Cleaning your home with household cleaners and disinfectants can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. Before you get out the cleaning bucket, make sure to take proper safety precautions so you don’t put yourself or your family at risk. Any cleaning product, even including air fresheners, could contain some hazardous chemicals that are not safe to breathe in. Oven cleaners are especially hazardous and can be harmful to our bodies due to the ingredients used in the product.
The inside of your oven is among the dirtiest places in your home. Particles get baked into the sides and surfaces of the space. Since scrubbing this residue is so difficult, some people rely on chemicals to make the process less laborious.
Considering the hazardous facts, you may not want to use your typical oven cleaner products — they could be toxic and contain the following chemicals.
Lye
It's the corrosive properties of this chemical that make lye a good cleaner; unfortunately, it’s far from a safe one. Skin and eye contact should be avoided, chemical-resistant gloves should be worn, and any oven scrubber should be aware that lye degrades organic tissue when moistened.
Ethers
An ether is a member of a pretty large class of organic compounds. Ethers, such as medical ether, tend to be highly volatile (meaning you breathe them in), and also have solvent properties. Though nowhere near as dangerous as lye, working with ethers can still be irritating to your mucous membranes, and is best avoided.
Ethylene Glycol
Simply put, ethylene glycol is what makes antifreeze deadly to any animal that might drink it, including humans. This compound, unlike lye and ethers, is fortunately only dangerous if ingested.
Methylene Chloride
Irritating, volatile, and smelly, methylene chloride is considered a potential workplace carcinogen. Given that information, why on earth would you want this in your house? Methylene chloride is a solvent, often used in paint strippers. It’s an excellent degreasing agent as well, so it makes sense that such stuff would be found in oven cleaner. But is a clean oven really worth the health risks?
Petroleum Distillates
Petroleum distillates is the general term applied to low to medium-grade solvents produced as a by-product from the oil refining process. Kerosene is an example. Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, include petroleum distillates and others. They’re only mildly toxic, though easily inhaled (hence the “volatile” part) and definitely unhealthy to be around.
Self-Cleaning Mode: Toxic Teflon
Now you might be thinking I don't need an oven cleaner cause my oven has a self-cleaning option. Turns out, most modern ovens, especially the self-cleaning kind, are coated with Teflon or a Teflon relative. If you’re not familiar, Teflon is a member of an extremely toxic family of chemicals. Originally touted as super-safe, Teflon begins to break down and release toxic particulates when exposed to temperatures higher than 464 degrees F, and your oven gets easily twice as hot when running a self-clean cycle.
How to Clean Your Oven Safely
Fortunately for all of us, you will not have to resort to self-clean mode, nor harmful chemicals, to achieve a clean oven. One company taking a stand on harsh chemicals in household removers is Max Strip. No matter if you have an old neglected oven or a new ceramic top that needs a quick clean, Max Strip All Purpose Remover is the safer and efficient alternative. Here's the recommended How-To videos for oven cleaning with Max Strip!
Cleaning Ceramic Top Ovens with Max Strip
Cleaning Older Style (very dirty) Ovens with Max Strip
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