How to Clean a Dirty Oven With Ammonia
Easy Alternative Way to Clean Your Electric Oven…
After having such great success with using ammonia fumes to clean the grates of my grill and stovetop, I decided that using a similar method to clean the inside of my oven would be worth a shot. (This method is not recommended for gas ovens.)
Why Clean Your Oven with Ammonia?
Store-bought oven cleaners can cost more and are full of chemicals. Plus, an oven repairman told a friend of mine that the self-clean feature on ovens can be hard on the oven itself and shorten the life of it in the long run. Is this true? I’m not sure, but I suppose it makes sense because that method uses such high temperatures for an extended time.
Materials Needed for Cleaning Your Oven with Ammonia
- Ammonia
- 2 heat-safe glass dishes
- Some sponges
- Water
- A dirty oven
How to Clean an Oven with Ammonia
- Preheat the oven to 200, then turn it off.
- Place about 2 cups of ammonia in a glass heat-safe dish on the top rack of the oven.
- Use another glass heat-safe dish and fill it with about 2 cups of boiling water and carefully place on the lower rack.
- Close oven door.
- Let the fumes work overnight, or for 8-12 hours.
Note: some fumes will escape the oven, so if possible, open some nearby windows to ventilate the area.
I recently needed to clean a rental home so I decided it was the perfect opportunity to test cleaning an oven with ammonia. The oven definitely hadn’t been cleaned in a long time (as you can see from the pictures) so let’s see how well this method works!
After you let the ammonia and the water sit in the oven overnight, you should be able to wipe most of it clean with just a hot, wet scrub sponge. It worked pretty well for me! There were a few spots that required a bit of scrubbing, but most of the gunk came off with ease.
They suggested sprinkling baking soda onto the hot, wet sponge before wiping. But from my experience, I don’t think the baking soda helped a whole lot and I had to wipe over the surface again with water to get rid of the film left behind. So, I just did it without the baking soda.
Overall, I would definitely do it this way again. I think it’s one of the best ways to clean an electric oven. Plus ammonia is cheap and easy to find in the cleaning supplies aisle!
Hope you have equally great results cleaning your oven with ammonia!
About Cleaning with Ammonia:
- If you have a gas oven, you can still try this method, but you will need to turn off the pilot light, make sure it is out and the gas has been turned off.
- For safety precautions, wear rubber gloves and safety glasses when working with ammonia. You don’t want it to splash up into your eyes! The Poison Control Center recommends disposing of your ammonia down a sink where there is plenty of ventilation, such as a garage sink. If you do not have a garage sink, they recommend opening a window near the sink you are using for 10-15 minutes.
- Never mix ammonia with other strong cleaning agents, such as bleach or oven cleaners.
- Household ammonia cleaning solutions usually have between 5 -10% ammonia. If you store and use the proper safety precautions with household ammonia, it can be used WITHOUT any toxic effects.
More Great DIY Household Cleaner Recipes:
- EASY Way to Clean Stove Burners & Grill Grates!
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See all of our DIY household cleaner recipes here!
This post first appeared on Fabulessly Frugal on May 15, 2015
How to Clean a Dirty Oven With Ammonia
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 cups ammonia
- TWO heat-safe glass dishes
- 2 cups boiling water
- Dirty Oven
Instructions
- Preheat electric oven to 200 degrees F, then turn off.
- Add 1 to 2 cups ammonia to a heat-safe glass dish and set on the middle rack in the oven.
- In a separate dish, fill with about 2 cups boiling water and set on bottom rack.
- Shut the oven door and leave overnight.
- The next morning, remove the dishes and wipe down the inside with a hot wet sponge.
Notes
If you have a gas oven, you can still try this method, but you will need to turn off the pilot light, make sure it is out and the gas has been turned off.
For safety precautions, wear rubber gloves and safety glasses when working with ammonia. You don't want it to splash up into your eyes! The Poison Control Center recommends disposing your ammonia down a sink where there is plenty of ventilation, such as a garage sink. If you do not have a garage sink, they recommend opening a window near the sink you are using for 10-15 minutes.
Never mix ammonia with other strong cleaning agents, such as bleach or oven cleaners.
Household ammonia cleaning solutions usually have between 5 -10% ammonia. If you store and use the proper safety precautions with household ammonia, it can be used WITHOUT any toxic effects.
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Thank you for the tip, cannot wait to try it this weekend. My self oven cleaner hasnt worked for years and I try to wipe it clean when I can but its such a chore. Will let you know how it works out!!
Yes, please do let me know how it goes!
Very disappointed. Nothing near the miracle depicted in the story. Give this one a pass…however, I have used this method to clean stovetop grates and it was great. Not for the oven though. Now I am waiting for the easy off to do it’s stuff.
Sorry this didn’t work well for you. Glad that it worked well for the stovetop grates though! Thank you for sharing how it went for you.
As Been ex army our ovens always been cleaned with amonia,but in a different way.place trays in a black bag pour some ammonia over tie up,leave for a day in the garden.pour the rest of the ammonia in a bowl in the bottom of the oven shut the door and leave for a day,oven be easy to clean.when you take the tray out of the bag just wipe with soapy water they be shiny as new.i swear on ammonia best oven cleaner forget sprays and paste they no good
Why isn’t anyone mentioning the fact that this “trick”, though really great, should NOT be used on gas ovens? I was about to try it when I decided to check out other articles on ammonia cleaning, and one of them specifically said DO NOT USE ON GAS OVEN. This should be pointed out. It could be very dangerous.
