The one cleaning tool I use to deep clean my oven without breaking a sweat – it transformed my greasy oven toxin-free

Giving your oven a good clean is one of those chores that’s too easy to put off, until suddenly you’re confronted with a grimy glass door, baked-on grease and a layer of something unidentifiable lurking on the racks. Enter a wonderous cleaning multi-tool, in the form of a steam cleaner.

I'm happy to admit that cleaning the oven is one of my least favourite cleaning jobs. And let’s be honest, who actually enjoys scrubbing for hours with harsh chemicals? Not me! So, in a bid to make my life easier (and my oven a lot less shameful), I decided to tackle the somewhat arduous job with one of the best steam cleaners.

I’ve seen people rave about how effortlessly it cuts through grime so I decided to give it a whirl and haven't looked back since. So armed with my trusty steam cleaner, a handheld one with a scraper attachment for precision work (I use the Bissell Steam Shot Handheld Steam Cleaner which is a steal on Amazon) I got to work.

Cleaning the oven door

Steering me away from any oven cleaning mistakes, the beauty of using steam is that you don’t need to use any harsh chemicals, just water which instantly made the whole process feel less like a battle and more like a clever oven cleaning hack.

I started with the cleaning the glass oven door, where layers of splattered oil had built up over time (and, let’s be real, it wasn't a pretty sight).

Attaching the plastic scraper to the cleaner with the steam a few centimetres away, the steady blast of hot steam loosened up the grime like a treat. A quick wipe with a microfibre cloth, and the glass was already looking a lot more acceptable, bar a few stubborn marks.

Our steam cleaner recommendations

Cleaning the oven racks

I moved onto the racks which are notoriously a nightmare to clean. Feeling more confident, I removed them, placed them on newspaper on the kitchen floor, and gave them the full steam treatment. For the side racks, I was able to use the hose attachment to reach right inside the oven.

The built-up residue softened relatively easily. Saying that, if I cleaned the oven more it would have surely been a lot easier.

I have to come clean and say I did have to give them (albeit) a light scrub from a scourer (no elbow grease required), to make the racks really gleam and that's purely because of how often I clean my oven, which is seldom.

No overnight soaking in the bath, no endless scrubbing though. Just steam, gentle scrub, done.

Cleaning the oven interior

Then I moved on to the trickiest part of an oven clean – the walls and base. I wasn’t entirely convinced that steam alone would shift the years of baked-on spills and I was right.

I held the nozzle over the worst spots and let the steam do its magic. Slowly but surely, the gunk started to lift but I did have to cheat slightly with the help of an oven scraper (this is the one I used gingerly available on Amazon) and a dab or two of the pink stuff which is a great viral cleaning hack by the way.

The results

Eh voila! A clean oven in 30 or so minutes. No wafting chemical smells, no scrubbing my arms off for hours, just the power of steam (bar a few extra products here and there).

Would I use a steam cleaner for my oven again? Absolutely. It’s quick, effective, and dare I say it, oddly satisfying.

However, I did need to succumb to a few cleaning products to cut through the baked-on filth because my oven was embarrassingly grimy. If you use a steam cleaner for more regular deep cleaning though, it'll surely work a charm.

FAQs

Does steam cleaning really work?

With many modern ovens featuring a built-in steam cleaning function, it's clear that steam cleaning works to make oven messes softer and easier to wipe away without the need for harsh chemical cleaners.

However, while it's great for light to moderate spills and general upkeep, it’s not a miracle solution for heavily soiled ovens.

If you’re dealing with months (or years) of burnt-on grime and residue, steaming alone probably won’t cut the mustard. You may still need a good scrub with lemon or a good oven cleaner like Oven Pride that you can pick up on Amazon for those stubborn stains.

There you have it you can deep clean your oven with a steam cleaner.

And if this doesn't convince you to add one to your spring cleaning arsenal, here are a few other things you probably didn't know you could clean with a steam cleaner to seal the deal.