The Simplest Way to Clean Your Oven Racks

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My oven's self-cleaning feature makes me way too nervous. I've never even attempted to use it. I've read too many articles about people's ovens catching on fire while self-cleaning or the exterior getting so hot they were worried about the cabinets around it. Then there's the fumes it puts off that you have to worry about. You don't want to leave it unattended, but you also don't want to be in the house! I've got littles running around that won't necessarily understand "stay far away from the oven" despite my best efforts. It's just not something that I'm really willing to risk for the sake of convenience. So what is a girl who hates scrubbing to do with all that burnt up food and grease all over the oven racks?

I scoured Pinterest of course, and I was excited to give this simple, hands-off method a shot! And boy, was I happy with the results!

A word of caution: this does get your bathtub pretty dirty. The dirtier your oven racks, the dirtier your bathtub will be. You won't even likely realize how dirty your oven racks were until you see how much crud is left behind after you drain your tub! I like to do this chore on my bathroom cleaning day rather than kitchen day, since it requires very little hands on time. That way, I can go ahead and clean the tub afterwards like I was going to do already.

Step One: Prep Your Tub

As mentioned above, your tub getting dirty is pretty much unavoidable. What we don't want is for it to get scratched, which can happen easily depending on the material it's made from. I like to line my tub with an old towel to prevent this. Watch out for the sides too! I've scuffed those up before when laying the racks down when I wasn't being careful enough, much to my husband's displeasure. Oops! 😬

Step Two: Fill with Water

Next you're going to need to fill the tub with warm water until the racks (or at least any part of the racks that need cleaned) are completely submerged. The racks will be soaking for awhile, so if they're not fully submerged then you'll likely end up doing a little more scrubbing than you would've had to do otherwise.

Step Three: Add Soap

Toss in a few dishwasher pods. I've found 2-3 to be sufficient as long as I stick to my regular cleaning routine, but you may need to toss in a couple more if that doesn't do the trick. Once the pods are dissolved give the water a good swish to disperse the soap.

Step Four: Now we Wait

I said this approach was simple and hand-off, not quick! You're gonna want to let those things soak for 4-5 hours, so I recommend starting the process early in the day. You and I both know you absolutely do not want to be cleaning your tub at 9pm.

Step Five: Wipe it Away

Grab some steel wool and simply wipe away any dirty spots you see. A majority of it should come off super easily! When you're done give them a quick rinse, drain the tub, and admire your shiny like-new oven racks!

"But Jess!" you may say, "Now that my oven racks are so clean and shiny, the inside of my oven looks even more horrible! Honestly, I haven't found an ideal solution for this yet. So far, the best results I've gotten are from Easy Off, which I know many people don't like because of the chemicals. So for now, it looks like I'll still be crawling inside my oven and scrubbing away. If you've found a solution that works better, or that you'd like me to test out so you don't have to, I'd love to hear about it!

Did you use this hack to clean your oven racks?

Did this oven rack hack work for you, or not so much? I'd love to hear in the comments! As always, happy cleaning and I hope this helps you re-claim some time in your day!