Is your oven glass dirty? Try this simple and affordable tip for cleaning your oven window without spray chemicals!
Our kitchen looks clean, and it’s hard to hide dirty in a white kitchen.
But, I found a way! I hid it in the oven! The inside of the glass door on our oven was in need of some serious spring cleaning.
ICK! I’m confused as to how the oven glass could even get so dirty, minus that one time we had a sweet potato-marshmallow fire.
The dirty door was super easy to ignore. I only noticed it if we were cooking with guests over. Then all the sudden it was like a giant flashing “CLEAN ME” sign.
Of course, by the time dinner was enjoyed and the company is gone, the oven glass was out of my mind.
I got an email last month from Mr. Clean (not THE actual big bald Mr. Clean, but his people). I’ll only accept sponsored posts that will bring value to you guys, which generally means brands I’ve reached out to versus the random pitches I receive. But, I do love Magic Erasers!
When they mentioned OVEN, the bells starting frantically going off in my head. My gosh, could that little eraser fix my disgusting oven door with no spray chemicals?
Spoiler, alert. It works!!!
But PLEASE read the tips below before trying it and thinking it doesn’t work. Using my normal magic eraser process didn’t work for me either.
How to Clean Oven Glass With Magic Eraser
Because we had years of gunk, including the brief, but scary, fire hitting the door, I did have to use some heavy pressure in places. But, I didn’t use ANY chemicals or cleaners other than the Magic Eraser. And it only took 10-15 minutes of work!
I found alternating between wet and dry Magic Erasers worked the best to get rid of all the grime.
If your oven is in anything near the Code Red situation mine was, you’re going to want two Magic Erasers for this job. Similar to a pencil eraser, they break down as you use them.
I also recommend working on small areas at a time for the best results. Scrubbing back and forth in a wide swipe across the glass was NOT effective for me.
Can you believe the difference?
I use Magic Erasers in the bathtub and on the white cabinets, but I’ve been missing out on so many other options. So glad Mr. Clean opened my eyes to all the extra ideas!
You can pick yours up locally, or just order a big pack on Amazon like I’m getting ready to do.
For more kitchen ideas, check out these kitchen organizing tips!
Would you guys find it helpful if I did a follow up on 10 Ways to Make Cleaning Easier with more before and afters like this?
And if anyone wants to take pity on me and admit that their oven is also pretty gross in the comments, I’d feel much better about sharing these embarrassing photos with you today!
Tina T. says
Just ordered the 10 pack on Amazon. I’m going to keep up on our double ovens as our house is only a year old. I spend way too much time with chemicals trying to get rid of those annoying splatters so I can’t wait to try them! P.S. LOVE your kitchen!
Melissa George says
Thank you, and yes! Keep up with those ovens now. We always laugh when we open the second oven under the range because it still looks brand new and it’s wonderful! I generally just use it a few times a year for overflow at the holidays, so it stays so pretty.
Jmedlin438@aol.com says
I appreciate the info you shared in your blog my problem is that my oven door gets dirty in between the glass that is impossible to get to and I’ve seen blogs where they say get a coat hanger and slip it in through the little vents at the top and try to clean it that way or another one had you just disassemble the entire oven door which I would be too scared to do its a shame the oven companies can’t just make it where you can get in there and clean it if not you have to stare at the dirty drips inside your oven till the oven is no more if someone could come up with a solution to that I would greatly appreciate it
Melissa George says
I’ve seen the disassembly method and I’ve got to admit, it scares me too! I totally agree that if they make the ovens were stuff gets IN the door, we should have access to get it out. I’m wondering if shooting a steam cleaner in there would help at all?
