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!
Christine Veilla says
Well I may be a little late, but I have a bit to tell & say of my experiences in the cleaning department of ovens & stainless steel……hopefully some will feel better, appliances will look better & possibly will help solve some of these daunting issues we all seem to have ! First the inside glass of the oven door, if magic eraser isn’t working out, the fastest, tried & true way (over 40 yrs) is to spray on some h.d oven cleaner (no need to have hot, that would make terrible fumes), let it sit for a short bit & open a new single edge razor blade & just skim the gunk off. Wipe up with paper towels, repeat the 2 steps one more time if necessary & done! It will look like new & without hardly any muscle exertion. Second the inside of the glass door can only be done by taking it apart, period !! I had a brand new professional series stove that was a horror that got worse & worse until I didn’t want anyone stopping by when the sun was shining right on it … not good! I stared at it for years not knowing how to clean it, I knew it could only be cleaned by opening it up & it was best thing I ever did… Woolah it was all new again & was so easy. You can take some pictures of the take apart process in case. This was the best thing I ever did & it took a short amount of time, compared of course to how long it took to get the nerve up to do it !! It was a piece of cake for sure. The last, is the best thing I ever did for my “stainless” steel side by side. Another appliance to be embarrassed about until last week. In desperation to have it look cleaned after muscling in & cleaning it for the last 7 years & much money spent on SS products that never worked…. dampen your Magic Eraser, wring it out & with the grain move up & down, it will have a milky wet look to it , but it will be gone as you wipe & dry with paper towels. I did sections at a time & moved with the grain during both the cleaning down & the drying. I thought I was cleaning it all these years…. I was so wrong…. Now it’s clean & looks brand new!!! Time to do the inside of the glass oven door again !! Hope these tips helps someone!
AlissaH says
Lol! I’m a bit late to the party, but this is A.MAZ.ING!! I cannot wait to try this! BTW… I wish I could share a pic of my oven door to make you feel better about yours! You have nothing to be embarrassed about. Thanks for the informative post! I am so happy I came across your blog. SPRING CLEANING! YAY!!
Dianna says
Yes I too am a bit behind on your initial post, but I to stop reading all the comments and try it right now! I am amazed at how well it worked!! I took your advice as to work in small areas at a time and it worked so well. I have in the past sprinkled baking soda on glass and then laying a hot water soaked towel over and let it sit for a bit before wiping off~ it too worked well! But this takes the waiting out of it!! Now I need to clean the inside of the oven! Thank you for a wonderful and easy cleaning idea!
Melissa George says
I’m so glad it work so well for you too, Dianna! It’s so satisfying to see that clear glass again!
Sandra Goodick says
I like the magic erasers too. One thing I do with many cleaning jobs is soak the area with water before doing anything else. I find that decreases scrubbing time. The bottom of the oven and the oven door window both respond well. My oven is a self cleaning. (Don’t believe everything you hear. The door has 3 panes of glass. ie 6 surfaces. I can clean 3 of them. The outer, an inner one that I have to dismantle the door to reach it’s outer surface. And the inner door of which I can reach the inside. I have hesitated to dismantle the second area. First because I was too tired after cleaning the rest. Second because I wondered if the insulation provided wound be affected. Has anyone had a problem with this?
Mt comment about self cleaning is that I don’t find it really cleans. And even when I try to clean manually the surface doesn’t respond well to my efforts. I was a bit of a fanatic about ovens in my younger days. I cleaned them with vinegar as a last step. I still feel they stayed clean longer this way,
Licia says
I am the poster child for OCD, my house sparkles, is always organized (except when kids home from college) and MY oven door looked just like yours girlfriend! I could never get it to sparkle. Your tip to use a wet one and a dry one was the key to my success in finally getting my over door clean. I bow down in awe and happiness and thank you from the bottom of my heart. I use magic erasers on everything, I swear by them. You will be the talk of the next girls night in. (we try to have a night every so often at the house to just enjoy our wine and kick the men out so we can talk about things just like this and cook what WE want). You rock my dear, thanks for the posts
Melissa George says
First, girls night sounds amazing! Have a glass of wine for me! And I’m so glad the wet & dry combo worked for you. Three cheers for clean ovens!
Janna says
Can you use the magic eraser inside the oven too? My oven is in need of some cleaning, and the magic eraser is so effective in other areas!
Melissa George says
Mine didn’t work quite as well on our oven walls as it did on the glass, but it’s definitely worth a try!
Linda says
Ordering an Amazon 16 pack of Mr Clean Erasers as we speak!
We are planning a kitchen remodel that will include white kitchen cabinets. We are thinking either of a custom builder building them or ordering from a big box. The problem going the custom builder route is he doesn’t have facilities to “bake” the finish on, but does apply a clear coat.
You mention using these erasers on your white kitchen cabinets. How often? Spot cleaning as needed, or over entire surface to remove grease, etc.? It doesn’t affect the paint? Have you used it in other painted baseboards etc with same success?
