Non-Toxic Oven Cleaning... For Your Health!

Did you know that commercial oven cleaners contain Sodium Hydroxide? This hazardous ingredient can burn skin or eyes on contact. More importantly, fumes can burn lung tissue and mucus membranes. Sound scary? Given that chemicals can stay suspended in our indoor air for as long as a week -- long after their odor dissipates -- this should raise serious concern. Take a look at this site by the National Institute of Health.

This is what the Material Safety Data Sheet says about a leading brand of Oven Cleaner:

• Inhalation: Causes burns on contact.
• Eye Contact: Causes burns to eyes on contact.
• Skin Contact: Causes burns to skin on contact.
• Ingestion: Harmful if swallowed. May cause burns to mouth, throat and stomach.

Yikes! Doesn't sound like stuff I want wafting around our home... So, I figured I would try a non-toxic oven cleaner. I was a little intimidated. You see, I will have lived in this home for four years this summer. AND I HAVE NEVER CLEANED MY OVEN! I use it nearly every day. Like I said, YIKES.

I used Shaklee's Scour Off Paste, one of the safe cleaning products in their Get Clean line. These are totally chic... and they work. The label says "It even cleans burnt-on food in your oven. And doesn’t burn off your nose hairs in the process." It smells like cherries... how pleasant.

So, here are my pictures. Keep in mind, I'm not a perfectionist. When my husband and Spiderman came home, and my mother called on the phone, and I brushed Spiderman's teeth, and Witzy got up for a bathroom break, and I stopped to read an important email, and I got distracted by six other things, and I had rinsed my hands and dried them too many times, I was ready to be done... even if things weren't spotless. I hope the pictures show that non-toxic oven cleaning is possible... more so for those who clean with uninterrupted vigor!

This door was speckled blue. What is all that burnt orange anyway?

Who knows what cooking disasters these were...

This is a close up of something that once was edible...

So, it can be done. If you are interested in reading more about Healthy Clean... click my "Household Toxin Exposure" Label. Lots of interesting thoughts and resources there...