Gabmom1 says
I disassemble mine to clean between the two panes of glass on my double ovens. It isn’t hard AT ALL. You will need a Phillips head screwdriver and your cleaning product (Magic Eraser in this case), paper towels, and that’s it. Unscrew the the top screw last (put the little screws into a small dish so as not to lose them). After thoroughly cleaning the glass, I wipe mine down (final wipe) with a lint free cloth and white vinegar – it dries instantly and makes the glass shine. Then just close it back up, line up the screw holes, insert the screw and screw it back together. voila! Tip:: Before making a greasy, saucy or cheesy/bubbly dish in your upper oven, cover the grates of the bottom door with a length of foil to keep anything from falling or dripping into/onto the bottom oven door. If only I remembered to follow my own suggestion.!
Miram says
My husband took the oven door apart and now the glass is like new. Be careful that nothing drips through the top door vents, this causes the problem.
Phyllis Sharkey says
That’s my problem drips between the glass on doors. I’m afraid to take it apart.
Krystal Cook says
I was just looking at my oven today thinking of how to get the glad clean before Christmas Eve. Guess tomorrow I will take my door apart and clean between the glass. Both between the glass and inside the door is so dirty. I use self cleaning but it doesn’t seem to work too good on the gunk between the glass. THANK you so much for posting this I really needed this information.
Karen Dowling says
I thought I was the only one on the planet that had drips between the glass on my oven door it drives me crazy. I was afraid to take my door apart for fear of breaking the seal around the glass. Have any more suggestions??
sharon green says
I did just that! Its not hard but you do have to pay attention to what order the oven door comes a part so you can put it back together again. It wasn’t hard but did take me about two hours and that includes the cleaning part. Don’t be scared, you can do it….:)
Sam Whaley-Oster says
My gas oven gets dirty between the glass but it’s not drips. Some how cat fur gets sucked in there & I haven’t been able to get it out. Any suggestions on how to prevent once I get it cleaned out?
Melissa George says
Oh goodness, as much dog hair we have flying around from Maddie, I’m surprised we haven’t had the same problem! I think high-heat silicone/caulking and/or glue exists, and you might be able to put just enough on to seal the gap? I think your best bet might be going to a store that does appliance repair and seeing if they’ll be nice enough to recommend a product. Since you’re dealing with an appliance that can be a fire hazard, I don’t want to speculate, but hopefully an appliance place could help without making you pay for a service call!
Michelle says
OMG!! I totally know what you mean!! I was thinking about that throughout this blog! If anyone has any answers to this I would love to hear about it. My oven has tons of drips from cooking and trying desperately to figure out how to clean in between there!!
MICHELLE says
Exactly! I’ve read the same. Haven’t tried it yet. And, ours is hardly ever used. It’s my husband and myself and it’s much easier to go out to dinner.
Roxann Fifield says
I didn’t figure out how to get between glass for along time ,now I have it is easy usually two screws to take out clean and put screws back. Done.
Robbie says
You do not have to take apart your oven door to clean between the glass on the door. There is a slit on the bottom of your oven door. Below my oven door is a warming drawer. I pull open that door to access the slit. I get a wooden dowel, place one of my husband’s socks over the dowel, and saturate the sock with ammonia. I insert the dowel and sock through the slit and wipe both sides of the glass of my oven door. It works pretty well for me.
Nan says
Hi Melissa. We are about to start a kitchen renovation. Your kitchen is beautiful! We will be going with white cabinets and subway tile back splash as well. I was curious as to your having a wall oven ;with I guess a microwave over it?) and a range instead of double wall oven and cooktop. Can you give me advice on that?
Melissa George says
Hi Nan, That part of the design started out because I didn’t want the microwave over the range. From there, we had decided to just to the one range and use a freestanding microwave in the pantry. At the last minute, I found that Frigidaire made the microwave/oven combo unit for the wall. That was able to satisfy my original “want” of having two ovens for the holidays. The arrangement has worked our really well for us. The wall oven is the one used 90% of the time and we definetely could have managed without the 2nd oven attached to the range, but it is VERY handy for large gatherings. Plus, the bottom drawer of the range is actually a warming drawer and that gets used every time we entertain.
