Common Mistakes to Avoid When Cleaning Your Oven

Cleaning your oven can be quite a daunting task, especially if you don’t have the right tools or skillset for the job. No matter how careful you are when cooking, the chances are that your oven will eventually get dirty, or you end up creating a mess. Ultimately, ovens, like other home appliances, get dirty with time. Knowing how to clean an oven can go a long way toward maintaining it and making it serve you for a longer period.

That said, there are a few common mistakes homeowners make when cleaning their ovens. You can easily overlook some cleaning processes and make simple mistakes that ultimately lead to your oven being damaged.

Here are some common mistakes you want to avoid when cleaning your oven:

1.     Not Scheduling Cleaning Sessions Properly

It is always good practice to turn your oven off completely when cleaning it. And some cleaning methods may even require your oven to stay off for extended periods. While this isn’t bad, it means you must organize your cooking schedules around the cleaning periods.

So, what happens when suddenly you realize your schedule won’t allow you to clean the oven and make dinner afterwards? You will probably leave it for tomorrow. And the cycle will continue.

When you finally get the time to clean it, dirt and grime will have built up so bad that it consumes a good portion of your busy time. However, you can avoid all this by simply scheduling your oven cleaning needs and sticking to them.

2.     Using Dangerous Chemicals and Waiting Too Long

Here’s another common mistake most oven owners make. While it’s not bad to want to use the strongest cleaners to remove dirt, dust, and grime from your oven, you must also remember that not all cleaning products are manufactured equally. Some are more abrasive and corrosive than others. Of course, all hazardous chemicals and flammable liquids should be carefully stored in STOREMASTA chemical storage containers, to prevent fire, explosions, poisonous gases, contamination, and toxic exposures.

Similarly, waiting too long before cleaning your oven may make it more difficult to remove some of the dirt and oils in it. When it gets this far, the chances are that your basic, eco-friendly cleaning products like vinegar or baking soda won’t help you much. Using more abrasive chemical cleaners may also react with the metallic materials and possibly damage the oven.

3.     Ignoring the Racks

The racks are found inside the oven and are like magnets for dirt and grease. Small pieces of burnt food and drops of sauce will stick on them after each use. And they become near impossible to remove when you wait for them to build up.

Luckily, you can avoid this costly mistake by cleaning your oven racks and shelves regularly. Persistence will help save your oven racks and maintain them. You can start a routine where you wash your oven racks every other week to avoid grease and other debris from piling up on them.

4.     Over-Relying on Self-Cleaning

Ever since self-cleaning ovens hit the market, many homeowners now avoid getting under the hood of their ovens altogether. While self-cleaning ovens are much better and more advanced than their older models, they also still need regular cleaning and maintenance.

If you thought you would escape cleaning your oven because it was self-cleaning, you were sorely mistaken. Sure, the self-cleaning function will streamline the process, but only to an extent. All it does is heat up the oven to extreme temperatures to try and vaporize any leftover debris after use. That’s it!

If anything, you’ll still need to do most of the cleaning work yourself.

5.     Skipping the Oven Door

This is another common mistake most oven owners make and can come back to bite them dearly. Just because the oven door rarely gets in contact with your food doesn’t mean you shouldn’t clean it. The outside of the oven door can get just as dirty as its inside walls.

As such, you must remember that the oven door isn’t immune to stains, spills, and messes. Therefore, ensure you pay extra attention when cleaning your oven.

Cleaning an oven isn’t always a difficult task. The problem is that many people ignore it and wait for the oven to get so dirty and greasy to the point that cleaning it becomes stressful. Here’s where you’re bound to make mistakes like the ones mentioned above.

Avoiding such simple mistakes can help keep your oven in great shape and serve you for an extended period.