Melissa George says
Hi Linda,
Our cabinets were painted by the custom cabinet builder and we haven’t had any issue with the magic erasers. It may help that the cabinets have a bit of sheen. I just use them to spot clean as needed, not on the whole door. I don’t think I’ve used them on the baseboard, but I have in the interior doors with no issues so far! Good luck with your kitchen!
mqdiesel says
I just tried cleaning the oven door with the magic eraser – it did a pretty good job! I’ll have to use it a couple of times to take every stain out though…
By the way, I clean the stove top on my gas stove with a paste of baking soda and water – it takes a bit of scrubbing, but no chemicals and it works!!!
Melissa George says
Glad it worked! Great tip on the stovetop – I’ve recently tried baking soda and water on our stainless steel fry pan and it works great on that too!
Barbara Lowell says
I love magic eraser for years but they get so ruined so quickly so what I do is cut them with scissor into 1″ 2″ pieces to work on spot areas or in quarters or whatever and then throw it away. Lasts a lot longer and the small piece gives you the extra pressure under your fingers to apply to the stain instead of the whole sponge getting dirty and really the part that cleans is mostly under your finger. Then you can just toss the used pieces and still have some left in many cases.
Melissa George says
Love that tip! Thank you for sharing!
Cathleen Morrison says
I order about 100 at a time of the generic ones on eBay for less than $5 including shipping. I use them everywhere and just love them. I will definitely try using them on my oven window! Thanks for the tip!
Melissa George says
Wow! That’s a great deal!
Victoria says
Didn’t work on my glass but worked on the door around the glass with a lot of pressure and time. I’ve also tried the lemon and baking soda paste over nite that too didn’t work. I desperately want a clean oven. Here’s to finding the solution!
Melissa George says
That’s so crazy because on our oven it worked better on the glass than it did on the door around the glass. Have you tried a steam cleaner? I haven’t tried ours on the oven yet, but I’ve seen other people report success with it.
Shari says
One word of caution regarding taking your oven door apart. When you put it back together, DO NOT use a power tool to tighten the screws. This can cause enough pressure to shatter the tempered glass. I found this outthehard way 🙁
Melissa George says
Oh no! That is a great tip, but I can’t imagine what a mess and bummer that was!
Lynne Newlove says
Bonjour from France. Thanks, Melissa. At last. This really worked on the filthy glass of our oven. I just cut up pieces of gomme – magic eraser to you on the other side of the Pond – and worked away on small areas of the glass. The pieces were BLACK and I chucked them away afterwards. I had tried soda/water/vinegar on the glass without much success so I’m really pleased to find this post on Pinterest. Now how do I clean the INSIDE of the oven? Ideas please.
Sarah says
I cleaned my oven door glass yesterday, then found your post today! I used vinegar, water, baking soda AND a Magic Eraser and it worked beautifully. Funny how I frequently find a post like yours AFTER I’ve cleaned something. Great post!
Melissa George says
Isn’t that the way it always goes! I’m glad your mixture worked!
Jane says
After years of this exact problem, I finally found another solution, and it’s even easier than cleaning an oven…. Not cleaning it all all. After we built the house, complete with brand new oven, my partner bought me a small benchtop oven (Breville). It does everything, including grill, pizza, bake, roast, toast, crumpet, even slow cook! We’ve been in the new house a year and have only used the big oven about three times, and never for anything messy, and have yet to have to clean it so always looks brand new.
Linda says
Keep the great cleaning tips coming …. love finding easy ways to clean grime ….
Melissa George says
Me too, Linda!
Liz says
This works great, thank you for tip! Now tell me if you have a trick to clean the inside of the glass without unscrew it 🙂
Thank you !
Liz
Charly says
Ok, but HOW do i use it? Doi make it wet? do i use cleaning products? HOW?
Melissa George says
Hi Charly, Look at the section of the post that starts with “The Essential Tips” for everything you need to know!
Shirley says
Hi Melissa, I live in Australia and this morning I was trying to find something that would clean my very dirty oven door glass, other than using baking soda or vinegar, which haven’t worked. I found your article about using magic erasers and I’m so happy to be able to tell you that it worked. The erasers we have out here need to be used wet and it took a fair bit of scrubbing but the end result is great. It also worked on the oven door, so I will now try cleaning the inside of the oven as well. Thank you
Melissa George says
I’m so happy to hear that it worked for you too!
Sharon says
Just found this tip on Pinterest. Though I’m rather a clean freak, my oven door was not a disaster, but I tried the Mr. Clean method, exactly as described and finished it off with a micro-fiber cloth. Exceptional!!! Done in less than 5 minutes. In the past I’ve used Easy-Off or some other chemical process to complete this task. So thanks for the great tip! (PS, as a long-time Mr. Clean fan, I find slightly dampening the eraser works far better than getting “dripping” wet. For the oven I used one eraser with one end damp and the other end dry.) Thanks again!!
Melissa George says
Yay! Thank you so much for reporting back your success. I REALLY appreciate it since people are more likely to comment when things don’t work. Which I totally understand too, but my day sure is happier when I get messages that it DOES work. Thanks for the tip on the doing damp vs wet too!