The downside of the whole set up is that the front of the range were all the knobs/buttons are is made of some sort of material that shouldn’t have been used. It’s like the top coating comes off in spots and it’s a different color underneath. We wipe up any splatters on it immediately, but it just keeps getting worse. My aunt has a similar model and it does the same thing. If we were to replace it, we’d be back to mismatched appliances. When it’s time to replace the wall ovens, we may have to adapt the cabinet shell because the Frigidaire Professional line we picked seems to be the only one offering the microwave/oven combo in that particular size. We aren’t thrilled with the Frigidaire Professional dishwasher either, so we’ve got some decisions to make in the coming years regarding our whole appliance situation.
So the short answer is that we LOVE the set up, but it’s got some drawbacks based on the wall oven sizing that we didn’t think to consider. Hope that helps!
Jan Stotts (Atkison says
Thank you for the heads up on Magic Eraser. I bought a 10 pack when my sister in law told me about everything she uses them on. I have never even opened the box, until I read your comments about the dirty oven door. Mine was worse than yours. We spilled a Pumpkin pie on it last Thanksgiving. I wiped it up but every time I used it got worse. I opened my box of magic erasers and now I can even see what is cooking. Thank you for the awesome advice.
Melissa George says
Yay! I’m so glad it worked – thank you so much for taking the time to let me know! So often people only come back to complain when it doesn’t work (and I always want to go to their house and try it myself to see what the problem is), so the success stories truly make my day!
Me says
Hi Melissa I enjoy your blog as I am a type A! Especially when it comes to a clean kitchen.
Did you know that when you have double ovens it is good to rotate their use. Because if you use one more than the other usually the main one dies first but the second one is still perfect. Problem is then you have to replace them both because you can’t buy one that matches the older perfectly good oven left. Or you can do what a friend did just ignore the broken oven and start using the second oven until it dies. lol
Friends have gone through this I keep telling them use both regularly and equally as possible. That way at least you get your monies worth out of them both.
Melissa George says
That is a really great point! Thanks so much for sharing, we definitely need to work on using the freestanding one more than holidays!
Gb says
It does work on the stove top as well as the oven door. My oven door wasn’t very dirty. I had it clean in under a minute. The top of the stove wiped clean like magic. Don’t know why people had trouble. Great idea!
Peg lacroix says
Magic erasers ARE full of chemicals. I don’t want people to think they are using a chemical-free product. You can check it out yourself if you are allergic to certain chemicals like from aldehyde.
Melissa George says
Thanks Peg, definetely didn’t mean to be misleading. I am much more comfortable using the erasers compared to the spray oven cleaners, but totally understand your point.
Lily Snowdon says
I used a pea-sized drop of shampoo to clean 10 years of grease and grime off the door of a toaster oven I inherited. I wrung out a rag in hot water, spread the shampoo around, waited about 10 minutes, then went back and scrubbed with the hot rag. About 90% of the dirt came off. You’ll have to rinse it 4 or 5 times. I did it again in a week or so and it was 99% successful.
DO NOT use more shampoo, or you will have bubbles galore and spend an afternoon getting rid of them. This method works because shampoo was designed to remove oils. (If we just wanted to get dust out of our hair, water would be sufficient.)
Melissa George says
That’s a great idea, Lily!
Elissa says
I love your kitchen. Love! Where did you get the lights over the island?
Melissa George says
Thank you! We got them locally when we built our house, but if you search for schoolhouse pendant lights, you should be able to find some that are really similar!
Cathy says
I also have a oven door like you. Every time I use the oven its sends a smell that turns is off from eating, I just had a moment, maybe he smell is from the door glass, not only that it smokes up the house always.
Evelyn Betancourt says
Magic eraser doesn’t work on dirty glass oven doors. I tried it and so did my friend. Believe me, save your money. It’s a trick to buy the product.
Melissa George says
Hi Evelyn, It’s definitely not a “trick” as you can see in the before and after photos of my house and all the prior comments of other people reporting success. I am sorry it didn’t work on your oven though, I wish everything in life worked the same way for everyone…like my husband who can stay in shape eating way more ice cream than I can!
