Appliances

A Heat Free Way to Clean your Oven and Extend its Lifespan

THE MATERIAL CONTAINED IN THIS ARTICLE IS PROVIDED FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE PROFESSIONAL ADVICE.LANDMARK HOME WARRANTY DOES NOT PURPORT TO BE A SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT WITH REGARD TO THIS MATERIAL, AND YOU SHOULD CONDUCT YOUR OWN RESEARCH AND/OR SEEK THE ADVICE OF APPROPRIATELY QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS WITH REGARD TO YOUR SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES BEFORE YOU TAKE ACTION. LANDMARK HOME WARRANTY ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ALL LIABILITY, FOR YOUR USE OF ANY AND ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN.


Learn how to clean your oven without using the damaging self cleaning feature in this DIY article.

Cleaning your oven is the first major step in extending its lifespan. Although the easiest way to make sure your oven is clean is to wipe up spills immediately after they happen, it can be hard to remember to clean the oven after it's cooled down. Many people lead busy, hectic lives, and cleaning an oven every time it's used is almost impossible. Leaving your oven dirty ensures it will last less than its life expectancy. Baked-on food can make the oven work harder to heat up, which will burn out its heating elements faster, reducing its lifespan in the process. That's why Landmark Home Warranty has a few tips that you can use to clean the interior of your oven.

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First off, if you have a self-cleaning oven, do not use the self-cleaning feature. That feature heats the oven up to extreme temperatures to burn off leftover food, but it can hurt your oven more than help. The heating elements have to work extra hard to get the oven to those extreme temperatures, which wears them out earlier. Oven professionals have found the self-cleaning feature blows fuses and ruins electrical components. Sometimes the self-cleaning feature breaks the glass on your oven door!

1. BOIL WATER

Place a pot of boiling water into the oven for 20 minutes to loosen food particles. Clean them off.

2. WASH YOUR OVEN RACKS IN THE DISHWASHER 

Leave them out while you clean the rest of the oven.

This portion of cleaning your oven takes about 12 hours, so make sure to start this process when you know you won't be using your oven for cooking. It's a good idea to begin this process when you go to bed and finish when you wake up.

3. MAKE A SIMPLE CLEANING SOLUTION 

 Mix a a ½ cup of baking soda with a few tablespoons of water. Make a paste.

Clean your oven using this paste of baking soda and water. 

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4. COAT YOUR OVEN IN THE SOLUTION

Spread the mixture on the dirty parts of your oven. Do not put the paste on your heating elements. Let it sit overnight.

Coat your oven in this solution to begin eating away at the grease. 

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5. WIPE OUT SOLUTION

After 12 hours, wipe out the solution from your oven.

Let the solution sit for 12 hours in order to clean the oven properly.. 

6. RINSE WITH VINEGAR

Douse a rag in some vinegar to make the leftover solution foam off.

Rinse the oven with vinegar, further removing grease and stains. 

Do not leave baking soda residue on your oven and try and bake with it - it will smell. Make sure to get all of the excess baking soda solution out of the oven.

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Your oven is clean!

Put your oven racks back into the oven, and your oven is now clean!

Cleaning your oven can extend the lifespan of your oven, but even with the best cleaning and maintenance, your oven will eventually fail from normal wear and tear. When that happens, it's helpful to have a home warranty to protect your home and budget. Home warranties take care of unexpected costs from systems and appliances that fail from normal wear and tear. Instead of paying hundreds or thousands of dollars on a new oven, you can pay a flat rate service call fee with a home warranty if your oven failed from normal wear and tear.

For more information about home warranties, go to Landmark's main page at www.landmarkhw.com. There you can learn more about home warranties in general and what a home warranty covers.

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