Cleaning the oven-Pinterest style

Well, I decided this year that I would attempt to actually try out some of the thousands of tutorials I have pinned over the years. Once a month might not whittle down the list that quickly, but I'd say its a fairly sensible timeline given that I have an infant who clings closer than a limpet.

To that end, last Sunday I made a start, and I cleaned my oven using this tutorial. Being me, I did kinda wing parts too, so I'll stick my step by step below, including the before picture. I should also point out that limpet baby is in residence so I did all of this with him strapped to my back in our trusty Rose & Rebellion carrier.

You see just before I left to visit my parents for Christmas we had a nasty overspill in our oven...and I didn't have time to clean it before I left. It was vile...see?

Before Christmas I'd looked through my vast array of pins and found the one that claimed to clean my oven without expensive cleaners or hours of scrubbing...cos I am nothing if not lazy. I needed to prep a little in advance though, so I dutifully collected the peel of 2 oranges and placed them into an old jam jar. I filled the jar with white vinegar and put it aside to 'perculate' as I keep calling it. The pin recommended leaving it 5 days, but we were away for 3 weeks...and have been back for 3 so this has been brewing for 6 weeks.

 

I acquired a spray canister from Poundland and used a small funnel to pour the vinegar mixture into the canister.

next I hauled out my bicarbonate of soda (baking soda for my US readers) liberally (very liberally) sprinkling it all over the bottom of the oven.

With the base covered, I sprayed the vinegar & orange peel mixture all over the it, over the bicarb, causing it to fizz and bubble. My instructions said to leave it for 20 minutes, but I decided to clean the rest of the kitchen while I was waiting so it was probably more like an hour.

After that, all I had to do was wipe it off with a sponge. I was sceptical. I won't lie. Surely something so simple couldn't possibly clean my oh so minging oven? But it actually did an incredible job! I was stunned to see how much of the dirt actually came off, and came off with little to no scrubbing too.OK, I think I'm going to need a second go, but then my oven was particularly dirty. I think a standard oven would have been fine. Chalking this up as a win. Cheap, easy to prep and worked like a charm. Winner!