8 best oven cleaners, tried and tested by experts

We never thought we would love the scent of an oven cleaner, but Astonish’s oven and grill gleaner and sponge changed our minds. A citrussy blast which conjured up images of leisurely walks through Spanish orange groves, it was a totally unexpected scent, although perhaps unsurprising given the ingredients – the formula is free from harsh chemicals (orange oil is a key ingredient), and was one of the few we tried which didn’t bear the “burning hand” symbol warning of its corrosivity.

We also loved its consistency – the plastic tub contains an orange paste, which is rubbed onto the areas of concern with the dampened, dual-sided sponge provided. Amazingly (when rubbed with the sponge) the paste instantly started breaking down the toughest stains and cut through built-up layers of grease and grime with ease.

Prior to testing, we had serious doubts about the need to over-complicate the process of oven-cleaning by creating an entire kit, but now we’re converts. It’s easy to underestimate the roster of nasties packed into certain cleaners, which is why we loved the fact that this kit didn’t just come with a bottle of oven cleaner, but with gloves, gators (for lower arms) and an application brush too.

Being able to use the brush to apply the solution made it easy to target specific areas, and when used on the toughest stains, this odourless cleaner’s consistency (a thick, transparent gel) meant it stayed put. We left the gel on for 30 minutes (the instructions suggested leaving it on for between three minutes and three hours) and were wowed by the results – it tackled the oven’s toughest stains, and cut through baked-on fat and oil to reveal a showroom-level shininess.

When you’re dealing with harsh chemicals, an aerosol is a godsend. In this case, we could direct the laser-like spray at the areas in question, and when targeting larger areas, the pressurisation meant the fine mist – which was much finer than the foams produced by manual sprays – provided a far more even coverage.

The instructions stated that the cleaner should be left on for 30 minutes before removal with a damp cloth or sponge, and when we did so, some seriously tough stains had been blitzed. The clear outline highlighting the treated area was also a testament to its ability to not only remove grime but to leave oven surfaces sparklingly clean.

Most people think of the iconic, lemon-yellow bottle when they think of Cif, but the Cif family’s new addition, the perfect finish oven and grill spray, comes in a grass-green spray bottle with a child-proof nozzle. It’s another spray that is designed to be left on for 30 minutes prior to what the instructions refer to as “rinsing.” This is surely tricky where ovens are concerned, so we opted to wipe the thick foam away with a damp cloth instead. The results were fantastic – stains we’d ignored for years had been banished, and we achieved similar results when we left the product on for half the time.

This is a product designed to be used regularly – not simply for yearly blitzes. According to the instructions it should be sprayed onto the surface and left on for 30 minutes, although for a cleaner designed for daily use that seems rather long. After half an hour, we wiped off the foam to find a thick layer of grease had been given its marching orders. It was less effective when used this way on tougher, burned-on stains which had built up over longer periods of time, but we found that using a pad to rub the spray into these tougher stains prior to the 30 minutes (rather than simply spritzing on) yielded much better results.

However, it’s important to remember this spray isn’t designed to tackle the toughest of stains. It’s a great cleaner for anyone who cleans their oven on a regular basis; it works incredibly well on grease and oil and will inevitably make your annual deep cleans much less painful.

Full disclosure – this isn’t a product designed specifically for ovens, but plenty of households rely on it to do just that, so we thought it only fair to give it a shot. Its obvious benefits include the formulation – the thick cream isn’t just easy to apply, but uses all-natural cleaning particles derived from limestone – and it’s contained in a bottle which is both made from recycled plastic and recyclable. But can it clean ovens?

To a certain extent, yes. It struggled with some of the toughest stains (it’s worth noting that several dedicated oven cleaning products too) but did a great job of removing lighter ones, and cut through the grease with ease, without the need to leave the solution on. It’s a sad fact that the most powerful oven cleaners will inevitably be the ones packed with the most toxic ingredients, but Cif Cream Cleaner is a great option for anyone who wants to remove moderate stains without the need for a chemical cocktail.

This is another kit, and although we didn’t end up using the 3m microfibre cloth which was included, the products are fantastic. Weirdly, we also liked the appearance of the packaging – a sleek silver box containing the cloth and three products: the stainless steel cleaner, a hob cleaner, and the oven and grill cleaner. If, for any reason, we were to gift our loved ones an oven cleaning kit, this would be the one they’d get.

The stainless steel cleaner and the hob cleaner worked perfectly well, but we focused our attention on the oven and grill cleaner. The instructions stated we could supercharge the stain removal process by applying it to a hot oven, in which case it only needed to be left on for 10 minutes. We chose to apply the spray – which dispenses as a thick, white foam - to a cold oven for the prescribed time of 30 minutes, and when we wiped it away, a seriously thick build-up of grease and grime had been removed, although we needed a little extra elbow grease to finish off the most stubborn stains.

This oven cleaner hasn’t just been designed to blast through oven-related grime but to kill harmful bacteria, too. The downside is that it’s definitely a better disinfector than an oven cleaner, though if you’re the kind of person who prefers to deep clean once a year but wants a milder cleaner to minimise grease and grime build-up between those annual blitzes, this is a worthwhile investment. It will easily remove light stains and grease marks, but you’ll probably need something stronger to tackle the toughest stains.