How To: Clean Your Oven with Ammonia

This may be a well-known trick to some, but it was new to us so we thought we'd share. In the past we've avoided ammonia in our cleaning routine because the smell seemed too strong. But with that powerful smell apparently comes a cleaning power from the fumes alone...

In a cold oven, place a glass dish with half a cup of full-strength ammonia. Close the oven and let it stand overnight. The next day the grime on the oven walls should be loosened sufficiently to be easily wiped away with a damp sponge.

As an added bonus, a Seattle P-I reader (we originally spotted this trick in this article in the P-I) suggests pouring the leftover ammonia into a garbage bag with the oven racks, tying it up and letting the bundle sit overnight in its turn. The oven racks will be similarly wipeable in the morning.

Edit: In the method mentioned above, we forgot to add that the bags should be left outside or in a garage overnight, not inside the home.

Image: bengt-re

Comments (21)

Hmmm? Full-strength ammonia poured directly into a plastic garbage bag. I think I'd put the bag and its contents in the bathtub, not on the kitchen floor. There may be no reaction between ammonia and the petroleum products from which garbage bags are made, but safety first. I'd confine the mess (should there be one) to a place that's easy to clean.

I cannot believe AT is promoting Ammonia, so toxic, so bad for you, bad for the environment. Especially bad for young children's lungs and we wonder where the asthma comes from and very dangerous for animals to inhale..all this just to clean your oven!
Sorry but this is irresponsible.

Use alternative cleaning solutions, its easy, it works it's safe. I use my oven constantly and need to clean often-
Oven Cleaner

Mix together: ¼ c. baking soda
2 tbsp. salt
Hot water, as needed to make a paste.
Let paste sit for 5 minutes. Caution: Keep off wires/heating elements.
OR
2 tbsp. liquid soap (castile, peppermint)
2 tsp. borax
1 qt. warm water
Spray on oven and wait 20 minutes, then clean. For tough stains, scrub with very fine steel wool and baking soda.

Whoaaa right on time! I'm attacking the oven next!

Thank you LoriSF! I was just about to do a little scolding and provide the same recipe for the magic baking soda solution--which also works great for getting burnt on food off of pans.

Is there anything that doesn't cause asthma? I mean really...urine contains ammonia and I don't foresee an easy way of avoiding that one.

yikes! ammonia is BAD stuff!

Thank you LoriSF. My oven is in need of a good cleaning, but I didn't know what to do in terms of cleaning it with safe products. Love that I don't even have to buy anything new.
I'm kinda surprised to find the promotion of ammonia to use in this way (or any way) on this site.

Well, manys, we don't leave bowls of urine lying around the house, do we? We prefer to flush it away, far away, right? Also, yes, there are things that don't cause asthma. For example, a paste made of baking soda, salt, and water.

Lori--

Thanks for the recipe - my oven needs cleaning and I really didn't want to have to buy a can of Easy-Off!!!
:-)

LoriSF is right! Ammonia and commercial cleaners are toxic!

Click on the link below to check out homemade cleaners for everything:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/make-your-own-non-toxic-cleaning-kit.html

I could see using ammonia for this. I don't bake enough to need it right now, but if I do, it is good to know. : )

To those against ammonia, I have known people who use it clean floors, windows, bathrooms etc.... I think vinegar can clean almost anything, but it can not clean the stove.
To have a small closed bottle that is used on one thing, once or twice a year, is not that bad.

We've been using ammonia for an eternity. It's not THAT dangerous, and it's not even especially toxic once it's diluted with water and flushed down the drain.

Just try not to breathe a lot of it in, and don't mix it with other cleaners.

It will make cleaning your oven a snap. And it's dirt cheap.

thank you, LoriSF - i was looking for that recipe :-)

i do not think ammonia a good idea, either - i'd rather keep stuff that is "not that dangerous" away from where i prepare meals. and i guess the less we use them, on a whole, the better.

right on, jezebella.

I used the baking soda/borax method a while ago, and it was pretty easy. There's really no need to put ammonia in your oven. I haven't used it in years and I don't miss it at all.

Someone here on AT recommended heating the oven just enough to soften the gunk (about 100 degrees?), and then using water and dish soap to clean it.

I have a self-cleaning oven, but I've heard way too many horror stories about fried circuit boards, etc., to ever use that feature.

I use something like Lori's... only trouble is trying to get the baking soda paste to stick to the walls long enough to soak gunk off. That powerful smell just gets to me too much to have ammonia in the house.

I might add that you don't actually need to clean the fired-on stuff. Just wipe up spills and crumbs during/after each use of the oven.

Huh. I've never had any trouble with the self-cleaning feature of the oven - I use it every spring and fall to take care of all the burnt-on gunk. Didn't even realise some folks had had major problems with it. (I have a Kenmore oven, if that matters...)

Sorry, but we definitely don't pee out ammonia. We do pee out urea, which is synthesized in the body by the liver. Urea is much less toxic than ammonia and is excreted in low concentrations, so leaving bowls of it around your house won't do much other than raise some eyebrows.

Thanks LoriSF for getting right on top of the scolding about this post. I haven't read AT in a couple of days and was completely shocked when I saw this post.

Please, please, please, please dear AT readers, never ever try this method at home. Ammonia is not only an irritant that can severely burn your mucous membranes, but it is a huge environmental toxin. When ammonia is poured down the drain and ends up back in our waterways, it adds excess nitrogen to the ecosystem. Nitrogen, being a fertilizer, fosters the growth of many unwelcome plant/animal species and throwing off the balance of the entire ecosystem.

Apartment Therapy, I love your blogs, subscribe to them in my Google Reader, but I can't hold my tongue on this one. I read your mission statement and it states: "Helping people make their homes more beautiful, organized and healthy by connecting them to a wealth of resources, ideas and community online." This post about cleaning your oven with ammonia doesn't foster a way to make people's homes healthy. Please update this post to give some natural alternatives that don't pollute the our bodies or our lands. LoriSF's recipe is a fabulous alternative that really works. Maybe a repost of this post from last week is in order: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/cleaning/a-compendium-of-allnatural-cleaning-tipsreal-simple-079952

You guys do an awesome job normally, but this one was a little (or a lot) misguided.

I just cleaned my mess of an oven with a paste I made using Bon-Ami (a very green cleaner) and water.

I made the paste thick enough (but not too thick) and it actually clung to the roof and sides of the oven with no problem. I spread it on with an old off set cake knife which worked really well for the roof application.

I closed the oven door and let it sit for 2 hours...I periodically sprayed it with water since the layer was getting sort of crusty.

The floor and sides of the oven are like brand new but the roof (which is the messiest) needs another application. I'll probably leave that on overnight.

I am very happy with the results (no fumes!).

I agree with everyone that disagreed with the idea of using ammonia. When I read that suggestion I was shocked!!