Let’s be honest—cleaning the oven is the one job everyone puts off. That baked-on grease and burnt-on food can seem like an impossible task. But as professional cleaners here in Manchester, we’ve learned that the secret isn’t about scrubbing harder; it’s about having a smarter, professional process.

To help you get that showroom shine, we’re sharing the 5 expert tips our teams use to tackle even the toughest ovens. This is how you clean your oven like a pro.

1. Preparation is Everything (Especially for Racks)

A good job starts with good preparation. Before you even think about the oven itself, get those racks out. Place them in a bathtub or a large storage tub and cover them with hot water. Add a couple of dishwasher pods (yes, the ones for your dishwasher) and let them soak. The enzymes will do the heavy lifting, dissolving grease while you work on the main oven.

Inside the oven, remove any large, loose bits of burnt food. A quick pass with a dustpan and brush or a hoover nozzle is perfect for this.

2. Choose Your Cleaner Wisely (And Bust a Common Myth)

You have two main paths: a powerful, heavy-duty oven cleaner spray, or a more DIY approach. Both work, but the DIY method has a common trap that we see all the time.

3. The Secret Ingredient: Patience (Dwell Time)

This is the simplest, most-skipped step. Whether you’re using a chemical spray or the baking soda paste, you must let it sit. We’re not talking about 10 minutes. For a properly tough oven, we let the cleaner work for at least two hours.

Be patient and trust the process. The cleaning agents are chemically breaking down the baked-on carbon and grease. This is what stops you from having to scrub yourself into exhaustion.

4. Scrub Smart, Not Hard (And a Pro-Access Trick)

After letting it dwell, you’ll see the grime is ready to lift. Use a non-scratch scouring pad (we prefer Scrub Mommy-style pads) to agitate the surfaces. The goal is to lift and extract the loosened grease, not to scratch your oven’s enamel. It’s a process of scrubbing, wiping with a damp cloth, and (for very stubborn spots) carefully using a razor blade scraper on the glass.

Here’s a game-changer our teams use: remove the oven door. Most modern oven doors are designed to come off. Look for small latches on the hinges. Flipping these over allows you to lift the door right off, giving you far easier access to the back of the oven without leaning over a hot door.

5. The Residue-Free Final Finish

You’re almost there. The most important final step is to remove all of the cleaner residue. Get a fresh bucket of clean, warm water and a clean microfibre cloth. Wipe down every single surface inside the oven. Rinse your cloth frequently.

This step is vital. It stops any streaks from forming and, more importantly, ensures no chemical smells or residue are left behind when you next turn your oven on.

Finally, go back to your racks. The dishwasher pods will have worked their magic. Give them a quick scrub with a scourer, rinse them off, dry them, and put them back in your sparkling clean oven.