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Cleaning the oven is often the most dreaded household chore, particularly when you’re reaching for the wrong products. While white vinegar and bicarbonate of soda are the two go-to ingredients that cleaning influencers tend to swear by for tackling oven grime, one woman claimed to have found a natural alternative that “worked better” — and cleaning experts are backing her up.
Posting on the Mrs Hinch Cleaning Tips and Tricks Facebook page, Becca Dwyer shared a photo of her mother’s oven glass door, which was coated in dark brown, almost black, grease and grime, revealing exactly what she used to get it “sparkling” once more. She wrote: “Hi. This is the glass from my mother’s oven door I was cleaning her oven today as she can’t bend down.
“I’ve tried Pink Stuff paste, Elbow Grease cream, dishwasher tablet, aerial pod also baking soda and vinegar but nothing shifted it.”
If you browse online for oven-cleaning hacks, countless sources will point you towards a paste made from bicarbonate of soda and vinegar. Yet in reality, this combination proves largely ineffective when it comes to shifting stubborn grease from oven glass.
So Becca decided to try something else entirely. She said: “Someone then suggested soda crystals to me and it worked so much better than anything I’ve tried. It’s now sparkling.”
View 3 ImagesSoda crystals work well to clean ovens(Image: Getty)
Even the professionals at Dri-Pak confirmed that bicarbonate of soda and vinegar fall short of the mark. They said: “One thing that isn’t really the best solution, despite lots of internet tips, is to use bicarbonate of soda and then add white vinegar.
“The effect will be reduced because the acid white vinegar is neutralising the alkalinity of the baking soda and it’s that that dissolves the grease.”
Instead, soda crystals are also recommended as an effective alternative. They explained: “Soda crystals are excellent for dissolving grease and working on stubborn, burnt-on food.”
View 3 ImagesBecca found that vinegar and baking soda didn’t work well to clean the oven(Image: Getty)
Homeowners can mix up a concentrated soda crystals solution or generously spray liquid soda crystals across their oven door and throughout the rest of the oven.
Allow the soda crystals to work their magic for a minimum of 20 minutes before wiping the oven clean.
Repeat this process on any particularly stubborn patches or apply dry soda crystals directly, which can serve as an abrasive, and scrub thoroughly with a cloth.
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Soda crystals are widely available online — from Big Green Smile at £2.11, or for £2 at Savers. Liquid soda crystals come in at a slightly cheaper price. These can be found at Big Green Smile for £2.45, and on Ethical Superstore for £2.99.
Another natural cleaning option for tackling oven door glass is lemons. One cleaning influencer claimed she will never go back to shop-bought oven cleaner after discovering the power of lemons.