By Noreen Doll.
A friend moved into a place that was in really bad shape, and she asked for ideas on how to clean it.
The oven was awful, but she didn’t want to have to spend hours trying to scrub it.
So we tried a trick that I had done before. And this was the result.
Look at the window. We had a job ahead of us!
Supplies.
Whisk Broom with Dust Pan, new
Plastic Scraper, new
Old Bath Towel
Ammonia
Dawn Dish Soap
Glass Bowl
Roll of Paper Towels
How We Cleaned the Oven Without Scrubbing.
1. First, we bought a small dust pan with a whisk broom at the Dollar Store.
We wanted a dust pan that hadn’t been used on the floor since this one would be used in the oven.
We were able to raise the front of the heating element since it is hinged at the back, and we swept out all the loose crumbs.
We used a hard plastic scraper to loosen whatever crusty stuff that we could.
2. Heat the oven to 300 degrees and turn it off.
3. Wet an old bath towel and wring it out. Place the towel in the microwave for 30 or 40 seconds until it’s good and warm.
4. Place the wet towel on the bottom rack and pour about a cup of ammonia over it.
5. Place a shallow glass bowl about half full of ammonia on the top rack and close the oven door.
I show the bowl sitting directly on the towel because this was a small top oven with only one rack, so I improvised.
6. With damp rags, block all the places the oven vents air. If the ammonia smells strong, you’ve missed a vent.
7. Leave the oven alone for several hours or overnight.
8. When you’re ready to clean the oven, remove the racks, the towel and the bowl of ammonia. And don’t forget to remove the rags from the vent holes.
Use paper towels to wipe out the worst of the sludge. Have a trash bag handy to receive the used paper towels.
When you’ve removed most of the black, use a wet rag with Dawn dish soap to finish cleaning.
The oven was so bad we had to repeat the process, and we didn’t do the Dawn dish soap until after the second ammonia session.
There were a couple of places that we rubbed lightly with baking soda, but we didn’t scrub at all.
It did take us a bit of time to wipe out all the black stuff after the ammonia did its job, but there was a LOT of stuff to remove!
Can you believe how clean the oven is!? And we did it all without scrubbing.
Caution: Do NOT combine the ammonia with anything, just use plain ammonia.
Because ammonia has strong fumes, you may want to wear eye protection, a mask, and rubber gloves.
Noreen Doll

Marie@The Interior Frugalista says
That is an awesome trick I’ve never heard of before. I must pin this for future reference. Up until a year ago I’ve never had a self-cleaning oven so this would have come in handy a few times over the years. Thanks for the awesome tutorial Noreen 🙂
Bindu says
Love this idea. I keep your blog on my blogroll.
Almost Unschoolers says
Another good tip – I’ll keep it in mind!
Jess says
I never knew about this…very interesting!
Thanks for joining the Link Up this week!
Mary Beth @ Cupcakes and Crinoline says
This is my kind of cleaning! Thanks so much for sharing at this week’s Project Inspire{d} ~ pinning and tweeting. Have a wonderful week.
Katie says
This is the way I like to clean!! Thanks for sharing this great idea.
Traci says
I cook in my oven so much my oven is rivaling your friends. This sounds like the perfect solution–no scrubbing! Motivation right there to finally clean it out…
Noreen says
Lol, Traci! I know what you mean, though. I don’t clean my oven as often as I should even having this much easier way to do it. That’s why I knew the Internet needed this post!
Manda Wolf says
Great tip! I will admit that using pure ammonia kinda of scares me.
kristi@ishouldbemoppingthefloor says
Great tip, Noreen! Thanks!
Marty@A Stroll Thru Life says
Amazing. It looks fabulous. Thanks tons for linking to Inspire Me.
Jennifer@Beauty under 10 says
Thanks for the idea!! I’m going to try this on my oven 🙂 Visiting from Share Your Talent with Twirl & Take a Bow link party!
Bobbi says
Gonna have to try this!! Thanks for sharing it!!
MariaElena says
Super great tip! Thank you so much for sharing at Tuesdays at Our Home. Hugs, Maria
Cindy @MomMaven says
Thanks! I need this!
Mallory @ Chocolate with Grace says
I would love to try this. My oven needs cleaned badly. Joining you from the weekend retreat link party.
Cheryl @ Artzzle says
Sounds like a good idea. We actually have a self-cleaning oven BUT I hate using the cleaning deal because it gets so hot and sets off our fire alarm. Found you over at the weekend retreat link party.
