Green Spring Cleaning: Tackle Your Oven… Without the Fumes!

Your oven has seen a lot this past year: turkey’s, pies, hams, stuffing, and loads of other holiday treats. Cleaning up the grime and grease that builds up over the holidays and winter months can be overwhelming. Not only does scrubbing the oven take a lot of time, but the fumes from most commercial oven cleaners are awful for your health.

Conventional oven cleaners contain many toxic ingredients, including ethers, ethylene glycol, lye (sodium and potassium hydroxide), methylene chloride and petroleum distillates. These chemicals can contaminate your food, are carcinogenic, and can  irritate to your skin and eyes. Luckily there is a natural alternative, that doesn’t require you to scrub for hours!

To get started, sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda on your oven floor. Then, pour enough vinegar until all the baking soda bubbling, but not so much that the baking soda floats. Leave this mixture in your oven for several hours or over night. In the morning (or several hours later) scrub with a brush or sponge and wipe out the grime. Repeat if needed.

Let us know if you like this green alternative, and stay tuned for more eco-friendly recipes!