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‘Look what happened!’ Genius oven cleaning hack sends internet wild

Feb 07, 2019

Rather than using expensive and harmful cleaning products, a woman has restored her oven to pristine condition thanks to two simple ingredients. Source: Getty

There’s nothing worse than a dirty kitchen and anyone who loves cooking will know it can be particularly tough to keep the oven in spick and span shape.

Many cleaning products available can be expensive, bad for the environment and can irritate lung health for some people. In fact, some of them do very little to remove the grime and leftover food that’s been building up inside.

The Mums Who Clean Facebook group – an online community for mothers to offer support and cleaning advise to each other – is going wild after one member posted a handy hack for cleaning the oven at an affordable price.

“Look what happened,” the woman gushed alongside a photograph of her pristine oven, admitting she had only cleaned it once in nine years. “I used bi carb and vinegar and a nylon scouring pad in side [sic] the oven and the door.”

easy way to clean oven cheaply — The woman shared the amazing before and after shot of her oven with the The Mums Who Clean Facebook group. Source: Facebook.com/MumsWhoClean

While the two-step method is currently going viral and sending the internet into meltdown, it’s hardly a new hack and one many over-60s have come across in their time. In 2016, YouTube user Bethany Fontaine also went viral when she shared an instructional video of how to clean an oven naturally with the two affordable ingredients.

The clip – which has since been viewed more than 2.5 million times – begins with Fontaine taking out the oven racks and showing the extent of the filth that has built up in her oven over the years. In a bowl, she mixes the bicarb soda with 1/3 of a cup of water, forming a thick paste.

Next, she spreads the soda onto the surface of the oven and lets it sit overnight. The next day, she uses a spray bottle to add vinegar onto the surface of the oven, causing the soda to fizz. It’s then as simple as using warm water to wipe away the soda and vinegar.

In cases where the build-up is particularly bad, a spatula can be used to remove stubborn filth.

It’s not the only cleaning hack to make headlines recently. Last month, a classic cleaning spray hack that promised to clean soap scum, stove top stains, grout and even dirty couches went viral again after originally being shared online years before. The cheap spray – made of boiled water, vinegar, dishwashing liquid, eucalyptus oil and Lectric Washing Soda – costs around 35 cents a litre to make and is a more natural alternative to harmful chemicals and smelly sprays.

That recipe had originally been shared on The Cheapskates Club blog years earlier and was even the subject of a segment on A Current Affair in 2017.