Cleaning Glass Oven Doors Is A Breeze If You Never Skip Out On This Step

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Even for those of us who maintain a tidy kitchen, the oven often goes neglected until a day of deep cleaning occurs. For those with glass oven doors, this often means scrubbing through layers of film, grime, and grease. Instead of waiting until you give your oven a full, detailed cleaning, you should take some time to wipe down the glass oven door regularly, if not daily, depending on the frequency of use. 

Using a soft, damp cloth (microfiber cloths like the Homexcel cleaning cloths are great for this), gently wipe the surface of your glass oven door to remove any smudges or food particles. If you find that water isn't enough, use white vinegar as a kitchen degreaser. Make a solution with equal parts vinegar and water, dip your cloth in, and wipe down the inside and the outside of the door. 

If you make a quick wipe-down a part of your regular nightly kitchen shutdown practice, you'll leave yourself with a lot less buildup to elbow grease your way through later on. This glass oven door maintenance saves time and headaches later on, but you should still be cleaning your entire oven regularly as well. Good old dish soap and water does a solid job, and a paste made with baking soda and dish soap works well when you require some gentle abrasion to remove stuck-on gunk.

How often you should clean your oven depends on how frequently you cook with it. For an oven that gets very light use, clean it at least twice a year. Every three months makes sense for those who use their oven a moderate amount, and a monthly deep cleaning is ideal for ovens used daily. If something bubbles over or gets spilled while baking, clean the oven as soon as it's completely cool. You can use your oven's self-cleaning feature from time to time, but be sure to wipe away the food that's left behind first.

A clean oven works more efficiently, promotes even cooking, reduces the risk of a fire, and prevents whatever you're currently baking from smelling and tasting like a burnt version of something you made before. Cleaning your oven regularly will also help it last longer. Grease, dirt, and food buildup can damage internal parts of your oven, like vents and heating elements. Caked-on food can also damage surfaces and scratch glass if left too long or not cleaned gently. More frequent cleaning — like that daily oven door wipe down — reduces the risk of all those damages.

If cleaning your oven is a new part of your routine, start with wiping down the glass oven door daily, inside and out. In addition to quickly cleaning both the interior and exterior sides of the door, use this new part of your routine as an opportunity to check inside the oven and see if it needs to be cleaned more thoroughly.