Cleaning the oven.

I've just cleaned mine including glass doors. It took somewhere in the region of 2 hours. I used one of those oven cleaning kits where you put the silver racks in a plastic bag and pour some sort of acidy stuff all over them, leave them and it is supposed to come off, but it doesn't, you still have to use a wire scourer!! I have to say that I do use this scourer on the glass as well. My oven is only a couple of months old and it is supposed to be self cleaning, what on earth is that, do little men come out in the middle of the night and do it? How does it self clean? Why didn't it self clean? I wouldn't have spent two hours cleaning the bloomin thing. EEEEEK

Some firms are better than others!! The last 2 I used were NOT good-first didn't put door back properly which cost me a new element & the second did a wonderful job but also could not put door back properly- I have removed door countless times with no problem- & I had to get someone in to mend it. ( I did not know when he left it was broken - mobile no. never answered & he did not come back to me)To be fair I have used several companies over the years who have been excellent but they all seem to have moved on. I've been using Oven Pride since then.

I use Oven Pride too. I also clean the glass door with brillo pads, I find it the best thing and so far it hasn't scratched the glass. However, I am not recommending this to anyone who is unsure!

I use Oven Pride, tried a cheaper one and it wasn't up to scratch. Happy to say also that I've delegated the oven cleaning to dh.

Grandelly - can't understand how you still had to scour the racks. We leave ours overnight and it just washes off. I'd certainly recommend the one I used.

Baking soda for the racks, just soak overnight and wash off. Don't know about the oven though.

Oven Pride - brilliant!

Yep, Oven Pride or get someone in to do it.

Twenty years ago I had a Neff oven which was brilliant - it had self-cleaning sides and it was just a case of wiping the bottom now and then. When I moved I bought a Belling from John Lewis - it was expensive and I assumed it would be good - It's been terrible - really difficult to clean and cooks too hot. Once I realised all this it was too late to send it back. I'll never buy JL again. How can someone design such a turkey when the technology exists to do better?

Professional cleaner twice a year and wipe up spills between visits. Oven comes up looking like new! Worth every penny.

A cheap handheld steam cleaner bought from cheaper supermarket works great. Also on coke stain on settee and coffee stain on white carpet. No effort involved other than putting together and taking apart.

My mother used to call spillage etc in the oven 'clean dirt'. My advice is to get someone on.

A hot water solution of Oxyclean (or similar) cuts through grease and is great for cleaning glass doors & shelves. Heavy deposits come off fairly easily with a scouring pad.

Before moving out of my old house, I got a company to clean my old oven and it looked like new. When I moved to my new home, it was so filthy, I wouldn't even use it . I again got a company to clean it and again it was like new. I am now anticipating a regular yearly clean by him.

Once the pros have cleaned your oven you will NEVER want to diy again.

Likewise go for professional oven cleaning once a year. Costs around £45, done brilliantly in a couple of hours (including racks) and worth every penny, especially now my knees are not what they were.....

Refuse to feel guilty about this! and prefer to think I am supporting a local small business.

Yes I have someone in about once a year and try to keep it clean meanwhile-covering items, trays underneath to catch any spills and wipe glass door while still warm. Aren't I a good girl!

The trouble is that the racks do not fit in the sink to clean of chemical when you use the packs. My oven is supposed to clean itself and I put a heavy liner in the bottom. I get a professional in twice a year it costs me £45.

A colleague's sister couldn't face cleaning hers, so she just bought a new one.
I used an oven cleaning service once, years ago, and it was brilliant. However I think I'd be embarrassed to let even an oven cleaner see the state of mine now.
Maybe I'll try the Oven Pride method, see how it copes with hard core cases!

Crumbs! I'm feeling guilty! I can't remember the last time I did a good clean of the oven. If it looks OK then I leave it - life's too short and no-one's caught a disease as yet from my oven - we don't eat off the shelves. Am I lucky or is there a disaster waiting to happen just around the corner?

Goldengirl, don't feel guilty. There is always something better to do than clean one's oven.

I don't know anyone who enjoys cleaning the oven so why do manufacturers always use materials which are difficult to clean (glass doors for instance). I did have a "self cleaning" oven when they first came out (it didn't). As I said I am even worse off now as I can't use products such as Oven Pride. Time to swallow my pride and get someone in to do it! We can send a man into space but we can't develop an oven which doesn't need cleaning.

Goldengirl, you should see mine!
Still, as I tell myself, however manky it looks, there can't possibly be any germs lurking, given that I cook at high temperatures quite a lot.

My mother had a neighbour (also elderly) who had a new kitchen fitted. A year or so later, the oven still looked like new, and my mother remarked on it. Neighbour explained that she never actually used it - dear me no! it had to be kept 'nice'! She had some sort of cooking apparatus in a garden shed instead!!

I was recommended Astonish Oven clear paste in a blue square tub. Its fab and works on cleaning PVC windows and doors too, I got it from The Range

If I am honest the inside of the oven was a bit of a forgotten world for me in the past just soo busy with other stuff

However I have recently bought a new oven and am adamant that this oven will stay spotless for ever, I am really doing well and clean the inside regularly, its so much nicer when it clean ..obviously!

Had my oven got 7 years and apart from mopping up spills as they happen I just don't clean it,the sides look ok and I can't see the top. I do the hob regularly though.