Has the inside of your oven gotten grimy? Has it been a while since you last cleaned your oven from when your dinner overflowed the baking dish and left residue on your oven racks and oven? The Moving Help® Marketplace has you covered with our complete guide on how to clean an oven with baking soda. 

When you use baking soda, you avoid using harsh chemicals in the area where you cook your food. It’s also safer for the environment. You’ll probably have most if not all items in your home already, and if needed, most items are inexpensive to purchase. 

Items Needed for Cleaning Oven With Baking Soda

When it comes to cleaning your oven with baking soda, you most likely have these items in your kitchen or cleaning closet. 

Oven Cleaning List

• Baking soda 
• Water 
• Rubber gloves 
• Small mixing bowl 
• White vinegar 
• Spray bottle 
• Old towels 
• Damp dish cloth, cleaning rag, or scrubbing sponge/pad 
• Paint brush, rubber spatula, and aluminum foil (all optional) 

If you don’t have any of the items above, it’ll be a quick trip to the store to make some inexpensive purchases for your oven. 

Oven and Oven Racks Cleaning Guide With Baking Soda

To start the cleaning process, gather all your supplies together and put them in the kitchen. We’ll start with cleaning your oven in six steps and then how to clean oven racks with baking soda in three steps. 

Step 1: Remove Oven Racks and Excess Debris

Before you get started, you should remove the oven racks and any debris in your oven. If you can remove any particles or old burnt food, it should be done now. It’ll make the rest of the cleaning process easier later. 

The oven racks will be cleaned separately. 

If you chose to use aluminum foil, wrap it around any lighting and heating elements, wiring, and any opening. You want to avoid getting paste on these inside parts. 

Step 2: Create Baking Soda Paste

You want to mix baking soda and water together until it creates a paste. 

• 1/2 cup of baking soda 
• 3 tablespoons of water 
• Small mixing bowl 

You mix them together until you create a paste. Be aware you might need to adjust the ingredients a little to create a paste for you, but typically the above measurements will work great. 

Step 3: Spread Baking Soda Paste

You’ll want to spread the baking soda paste everywhere you can in your oven. These tools below — while using rubber gloves at all times — can be employed to spread the baking soda paste around: 

• Use your hands while wearing rubber gloves 
• Paint brush 
• Rubber spatula 

Step 4: Let the Paste Sit for 12 Hours to Overnight

You’ll want your baking soda paste to sit for at least 12 hours. Another option is to leave it overnight. The longer you leave the baking soda paste in your oven, the harder it’ll work to break down that oven grime. 

You should make sure to shut your oven door while waiting for the paste to work its magic. 

Step 5: Wipe Down Oven

Step 6: Spray White Vinegar and Wipe Oven

Once you’re done with your wiping process, you’ll want to use white vinegar. 

• White vinegar 
• Spray bottle 

Put some white vinegar into a spray bottle and spray around the areas where any residue remains. The white vinegar will make baking soda foam. 

Wipe down all the remaining residue and repeat the process until the entire oven is spotless. 

Cleaning Oven Racks With Baking Soda

After you’re done spreading baking soda in your oven and closing your oven door, you can begin cleaning your oven racks. That way, your oven racks and your oven will be done the next day. 

Step 1: Remove Oven Racks 

You’ll want to remove the oven racks from your oven. The next place is to figure out where to clean your oven racks. Here are three options: 

• Bathtub 
• Sink 
• Trash bag 
• Plastic tub 

The bathtub is the most logical place because it’ll be large enough to fit your oven racks. If you can’t get over the fact of cleaning food debris in the same place you shower, you could choose a sink, trash bag, or plastic tubs. 

The problem with a sink is unless it’s large enough to fit and submerge the oven rack, it won’t work as well. That will lead you to using a trash bag or a plastic tub to clean your oven racks as another alternative. 

Step 2: Clean Oven Racks

If you choose to do so, the first step is to place old towels in the bathtub. Then you place the oven racks on top of the old towels. The second step will be to sprinkle baking powder over the oven racks. The third step will be to spray white vinegar onto the oven racks. 

Why Choose to Clean Oven Racks With Baking Soda

A natural cleaning solution such as baking soda, water, and vinegar is better for you over other harsh cleaning oven chemicals for several reasons: 

• Eco-friendly 
• Safer for family and pets 
• Safer to use and apply to the oven and oven racks 
• No weird smells 

Using Baking Soda in a Self-Cleaning Oven

As many people know, some ovens have a self-cleaning oven. This option works great for those types of ovens, and they’re meant to use the self-cleaning function. 

You should not use commercial cleaning solutions on a self-cleaning oven. A natural solution — like baking soda and vinegar — can be used.

Before you press that self-cleaning button, you should:

• Remove any pots or pans 
• Remove oven cleaning racks 
• Wipe away any loose particles 
• Clean oven glass door 
• Don’t leave pets near the oven while the cycle is running 
• Don’t open the oven door until the cycle is done and the oven is cool 

After the self-cleaning oven function is done, you can use the baking soda method. Of course, it’s usually not required because the self-cleaning oven function should work wonderfully. 

How Often to Clean Ovens

You should clean your oven every three months. 

That number can change depending on the frequency of using your oven. If you’re someone who rarely uses your oven, you’ll need to clean it less often than someone who uses their oven every day. 

You should clean your oven every time you deep clean your home, and the average number of times you deep clean your home is every three months. What’s important is that you keep and stay consistent with your oven cleaning schedule. 

Your oven manual also is a great resource on what the manufacture recommends for cleaning frequency to upkeep proper maintenance for your oven. Regular cleaning maintenance will keep your oven in tip-top shape. 

Clean Your Oven With Confidence

Now that you know how to clean an oven with baking soda after reading this comprehensive guide, you can get started today with confidence. A natural cleaning solution like baking soda and white vinegar work well to deep clean your oven without needing to use harsh chemicals. 

If you stay consistent with your oven cleaning schedule, you’ll always find yourself with a clean oven after using baking soda and white vinegar. 

Additional Cleaning Resources

Do you need other cleaning resources? Check out these different Moving Help guides: 

• How to Clean a Fridge 
• Best Way to Deep Clean Carpet 
• How to Hire Moving Labor for Cleaning 
• Apartment Cleaning Checklist 
• How to Get Your Cleaning Deposit 
• Move out Cleaning Checklist: Get Your Deposit Back 

Don’t forget that Moving Help Marketplace has moving labor who offers cleaning services. You can have them clean your home after loading your old place and prior to unloading at your new home. 

Find moving labor Service Providers who offer cleaning services today.