Indulging in your favorite foods by baking or grilling them is wonderful—until you see the grease build up inside your oven. Although you can buy excellent chemical oven degreasing treatments, it’s safer and more effective to make your own without using harmful chemicals.
Homemade oven degreasers are perfect if you don’t have any degreasing products on hand. They are also environmentally friendly as they’re mostly chemical-free and are not harmful to your health. The trick is to add a dissolving agent and an abrasive ingredient to your homemade oven degreaser.
If you are ready to face that stubborn oven grease, you’ve come to the right place. This article will discuss a few of the best homemade oven degreasers you can try; they are equally effective. You will be surprised that everything you need is in your kitchen. Let’s get cleaning!
How To Make A Homemade Degreaser For Your Oven
It is straightforward to make your own oven degreaser, and you can also make different recipes. Some may smell better or work faster, but they are all effective in getting the job done.
In a world where most people are turning to greener living, making your oven degreaser contributes to this movement. Chemical-free products leave no carbon footprint.
Below we will provide eight effective homemade oven degreaser recipes, leaving it up to you to choose the one you prefer.
Before you start, It is important to remove the oven racks before you apply the degreaser. You will notice that the racks also have grease build-up and need to be degreased, especially in the areas where the supporting rods are welded to the rack’s frame.
The best thing to do is to place the racks in the dishwasher (if you have one and if they can fit) to pre-degrease all the small spaces around the steel before you use your homemade degreaser to remove the rest easier.
Another thing you can do is place a bathroom mat or old towel in the bathtub to protect the surface and place the rack on top. Fill the tub with warm water to cover the whole rack(s), and leave it to soak until you have finished degreasing the oven’s immovable interiors.
Homemade Oven Degreaser With Orange Essential Oil
There is something about the smell of citrus that feels and smells extra clean and homey. There are some extremely potent oven degreasers on the market that, no matter how effective they are, makes you want to wear a gas mask while using them.
Not orange homemade oven degreaser. The delightful smell makes the cleaning process much less painful or harmful. This is one of our favorite recipes, and when you try it for yourself, you will understand why
What You Need:
- Clean, warm water
- 4 x Tablespoons Castille liquid soap (100% chemical-free)
- ½ Cup apple cider vinegar (or distilled white vinegar)
- 3 Cups baking soda
- 12 drops of orange essential oil
- Mixing bowl
- Basting brush
- Clean cloth
Method:
- Mix all the ingredients thoroughly
- Use the basting brush to paint (baste) your orange oven degreaser on all the oven’s interior surfaces. Make sure you dab the mixture into those hard-to-reach spaces, and don’t forget the corners.
- Let it sit for 8-10 hours, or leave it overnight.
- After the recommended time, use clean, warm water and a cloth to wipe down the inside of the oven. The grease should wipe off easily as this recipe is specifically made to soften and lift the built-up grease. Continue wiping it down until no more degreasing residue is left on any of the walls and other surfaces.
Important Note – Use the degreaser to clean the oven racks, but instead of leaving it overnight, use a bristle brush to gently scrub the grease off and rinse it under hot water. An old toothbrush also works great to scrub the grease where the rack rods are welded to the frame.
Homemade Oven Degreaser With Dish Soap, Salt & Baking Soda
This is a very simple recipe that does not take long to prepare.
What You Need:
- Clean warm water
- White vinegar
- A spray bottle
- A mixing bowl
- Liquid dish soap
- Baking Soda
- Coarse salt
Method:
- The amount of dish soap you use will be the amount of degreaser you make. Therefore, ensure that you add your dish soap before adding the baking soda and salt.
- Add equal amounts of coarse salt and baking soda until you achieve an abrasive cake frosting consistency that will stick instead of running down.
- Apply your degreasing paste to the entire inside of the oven; walls, roof, floor, and corners.
- Let it sit for about 2-3 hours. (During this time, you can start cleaning the racks that have been soaking in the bathtub or have been through a dishwasher cycle. Use a soft to medium bristle brush to gently scrub the soggy grease off).
- After 2-3 hours, dampen a sponge in warm water (squeezing out any excess water to prevent dripping all over the place).
- Gently wipe (soft scrub) the paste, and make sure you clean all the nooks and crannies.
- Once you have scrubbed and wiped off all the paste, lightly spritz white vinegar where you applied the paste, and use warm water and a clean rag or cloth to wipe down any paste residue.
- If your racks are clean from soaking and scrubbing, you can dry them and place them back into the oven. If any stubborn grease remains, apply a bit of the paste and repeat what you did with the oven.
Important Note – An abrasive homemade oven degreaser is great for the inside of the oven; however, be careful if you want to use it to clean your stove tops. Using a softer, less-abrasive cleaning substance would be best to prevent the stovetop from losing its shine.
Fragrant Homemade Oven Degreaser
This amazing homemade degreaser is safe and effective enough for degreasing ovens (including ceramic ovens), oven racks, stove tops, and basins.
What You Need:
- 1 x Tablespoon unscented Castille liquid soap (100% chemical-free)
- 1¼ x Tablespoons baking soda
- A spray bottle
- 25 Drops PH-neutral essential oil (you can choose any scent that you prefer)
- 1¼ x Cups distilled white vinegar
- 3¾ x Cups warm water
Method:
- Pour the liquid Castille soap, water, baking soda, and vinegar into the spray bottle.