Thanks. I don’t have a gas oven, so I didn’t know about that.
I am glad I read further. I just boiled the water, shut off the oven and put water and ammonia in the gas oven. Ran to take out the ammonia. Preface this tip with a warning about gas ovens Please.
It was mentioned in the article that it can be done on a gas oven… Just TURN OFF THE PILOT LIGHT & do not relight until oven is totally clear of fumes.
Hi ladies – does anyone have a good method for cleaning a gas oven please?
Cheers
Berny
I would try this:
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/8 cup Dawn dish soap
2 cups hot water
3 teaspoons baking soda (plus more for sprinkling)
Combine ingredients in a spray bottle and shake to mix. Spray onto the oven surface to soak. Then sprinkle generous amounts of baking soda on top. Spray more of the vinegar mixture over it. Leave overnight. In the morning, wipe out the mixture with hot soapy water.
Please let me know if you find something better!
How safe is it to cook on the grills after it has been cleaned with the ammonia?
Will the smell linger onto food? if cleaning the roof of oven, will any bits remain and drip onto food?
With this method, it is solely the fumes that clean the oven, so the grates are not even in direct contact with the ammonia. Even so, just wiping the oven out or rinsing with water is enough to remove any ammonia. In fact, I have used ammonia to safely clean grill grates before with great success: https://fabulesslyfrugal.com/easy-way-to-clean-stove-burners-grill-grates/ . The smell will quickly dissipate once the liquid is removed, so it will not affect any food.
This method does not work !!!!! Better use the real Easy-off spray!!!!
I’ve just read the other comments and noticed that you can’t use ammonia on a gas oven… shame.
Do you have any alternative suggestions for cleaning gas ovens?
Yeah. I actually tried it a little while ago before I heard it could be dangerous and it didn’t work as well anyway.
I would try the vinegar and dish soap method that I mention in a comment just above.
Would love to hear if anyone find anything better for gas ovens!
Hello,
Could someone explain why using the ammonia method for gas stoves is dangerous?
Thanks!
Great! Can i use this method to clean my OTG aka TOASTER OVEN? may be by placing 2 disposable bread pans filled with water n ammonia side by side?
Maybe? Not sure. But let us know if you try it out and how it goes!
I have had the experience of using the auto clean feature on my new (less than 6 months old) LG oven. I put it on auto clean and the oven only half cleaner before it blew up the high temperature sensor shut off switch. The Oven was dead. Would not work at all. I called LG and since it was still under warrantee they sent out a repairmen who replaced the switch. He told me to NEVER USE THE SELF CLEAN FEATURE, it always damages the oven. The oven that I purchased was the top of the line LG, not cheap ! Never again will use that feature. Just a waning to others.
Great Idea. I have been putting off my oven as long as you did. It looks like the twin to yours. LOL. Will do this tonight. No more waiting. thanks
If leaving the ammonia in overnight does the smell permeate the house? Will it affect lungs while sleeping or is it just contained in the kitchen?
I didn’t notice any ammonia smell unless I stood right next to the oven. So, in my experience, it does not permeate the house and it does stay pretty contained. 🙂
My mother used to always clean her oven with ammonia and tried to encourage me to do the same. She told me to just put a saucer of ammonia in the oven and wipe it out next morning. I couldn’t get it to work for me until I found your method with the hot water and warm oven .. I was delighted with how clean my oven became and how easy it was … thank you for this
So glad!! 😀
Can this be used in a convection oven
I have never tried it but from the searches I did on the internet, it says that it is safe for a convection oven as well!
How much water and ammonia?
Looks like the instructions were lost with a recent website change! Thanks for bringing it to my attention, Janet. I just updated the post to include that info. 🙂
Tried this and next morning it was all just as dry and hard as it was when I put it in. Had not moistened or softened anything! Very disappointing.
I followed the instructions which worked really well on lightly baked areas but there are still lots of heavily baked on areas. I have scrubbed without success. Do you have any suggestions?
Sorry, Debbie! I hope you find a solution that works well for you. This worked great for me, so I haven’t had to look any further.
Worked great! For others who may have had problems, did you use a sponge with a green “scrubber” side as in the picture, and did you make sure the sponge was wet with WARM water? My oven is over 30 years old and was very very dirty. 🤦🏼♀️😳😂 some spots needed some scrubbing but most just wiped right off. Thank you soooo much for your help! 😃
I have a newer Maytag electric oven that has an aqua self-cleaning option. No matter how many times I followed Maytag’s instructions, the self-cleaning function never worked. The inside of my oven always looked awful and leftover spills set off my fire alarm. I tried lots of ways to clean my oven. Nothing worked, even a lot of elbow grease.
I’m so glad that I tried this method. It worked! I wish I had taken before and after pics. I was a little meticulous about getting it thoroughly spotless, even the grills, which took a little time, but it easily scrubbed right off!
How fantastic that it worked so well or you! A clean oven is ♥! Thanks for sharing your experience.
Would this work with a ninja?
You don’t have to turn the gas off on your stove if your gas oven uses an ignition system to light. You only have to turn off the gas if your oven uses a pilot to get the fire going. In 1990, all pilots were replaced in the US with ignition systems. Best way to tell what you have is that if you hear a clicking sound when you turn on a burner on your stove, that’s ignition. If you have a blue flame in the middle of your stove under the grate pans, you need to turn the gas off.