Tammi says
Magic erasers didnt work for either but after scrubbing with a degreaser and a magic eraser I got the idea to scrape it off with a razor blade! Worked perfectly! And so easy. Just moisten the stuff before hand and scrape.
Melissa George says
Darn it, I’m bummed the magic eraser didn’t work, but thanks for sharing your solution. I’m glad you still ended up with a clean oven door!
Florence Russell says
I’ve tried different things and it never works for awhile made believe it was a brown glass. I’m going to get some at store then send away for the package at amazon. I love learning new and old hacks
Trac T says
Guilty!!! Would love follow ups on 10 Ways to Make Cleaning Easier! Can I clean the inside of oven with Magic Eraser too?
Melissa George says
Woo hoo! Thanks for admitting it and joining the dirty oven club with me! And yes, I used it on the inside a bit and it seemed to work well.
Deborah says
Thanks so much for this tip! Now I also know that I can use a Magic Eraser on my glass stove top instead of trying to find the special cleaner for it. One thing I do know about the Magic Erasers is that you should be sure to rinse them off well. I’ve used the on my walls. I’m a renter and they took off years of grime really easily. I got carried away and did whole walls with them.
Unfortunately, we also had smokers in this house and, after a year or two (can’t remember exactly how long it took), the smoke discoloured the invisible residue left behind by the erasers! You wouldn’t want that residue to be slowly burned up in your oven or on your stove-top. Or even just released into the air from other surfaces, like into bath water.
Shannon Johnson says
Yes I love to see the before and after! My glass oven door is so so bad too,! I’ll be cleaning it in the next few days! Thanks on the tips!
Melissa George says
You’re welcome! Glad my dirty oven could benefit so many others. 🙂
Michelle Wilson says
I’m guilty of hoarding my Magic Eraser and just using it on the black marks on the floor my nephew’s shoes make. But the deal on Amazon made me splurge! and the tips above have me actually anxious to go on a cleaning spree!!! Not THAT’s what I’d call a successful blog post for you AND your sponsor. Thanks, Melissa.
Melissa George says
Oh my gosh Michelle, thanks so much! I put so much thought into making my sponsored post beneficial for you guys AND for the brands, so I can’t even tell you how much your comment made my day! AND PS: I’ve totally hoarded our Magic Erasers in the past too. I was so excited when I found that 10 pack option.
Susan says
I would love your follow up! And I would never let you see the inside of my oven door – NEVER! Even with the self cleaning oven option, the door is yucky. I thought I had tried everything, but I never thought of Magic Erasers. I bought a warehouse sized box a few weeks ago, and I’m off to the kitchen now to try them on my oven. Thanks for the info and the push I needed.
Melissa George says
I’m sure my mom is cringing that I showed you guys my oven door 🙂 I REALLY hope they work as well on your door as they did on mind. You probably saw this in the post, but the tip to work on small areas at a time made a big difference. When I tried to do broad strokes across the door, it wasn’t as fast as working in small spots with shorter strokes. Let me know how yours turns out!
Susan says
Your tip for working in small areas is a good one! I did about 1/4 of my door before running out of time, but it does look good now! I will continue in small sections until the door is done. The spots didn’t get burned on the window in a day, so it may take a while to remove them all, but this is the most effective method I have tried yet. I was able to totally clean my bottom oven window very quickly since that one was not as bad.
This method had no fumes or nasty chemicals, and didn’t even mess up my manicure! I am actually looking forward to continuing tonight while in the kitchen cooking dinner (of course not in the oven – LOL). Thanks again for this tip and all the other great posts on your blog.
Melissa George says
Hooray! I’m so glad it’s working, and excellent point about keeping the manicure safe! Thanks so much for taking a minute to follow up. Even though I’m committed to being fully transparent and honest in all my tutorials, a little part of me is always worried things won’t work as well for others!
