Cleaning your self-cleaning oven by hand (without chemicals)

So. Who has a self-cleaning oven? Who actually uses the self-cleaner? ... I mean, it is such a hassle right? The smell alone drives me bat shit and I usually end up leaving the house praying it doesn't catch fire, the heat it puts off is unbearable (unless you're in the dead of winter), and then of course you have to vacuum out the ashes, right? It isn't exactly a fool proof method to say the least. My oven was disgusting and I looked at it daily and put it off for quite a long time. I really didn't want to take the self-cleaning route for obvious reasons and I know with a self-cleaning oven that once you use a chemical cleaner on it you can kiss the self-cleaning option goodbye. Well, in the future I may want to utilize that but for now I needed a way to clean the damn thing without chemicals. So, I did my research and found that more often than not baking soda did the trick! 

No chemicals! I played around and found what worked for me and now I want to share it with you!

Here is how you do this!

**I warn, it does take a little muscle but it was a good work out and better than smelling the burning of the self-clean and your oven won't look, by any means, "new" but it will get it about 90-95% cleaner than it was when you started. For me, that was all I needed it to do!**

What you need:

Baking Soda

( at least 1 box, 2 for good measure especially if you put your oven cleaning off for a while)

Dawn 

White Vinegar

Sponge with a scrubbing side

Paper Towels or Older dish cloths

Water 

Mop Bucket

Dish washing Gloves

Basically you make a paste.

I emptied the contents of one box of baking soda into a bowl.

I added a little bit of water at a time until I had a paste consistency.

Lastly, I mixed in about 1/2 tsp of Dawn for some grease busting power. Ha!

See how gross!

(Secretly, the oven was pretty bad when we bought our house a little over a year ago, I tried the self clean method and couldn't handle it and gave it up. Now, here we are!)

Wearing those handy, dandy, gloves smear the pasty mixture on the surfaces of your oven.

I had to use both boxes of baking soda to get full coverage of all sides and the oven door.

Once you have the paste covering all surfaces, let it sit for about 15-20 minutes. 

This is where it gets gross and messy and you have to put some muscle in to it.

I did it, though and if I did it, I know you can do it too!

Fill your mop bucket with water, as warm as you can stand, throw in the sponge and get to work. Using the abrasive side scrub your oven's innards. Once you feel you have gotten most of the stuck on grime to loosen up you want to scoop up the paste with your hands first and toss it in the bowl you used to mix it in. Then with the sponge and dish cloth wipe out the excess paste.

Once it is all cleaned up, I use a vinegar/water mixture out of an old spray bottle to shine it up. Spray it on and let it sit for just a few minutes and with a clean, dry dish cloth wipe down your oven.

I promise it won't be easy but it definitely makes a difference!

Now like I said, It will get it about 90-95% cleaner than it was. As you can see there are some dark spots around the edges and a few spots on the bottom of the oven from an unfortunate pie filling spillage, but I am happy with the results and next time, I can still use my self-clean option if I'd like!!

Happy Cleaning!!