Cleaning your oven is the first major step in extending its lifespan. Although the easiest way to make sure your oven is clean is to wipe up spills immediately after they happen, but that isn’t always easy to do. Many people lead busy, hectic lives, and cleaning an oven every time it’s used is almost impossible. However, leaving it dirty can ensure that an oven will not last for its life expectancy. Baked on food can make the oven work harder to heat up, which will burn out its heating elements faster, reducing its lifespan in the process. That’s why Landmark Home Warranty has a few tips that you can use to clean the interior of your oven.

First off, if you have a self-cleaning oven, do not use the self-cleaning feature. That feature heats the oven up to extreme temperatures to burn off leftover food, but it can hurt your oven more than help. The heating elements have to work extra hard to get the oven to those extreme temperatures, which wears them out earlier. Oven professionals have found the self-cleaning feature blows fuses and ruins electrical components.

1. Boil Water

Place a pot of boiling water into the oven for 20 minutes to loosen food particles. Clean them off.  

2. Wash your oven racks in the dishwasher 

Leave them out while you clean the rest of the oven.

This portion of cleaning your oven takes about 12 hours, so make sure to start this process when you know you won’t be using your oven for cooking. It’s a good idea to begin this process when you go to bed and finish when you wake up.  

3. Make a simple cleaning solution 

 Mix a ½ cup of baking soda with a few tablespoons of water. Make a paste.

4. Coat your oven in the solution

Spread the mixture on the dirty parts of your oven. Do not put the paste on your heating elements. Let it sit overnight.