Here's Why You Really Shouldn't Clean Your Oven With A Dishwasher Tablet (Sorry TikTok)

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It seems like there's a new kitchen hack on TikTok every day now, but one of the most recent has to do with cleaning your oven. It supposedly makes cleaning your dirty oven door a breeze, as well as any grime lining the interior. All it takes is a dishwasher tablet and some water. You use the pressed powdered detergent tablet like a scouring pad to rub the stains and caked-on residue away, supposedly with ease. In another version, dissolving a dishwasher pod in water in a hot oven helps loosen grimy buildup so it can be easily wiped away with a sponge or a second tablet. It seems too good to be true.

Unfortunately, it is, in fact, too good to be true. Although the hack appears to work in videos, what you're not seeing is that it can actually mess up your oven long-term. The corrosive parts of the tablet eat away at the oven seal and interior lining, meaning it won't heat properly anymore and may eventually need replacing. After cleaning with this method, the dishwasher tablets also leave a chemical residue behind that you must remove which can be difficult and time-consuming. If you don't get it all off, the chemicals can taint your food during future cooking. When heated in the oven rather than used in the scouring method, a tablet or gel pod can also give off hazardous fumes that can harm you, your family, and your pets. So, before you reach for an oddly edible-looking Tide pod or tablet, consider the damage you might be doing.

Look, it's not that the hack doesn't work. The truth is this hack works a little too well. TikTokers are right that detergent tablets do break up and abrade buildup due to the sodium percarbonate they contain. This chemical works to remove stains and built-up food on plates and cookware in the dishwasher, so it makes sense that it would be effective on oven grease, too. The surface of the hard tablet is also mildly abrasive, helping remove burnt residue when used as a scrubber.

This may sound like support for the detergent tablet method, but keep in mind that these products are made for dishes, not ovens. They aren't as effective as products created for oven cleaning and will likely only remove outer layers of grime with the gel-pod variation. It's best to use them for their intended purpose. If you want to use the hack to clean your removable oven racks, that could still work as long as you rinse them off afterwards. Just don't put a gel detergent pod in your oven and don't scrub your oven interior with a dishwasher tablet. Luckily, other than safely using your oven's self-cleaning feature, there are other ways to clean.

There are products on the market specifically for de-greasing ovens, including oven cleaning kits. For a more natural method, use a lemon to get your oven clean instead, as the acid breaks down grease without damaging the lining. Baking soda and vinegar work, as well. Of course, if you really want to save yourself time and effort, hiring a professional cleaner is a surefire solution.