Linda says
Hi, Noreen, Love this post. Need. 🙂 Linda PINNED
Elizabeth says
Awesome!! Love this. I hate cleaning my oven, but the ammonia looks like it worked beautifully!! Great post and great tips! I should have known this would work, as that soak method is how I clean my microwave. What great stuff!
Joanna says
I have an old gas oven with pilot lights. Will this method work for me or will it blow up my house? I’ve seen similar oven-cleaning methods described but never had the nerve to try it due to the open flame!
Noreen says
I can’t promise it would be safe for you to use the ammonia in gas oven with a pilot light. I’m sorry I don’t know the answer and I can’t recommend it because I don’t know how safe it would be.
Weekends Are Fun (Linky) says
This is a perfect idea for my oven, I like the no scrubbing and the towel idea, will try this tonight. I found you on Made From Pinterest Party!! I would like to invite you to my Weekends Are Fun too!!!
Enjoy your weekend, and thanks for the tip!
Helen Fern says
I’ll be trying it this week!
Genna Millar says
Pinned for future reference! Oh yes – that will certainly save a lot of time, effort and money in the future! Thanks!
Jelli says
Wow, what a difference! I’ve used baking soda and water to get mine clean, but it never sparkled like this. I guess sometimes you’ve got to go for heavy duty chemicals to get it extra clean. Now I’d like to know how to clean the crusty gunk off of my stovetop burner inserts.
Noreen says
Put the burners in a black plastic bag with a cup of ammonia. Close tightly and put it in the sun for several hours. The gunk should come right off.
Caroline (Becoming a SAHM) says
Wow, great tip, sounds like a great way to clean your oven with no scrubbing. fantastic results 🙂
Julie V. says
This looks really wonderful!
Though, I hate moving into new places and finding a mess, ugh. I once moved into a place and found that the fridge had been emptied of food, but that was it–there was a towel still in the meat drawer, a spoon surrounded by melted ice cream in the freezer, and everything else you’d expect in a fridge with those 2 things.
I took out all the shelves I could and ran them through the dishwasher, instead of washing by hand. It worked well. The shelves that were too big to fit in the dishwasher I did have to wash by hand.
I’m glad this trick worked out so well since I’d imagine there were other messes for you to clean up. I will have to use this for routine oven cleaning… and the next time I move again.
Angie says
This helpful post is being featured on my blog today as part of Tuesdays with a Twist blog hop! If you get a chance please stop by.
Thanks
Angie
susan mcmillan says
hi just wondering about the smell after you have finished thank you
Kristina & Millie says
amazing! wow what a difference and without scrubbing so even more awesome. Now you reminded me mine really neads cleaning 🙁
Noreen says
Once you remove the bowl of ammonia and the ammonia laden towel from the oven, the odor dissipates quickly. And she said there wasn’t any odor the first time she used the oven, either.
Nancherrow says
Great tip! You’re one of the features on this week’s Fridays Unfolded!
Alison
Nancherrow
Laura@Baking in Pyjamas says
Great tip, I can see it’s worked really well. This has been featured as one of the most viewed links over at Sweet and Savoury Sunday. Stop by, grab your button and link up again this week.
Christina Linns says
Until now I can say I was afraid of cleaning the oven. The scrubbing took a big part in my cleaning. Thanks for helping me clean it much easier. You’re awesome!
Virginia says
Great cleaning tip. Thanks!
Jann Olson says
Wow, what a difference! Really a great tip. Thanks for sharing it with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Jean | DelightfulRepast.com says
Noreen, what about the glass door? Does this work, or do you need to do something else for that? (Just came over from Lou Lou Girls links.)
Noreen says
Yes, it works on the glass door, too. If there is a bit left on the door, you can use baking soda and a damp paper towel to finish it.
Jennifer says
Great tip! Thanks for sharing at My Flagstaff Home!
Jennifer
Elaine says
What a great tip!! Thanks for sharing on My 2 Favorite Things on Thursday! Hope to see you again this week! Pinned!
Lisa @ Fun Money Mom says
Wow, I want to be your friend…LOL! I’m amazed that you were able to get it so clean! Thanks so much for sharing at Share The Wealth Sunday!
xoxo
Lisa
Noreen says
One can never have too many friends!
Anna says
That’s amazing, it’s so clean! I’ll have to try this out on my oven!