This oven-cleaning hack transformed my grimy oven door

I hate cleaning my oven, so when I came across a cleaning hack on TikTok that promised to help me clean my oven door in just 10 minutes I had to give it a go.

I’ve heard of cleaning an oven with a dishwasher tablet before, but this hack uses a slightly different method to make the job even faster by pairing the sponge and tablet together. When I tried the method I got my oven door sparkling in just 10 minutes.

How the hack works

I first saw the hack tested by creator @mama_mila on TikTok. It is really simple, all you had to do is place a dishwasher tablet under a damp sponge and scrub away at the grease and grime.

At Ideal Home, we’d already tested a lazy oven cleaning hack that heated a dishwasher pod inside the oven in hot water before cleaning, and we’d been left far from impressed. But this hack was far simpler.

Looking at the state of my oven, I knew my singular dishwasher tab and sponge had a big job on its hand – it was pretty grimy. My oven is over 10 years old, and in a rental property, I dread to think how it’s been used and abused over the years.

Although the original TikTok video just slipped the tablet under the sponge, to keep the tablet in space I opted to cut a hole into my sponge to slot the dishwasher tab inside. I was using tabs by the Lidl’s brand W5 and placed it with the blue side facing up.

I wet the sponge in hot water and got to work, and well, I couldn’t believe it. Almost instantly the grime was budging.

I was scrubbing solidly for 10 minutes – it is a hack that requires a bit of elbow grease and effort, but please remember I was scrubbing away about 10 years’ worth of grime. As someone who doesn’t have a lot of time in the evening, I want cleaning hacks that are quick and easy – and 10 minutes for a sparkling oven really isn’t time-consuming.

You have to agree that my oven door looks fab. Before you couldn’t even see through the glass, and now it’s sparkling.

I used a Morrison’s saver sponge which cost me 60p for a pack of 10 and my W5 dishwasher tablets were £4.05 for a pack of 50 from Lidl – I could clean my oven 10 times over for less than a fiver!

For me it’s a cleaning hack I will be returning to – you can’t beat cheap, easy and quick.