DIY Oven Cleaner | An Insanely Easy and Eco Friendly Method

Shawna Bailey
by Shawna Bailey
5 Materials
$7
5 Days
Easy

I have this amazing DIY oven friendly, I use it on every surface in my kitchen. I don't use anything in my kitchen that would be poisonous to eat, so this cleaner is a great eco-friendly fit for my family's lifestyle.

When looking for easy green cleaning vinegar is always the way to go. I'm going to show you how well this homemade cleaner works by using it on the worst mess to clean ever - that yucky burnt mess in my oven!


It's better than any store-bought oven cleaner.

Orange peels and vinegar in glass jar

1. Gather Materials

Eco-friendly all purpose cleaner

2. Peel Your Oranges

I started by peeling two oranges completely.


You don't need to worry about your peels turning out in any specific shape or size - as long as you have a nice little pile of peels, this will work great!

Peeling an orange

3. Put the Peels in a Jar

Do you have an old sauce jar lying around? Any jar (as long as it fits your peels) will do. But of course, the bigger the jar, the more cleaning solution you'll end up with.


I used a plain old mason jar.

Adding orange peels to a glass jar

4. Add Vinegar

I poured in the vinegar until it covered the orange peels. If any orange peels are not under the vinegar, they will rot, instead of releasing their oils into the vinegar, so make sure the vinegar covers everything

Pour vinegar into a glass jar with citrus peels

5. Let It Sit

I left the jar to sit in the fridge for 5 days so the vinegar could soak up the orange peel oil.


You can let it sit for as long as two weeks if you want it really strong.

DIY oven cleaner with vinegar and orange peels

6. Pour into a Spray Bottle

You could use it right from the jar, but, for easier cleaning, I decided to pour it into a spray bottle. Only the vinegar goes into the bottle - the peels should stay behind in the jar. I keep the spray bottle on my counter and use it for everything. Now, you can clean your oven!

Pour citrus vinegar into a spray bottle

How to Clean an Oven with DIY Oven Cleaner

Now you can clean your oven with this homemade citrus oven cleaner.


1. Sprinkle on Baking Soda

I use this on really tough stains, like burnt cake goop on the bottom of my oven.


Because the cleaner is mostly made of vinegar, it reacts with baking soda, so I sprinkle some over the burnt area first.

Sprinkle baking soda in your oven

2. Spray on Your Mix and Let Sit

Next, spray the vinegar mixture over the baking soda and let it set.

Spray vinegar over baking soda

3. Wipe Off the Cleaner

I came back to wipe it off after about 20 minutes and it all slipped away!


If the spot doesn't come off with just a wipe, I add some more baking soda and then spray and let it sit again. (I really don't believe in scrubbing things, ha-ha!)


More Oven Cleaning tips

For more brilliant ideas on cleaning your oven, read this comprehensive guide on Easy Ways to Make Sure Your Oven is Always Spotless.

Sparkling clean oven

DIY Oven Cleaner Tutorial

I've also discovered over the years that ants won't walk on places I've cleaned with this spray, so if you have a minor ant problem this cleaner will be your new best friend!


I would love to hear if you tried this DIY oven cleaner and how it worked. Leave me a comment below!

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Frequently asked questions
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3 of 352 questions
  • Tom Tom on Jun 27, 2022

    Would the easy-peel skin of Mikan (Japanese tangerines) also provide sufficient oils?

  • Gainorhillegass Gainorhillegass on Aug 01, 2022

    Will this solution deter roaches too?

  • Ibt6877917 Ibt6877917 on Dec 03, 2022

    Do you keep topping up the vinegar after using the solution or throw away the peels once the solution is finished and make a new batch?


Comments
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2 of 500 comments
  • Maureen Maureen on Apr 01, 2023

    I will try this on my air fryer! I don’t want to use oven cleaner. This sounds so much safer!!

    thank you!!

  • Denise Denise on Feb 05, 2024

    I'm so glad to see this I sure am going to do this.

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