: “Soda crystals are excellent for dissolving grease and working on stubborn, burnt-on food.”
Households can create a concentrated soda crystals solution or generously apply liquid soda crystals onto their oven door and throughout the interior of the appliance.
Allow the soda crystals to work their magic for at least 20 minutes before wiping down the oven.
This technique can be repeated on particularly stubborn areas, or dry soda crystals can be applied directly onto the surface as an abrasive agent, working it in comprehensively with a cloth.
Soda crystals are widely available online – from Big Green Smile at £2.35, or for £2 at Savers. Liquid soda crystals are slightly more affordable.
These can be purchased at Big Green Smile for £2.45 and at Ethical Superstore for £2.99.
Lemons provide another natural cleaning remedy for addressing oven door glass. One cleaning influencer maintained she’ll never go back to shop-bought oven cleaner after discovering the potency of lemons.
Dining and Cooking