Rachael @ This is our Bliss says
Your kitchen is stunning & I can’t WAIT to try your trick! And Jillian?!? So awesome!
Melanie says
We love Magic Erasers at our house. They are very handy!
Kallee says
Oh my goodness, I SO need to do this. My oven window is disgusting! Thanks for sharing such an easy tip!
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy says
Oh wow….I have an oven to clean and I have some Magic Erasers too. I NEVER would have guessed to use them for this purpose. THANKS!!
Charbel says
What a difference that made! I am amazed 🙂 Thank you for sharing this very helpful tip!
Kelly says
Unfortunately, we don’t have Magic Erasers here in Peru – I’m very jealous of how easily that cleaned your oven door, though! Mine is such a mess.
Karen Williams says
I lived in Germany for several years & they had many different products, similar to those available in the USA. Just keep your eyes open for a closed-cell sponge. It looks like a small rubber brick — a sponge without any visible holes. That just might work for you.
Kelly says
Thanks for the tip, Karen – I looked it up just now, and I think we do have those here at the hardware stores. I’ll have to take a look.
Emily says
Beautiful kitchen! I need to clean my oven window so badly!
Jessica | Petal + Ply says
Sometimes I overlook opportunities to use my faithful magic eraser! Can’t live without them. I’ve even used it on fancy flocked upholstery fabric with success.
Arielle says
Um, this is genius! My husband loves magic erasers but I had no idea you could use them on anything other than scuff marks. Our kitchen is a complete disaster – it was last renovated maybe in the early 90’s, and the appliances that were once white now have stains that no amount of elbow grease can fix. Needless to say, the oven window is one of those disaster zones. I’m definitely adding this to my spring cleaning list!
Jesscica says
I have been using magic erasers for years and have found them to be my most useful cleaning tool, but I have never thought in all this time to use them on my oven door. I can’t wait to get home and try this out.
p.s. Don’t feel bad about your oven door or the pictures; we all have oven doors that look like that but we are all too embarrassed to share them. haha. Thank you for making us feel normal.
Brynne @ The Gathered Home says
Whoa! That’s amazing – I’m going to have to try this! I seriously thought it would take some kind of crazy strong chemical to clean it!!!
Stephanie Huston says
I use magic erasers to clean just about everything, but have never thought to clean the oven glass with one. I need to do this.
Jaybird says
WOW….you made my day!!! I have a supposedly “stainless “steel Microwave/convection combo, that I can NEVER get clean!!!!!
I am on my way to the store in about 30 minutes, so I will pick up a ME and go at it this evening!!!
Thank you so much for sharing this info.
Blessings,
J
Melissa George says
So glad it was helpful and perfectly timed for your trip to the store! It’s an oddly satisfying cleaning experience because the results are so dramatic!
Katie says
First off, I love Jillian! What a fun opportunity and I also had no idea that Mr. Clean wasn’t made with any harsh chemicals so that’s really good to know. I remember the first studio apartment I rented was pretty filthy when I moved in and the ONLY thing that cleaned that bathroom was the Mr. Clean erasers. The knockoffs have never worked as good and always fall apart so easy.
We need to clean our oven too so this is such a great tip! Oh and your kitchen is freakin’ beautiful by the way 🙂
Stephanie @ Casa Watkins says
Would never had guessed it! I’m going to buy one! Great post and definitely a keeper. Pinned and sharing with all my friends!
Moriah says
Last year when we were moving, I discovered many uses for Magic Eraser. I used them for everything – literally from the ceiling to the floorboards. The home we bought was left disgustingly dirty. My girls said the bathrooms gave them the “heebee geebees.” However, everything was sparkling when we were done. I just never thought about the oven door, though. Or the outdoor furniture. thanks for the tips 🙂
Melissa George says
Once I get one out, I end up circling through the house cleaning all kinds of stuff with it! So glad they were so helpful in your new house, such a bummer that you had to start off cleaning it though.