- Add 25 drops of your chosen scented essential oil into the bottle.
- Replace the spray nozzle and gently shake the bottle until all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
- Spray the degreaser on all the surfaces you want to degrease and let it sit for 1-2 hours before using a sponge and warm water to wipe the crease away. You can repeat this process on tougher grease if necessary.
- Label the bottle and keep the rest until the next time you need to degrease anything.
Important Note – Ensure that you are using non-acidic essential oil. If your degreaser contains acidic essential oil, it could tarnish the surfaces you are degreasing, especially metals such as copper, aluminum, and copper alloys.
Herbal Homemade Oven Degreaser
This degreaser takes a bit longer to make, but it is very effective, making it well worth the extra time.
What You Need:
- 4-6 x cleaning soap nuts
- Medium cooking pot
- Mixing bowl
- 2 x Cups water
- 3 x Cups baking soda
- ½ x Cup apple cider vinegar
- 4-8 Drops of citrus essential oil
- Spatula or wooden spoon
Method:
- Boil the soap nuts in the water for about 30 minutes.
- Remove the soap nuts from the water.
- Add 1 cup of the soap nut water to a mixing bowl.
- Add 3 cups baking soda, ½ cup apple cider vinegar, and 4-8 drops of citrus essential oil.
- Mix well using a spatula or wooden spoon and add water until you achieve a thick and spreadable paste.
- Spread the herbal oven degreaser over the tough grease, and leave it to sit for 45 minutes to an hour before using a sponge or cloth to wipe away the grease.
Important Note – Ensure that you remove all the soap nut pieces (including the shells) before continuing with the recipe.
Simple Homemade Lemon Oven Degreaser
This oven degreaser takes seconds to prepare and works great thanks to the incredible degreasing power of the limonene in the lemon peel.
What You Need:
- 3 x Cups hot water
- 30 x Drops of lemon essential oil
- A spray bottle
- 1½ x Tablespoons baking soda
Method:
- Add the warm water into the spray bottle first
- Add the baking soda to the water second.
- Add the lemon essential oil last.
- Shake the bottle gently until the ingredients are mixed thoroughly.
- Spray the degreaser on the built-up oven grease, let it sit for an hour, and wipe it off with a sponge or cloth.
- Repeat if necessary.
Important Note – If you do not have lemon essential oil, you can replace it with lemon juice.
Homemade Oven Degreaser With Washing Soda
Washing soda is a wonderful degreaser, not only for clothes but for built-up, greasy, grimy ovens too.
What You Need:
- 1 x Cup salt
- ½ x Cup washing soda
- ½ x Cup water
- ¼ x Cup distilled white vinegar
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula/wooden spoon
Method:
- Mix the baking soda, washing soda, vinegar, and salt in a mixing bowl.
- Slowly start adding the water until you achieve a thick, spreadable paste.
- Spread the paste on the stubborn oven grease and allow it to sit overnight.
- Use a sponge and warm water to wipe away the grease in the morning.
Important Note – If you want to make your homemade degreaser fragrant, add ½ cup of distilled white vinegar and a few drops of citrus essential oil in a spray bottle and spritz it over where you had wiped off the degreaser. White this mixture off with a clean cloth to remove any leftover residue.
Homemade Oven Degreaser With Ammonia
Although this oven degreaser recipe isn’t as environmentally friendly as the others, it is very effective. Ammonia is used to beat dirt and grime, but this recipe takes its cleaning power to a new level!
What You Need:
- An empty liquid dish soap bottle
- Ammonia (enough to fill the empty bottle halfway)
- Hot Water
- Liquid Castille soap (100% natural)
Method:
- Fill the empty liquid dish soap bottle half full with ammonia.
- Fill the rest of the bottle with hot water.
- Add about 20 drops of the liquid Castille soap, place the cap back on and make sure it is on tightly. Shake the bottle to mix the ingredients.
- On very tough, thick built-up grease, pour a generous amount to cover the area. You can pour some of the mixtures onto a clean cloth and wipe the grease away for not-so-tough grease.
- Let the degreaser sit on the tough grease spots for about 2 hours before wiping it off with a sponge and warm water.
Important Note – If you have sensitive skin, wear a pair of kitchen gloves to protect it from ammonia. It would be best to open some windows and get a good airflow to make the strong ammonia smell tolerable and less harmful.
Is Homemade Oven Degreasers Safe To Use?
As with most things in life, homemade oven degreasers are safe to use in moderation. Even if there are no secret chemical components in a DIY degreaser, it is nevertheless potent enough to cause harm to porous surfaces and skin if you use it excessively.
When cleaning with a degreaser, or any cleaning agent for that matter, it’s important to wear safety gear (including a mask to prevent inhalation of harsh fumes) to avoid injury.
Why Do Baking Soda & Vinegar Make Such A Good Degreaser?
As a result of their acid-base reaction, vinegar and baking soda are excellent degreasing partners in crime! You may use this powerful combination to clean dirt and grease from surfaces throughout the house. Imagine what this power combo can do to grease and grime if it can make a volcano erupt for a school science project.
Conclusion
Instead of risking exposure to harmful chemicals like TSP, which is found in many commercial degreasers, making your own at home is a simple and affordable alternative.
TSP is an effective chemical degreasing agent; however, it has serious negative effects on your health, skin, and the environment. Natural degreasers are equally as effective as their chemical counterparts but without the added health risks.