The Non-Toxic Way to Clean an Oven

Oven cleaning is no joke! There could be years and years worth of hardened gunk and grime. In fact, some people would prefer to clean a public toilet using a toothbrush than to refresh their oven. Because of this, some resort to drastic measures and rely on nuking their ovens with a ton of harmful toxic cleaners.

Over-the-counter products used to clean ovens are loaded with toxic ingredients that can damage your skin, eyes and respiratory system. To give you a better idea of what you're dealing with, here are some of the more common ingredients in oven cleaning products:

• Butane: Commonly found in cigarette lighters, butane is known to cause drowsiness, asphyxia and cardiac arrhythmia when inhaled.
• Diethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether: This is considered as a neurotoxin, a reproductive toxicant, and a cardiovascular and blood toxicant. Prolong exposure can cause damage to kidneys.
• Monoethanolamine (MEA): Highly corrosive, this chemical causes severe irritation and burns to skin and eyes while also irritating air passages and cause respiratory ailments. It is also known to cause damage to the liver and kidneys and high exposure can even affect the nervous system.
• Sodium Hydroxide: Extremely caustic, sodium hydroxide can cause severe burns to skin and eyes while also causing laboured breathing, coughing and shortness of breath.

Do away with these hazardous mixtures of chemicals when cleaning your oven. Lemons or bi-carb soda will do just as well in making your oven clean and gunk-free!

The citric acid in the lemon juice combined with di-limonene in the lemon peel makes a great mixture as a natural degreaser! This is perfect for light cleaning or for regular oven maintenance.

1. Grab two lemons and slice them in half. Squeeze the juice into an empty baking dish. Throw the spent lemons into the dish together with the juice.
2. Fill the dish up to 1/3 with water.
3. Place the dish with the lemon juice and rinds in the oven.
4. Set the oven for 30 minutes, baking at 120 degrees Celsius. For heavier grime build up, you may want to leave the lemon solution for at least 45 minutes. This process will allow lemon vapours that contain natural citric acids and di-limonene from the lemon rind to soften the grime for easier cleaning.
5. Allow the oven to completely cool and set aside the baking dish with the lemon solution.
6. Using a non-scratching scouring pad, remove the softened grime. Use a silicone spatula for larger clumps of grime.
7. Dip a clean sponge in the dish filled with lemon water and rinse the inside of the oven.
8. Use a clean cloth to thoroughly dry the oven.

For more serious oven grime build up, you may need to resort to something with a stronger kick. Here's what you need: