How to Clean Oven Racks the Easy Way (Let a Soak Do the Scrubbing)

Step by step

1. 1

   Take the racks out

   Make sure the oven is off and cool. Pull each rack out to its stop, lift the front edge, and slide it out, the way Whirlpool describes. Take them out before you run a self-clean cycle, too. Samsung says that heat can warp or discolor racks and damage the rack guides inside the oven.

2. 2

   Fill the bin with warm, soapy water

   Set the bin on old towels somewhere a spill will not matter, like the porch or the laundry room. Fill it with enough warm water to cover the racks, and squeeze in a good stream of dish soap. Swish it with your hand until it suds up.

3. 3

   Soak for several hours, or overnight

   Lay the racks flat so they are completely under the water. Samsung’s directions call for soaking racks in warm, soapy water for several hours or overnight. If yours have not been cleaned in a long time, give them the whole night.

1. 4

   Scrub with a brush

   Put on gloves. Scrub each bar top and bottom, and work the corners where the bars cross. Samsung says to scrub gently with a non-abrasive pad or soft brush, while Whirlpool says a steel wool pad is fine for harder stains on its racks. Start gentle, and only go harder if your manual allows it.

2. 5

   Treat any brown spots with washing soda

   If some dark, baked-on spots will not budge, drain the bin and refill it with warm water. Stir in 1/2 cup of washing soda for every gallon, which is Arm & Hammer’s mix for ovens, range tops and broiler pans.

   Soak the racks for at least 30 minutes, the time the maker gives for burners. Then sprinkle dry washing soda on a damp sponge and scour the spots.

   The washing soda label says to always test in a hidden area first, so try one small spot before you do the whole rack.

3. 6

   Rinse and dry them all the way

   Rinse each rack well with plain water. Dry it completely with a soft cloth before it goes back in the oven, as both Whirlpool and Samsung say. If a plain rack is hard to slide, Whirlpool suggests a light coat of vegetable oil. On gliding racks, follow your manual instead.

   What it looks like when it worked: bars with no sticky feel when you run a dry finger along them.

When it will not work, and what to do instead

Some racks have years of baked-on brown on them. Here is what to do when the soak does not get it all.

• Spots are still there after soap and washing soda. Do a second soak and scrub. If they still will not move, Whirlpool says a steel wool pad is fine on its racks for harder stains, so check what your manual allows.
• You saw the trash bag and ammonia trick. It is easy to see why it is popular. But the ammonia label we read only gives oven directions, not a bag method. It also says never to use it in a poorly ventilated area or mix it with chlorine bleach, drain cleaners or toilet bowl cleaners, so we left it out.
• You saw dishwasher tablets used as a scrubber. We could not find an oven or tablet maker that gives directions for this, so this page leaves it out.
• Your racks changed color after a self-clean cycle. Samsung warns that self-clean heat can discolor racks, so take them out before the next cycle.
• The oven itself needs help, too. See How to clean an oven without oven cleaner.

Why it works

Oven rack grime is not just dried grease. When fat gets heated over and over, it links up into a hard layer. Lodge, the cast iron maker, says that same process, called polymerization, is how oil bakes onto a pan as seasoning.

A long soak is your best friend here. Soaking in warm, soapy water is Samsung’s own method, and the time lets the soap do the loosening so the brush only has to finish the job. The American Cleaning Institute explains that one end of each soap molecule is drawn to grease and the other end to water.

Washing soda is a stronger helper for the spots soap cannot move. It is a fairly strong alkali (the opposite of an acid, like vinegar), and an alkali can turn some of that old fat into soap and loosen the rest.

Every one of us has slid a rack out on a holiday morning and seen what a year of roasting left behind. It seems like the only fix is an afternoon on your knees by the tub.