Spills in your oven can be NASTY with a capital N. There are plenty of expensive cleaners out there...or you could try these thrifty ways to clean things up!
- When you spill something, sprinkle the spill with salt. When the spill cools simply wipe the salt away. The salt absorbs the drippings!
- To clean up baked-on spills, make a paste of baking soda + water, apply to the baked spill, then scrub.
- For overall cleaning just put a small dish of ammonia on the top rack and a pan of water on the bottom rack of a still-warm oven. Leave for 10-12 hours or overnight. Air out the oven, then wipe the grease away with an all-purpose cleaner + warm water.
- Avoid spills by placing casseroles and pies on a cookie sheet when baking, or in a larger pie plate.
- To clean oven racks allow them to soak in the tub while you're cleaning the rest of your oven.
- Clean the top of your oven by using rubbing alcohol! It makes it shine like new.
- Ammonia + water makes an excellent oven-top cleaner.
- To clean an oven window make a paste of water + baking soda, coat the inside of the window with the paste, leave for 10 minutes, then rinse with water!
Bonus tips...
For the microwave:
- Wet a washcloth, place in the center of your micro, turn on high, "cook" it for 30-40 seconds. The steam will loosen up hardened spills, then you can use the hot cloth to clean the inside.
- To freshen & deodorize your microwave place a bowl of water in the micro, add 3-4 lemon slices, cook on high for 30 seconds.
For the fridge:
- Keep your fridge fresh by wiping the inside periodically with a rag moist with vinegar. This prevents mildew!
- Put a bit of vanilla + lemon or orange extract on a cotton pad. Keep it in the fridge and it will keep it smelling sweet!
- Put an open box of baking soda on the middle shelf of your fridge. This will keep odors away for several months.
- You can also place a small tub of charcoal briquettes in the middle shelf of your fridge. This will absorb odors, and you can simply throw them on the BBQ once they stop absorbing smells.
These ways are much cheaper than those expensive cleaners, so happy savings to you :)
