Oven cleaning products don’t have to be damaging to be effective. In fact, some of the best are often eco-friendly cleaning products, meaning that they have little to no negative impact on the environment.
However, some more traditional oven cleaning products are potentially dangerous due to their caustic ingredients.
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Why use eco-friendly cleaning products?
An eco-friendly oven cleaner can help you clean your oven without the worry that you may be polluting the planet, or contributing to the production of chemicals. In many cases, you’ll also find that eco-friendly oven cleaners can be safer to work with, posing fewer immediate risks to yourself and your family.
In addition to this, eco-friendly oven cleaners won’t contain the harsh environmentally damaging chemicals that many oven cleaners usually have as key ingredients. All of our professional oven cleaners use our specialist Ovenu cleaning products that are designed to maximise oven cleaning effectiveness while minimising environmental impact.
What makes an oven cleaner eco-friendly?
An eco-friendly oven cleaner should not contain any toxic chemicals that could cause damage to biologically active species if released into waterways. The process with which the chemicals are made should also be eco-friendly and shouldn’t involve damaging environmental waste.
Other features of eco-friendly oven cleaners include:
- Biodegradable ingredients
- Plant-based ingredients
- Not using single-use plastic
- Being plastic-free entirely
- Offering refills
- Not testing on animals
- Using recyclable packaging
Not every eco-friendly cleaning product will be able to adhere to all of these features, so choosing the right product for you will involve weighing up which issues you prioritise.
What ingredients should eco-friendly cleaning products not contain?
Eco-friendly oven cleaners will not contain toxic or harmful ingredients such as:
- Sodium hydroxide. This caustic soda is commonly found in supermarket oven cleaning bags and sprays. Whilst effective, extreme care must be taken when using products containing this, as contact with the skin can cause burning. Exposure to concentrated quantities of sodium hydroxide can be lethal. Environmentally speaking, sodium hydroxide alters pH levels of waterways and easily combines with water vapour in the air. Products that use this ingredient damage the environment in the bigger picture.
- Butane. Whilst Butane has been widely adopted as a replacement for CFCs in refrigeration, it’s not an entirely eco-friendly ingredient as it is still technically a fossil fuel. Besides the environmental impact of extracting and processing these gases, products containing these gases also pose a health hazard to those using them. Butane can be damaging if inhaled and in its liquid form it can cause frostbite to the skin. This is a flammable gas that should be considered a fire hazard.
- Diethylene glycol monobutyl ether – This volatile organic compound is harmful to aquatic organisms and once was commonly found in many household cleaning products, such as window cleaner and hard-surface cleaners. The chemical was stripped from many shop-bought chemical formulations after it was discovered that inhalation of the chemical could lead to red blood cell breakage. Although this chemical is mostly used today in industrial settings as a powerful solvent, it can still make its way into consumer products.
- Monoethanolamine (MEA) is a water-soluble chemical that can biodegrade rapidly, large spills or releases of this chemical into waterways can lead to toxic shock to biological species living in the water, studies on a wide variety of freshwater fish have also shown that MEA can be toxic. Human exposure to the chemical in concentrated form can result in burns to the skin or eyes, irritation to the respiratory tract if inhaled and severed burns to the mouth, throat, oesophagus and stomach if swallowed.
What are the best eco-friendly cleaning products?
The best eco-friendly oven cleaners provide the ideal balance between cleaning power and minimal environmental impact. Whilst some swear by household products such as baking soda and vinegar, others have found ways of combining natural ingredients to create their own natural spray cleaners. Seeing a gap in the market, some companies have formulated their own eco-friendly oven cleaners.
Take a look at our favourite eco-friendly oven cleaners and decide which is the best for you:
Sea Clean
Sea Clean is an eco-friendly oven cleaner that can be used to maintain your oven or your barbecue. It is an organic product that is made from plant and seaweed extracts, and yet it is fairy effective at removing grease and dirt from barbecues, ovens and microwaves. Expect to use a scourer, however, even after application.
Downsides of using Sea Clean are that their credentials are dubious: there is no list of ingredients on the bottle, and the reviews vary wildly. Some users say that soap and tap water were more effective.
An upside of this eco-friendly oven cleaning product, however, is that it produces no harmful smells and doesn’t affect breathing for those with sensitive airways or asthma.
Price: £10 for 500ml (Available from Amazon)
Active Ingredients: Unspecified natural ingredients
Reviews: Ranging from 1-Star to 5-Star (from Amazon). It seems that the product works for some, with many pleased that all-natural ingredients are used – but there seem to be some issues with delivery and questions over the company’s legitimacy.
“The product itself is great. Very effective cleaner without burning my eyes or lungs like normal oven cleaners. Apply when hot and leave for a few hours”
“Followed the instructions, completely useless! Soap and water had more of an effect, save your money.”
“Had my cooker cleaned professionally and the guy who did it used a seaweed-based product, so I bought this and must say it worked excellently, postage though was half the cost of the product, and it had leaked in transit, the box was soaked, the 5 stars is for the product only!”
Dirtbusters Bio Oven Cleaner
Dirtbusters Bio Oven Cleaner is non-caustic and safe for those with children and pets at home. It doesn’t release unpleasant odours or fumes and is biodegradable and eco-friendly.
Unlike many other oven cleaning products, Dirtbusters will not burn your skin, so is safe for you, your oven and the environment. Users say, however, that you’ll need to use Dirtbusters regularly as this product is less effective at removing more tenacious grease and grime.
Price: £10.90 for 750ml (Available from Amazon)
Active Ingredients: Microbial, biodegradable formula
Reviews: Range from 1-Star to 5-Star (from Amazon). Some approve of the formula, suggesting that it’s suitable for professional use, whereas others have asked for refunds and doubt its effectiveness in comparison to household staples like fairy liquid.
“This really works well without the throat-catching fumes from other non-bio oven cleaners!”
“Followed the instructions exactly, but it doesn’t actually help remove any of the grease any more than soap and water do. It also does have a noxious smell and there is nothing eco-friendly about it.”
“Can highly recommend – virtually no smell, you don’t have to leave it on for any time at all, you will need a wire scourer. I cleaned my oven in record time with minimal mess.”
Ovenu Tank Mix Powder
As with all Ovenu products, our Tank Mix Powder is made exclusively for our franchisees. We own the formula and are proud of the fact that we have created products that are kind to the environment, while still tackling even the hardest cleaning jobs.
Our Tank Mix Powder proves that you don’t need caustic soda to make a product for those heavy-duty carbon and degreasing jobs. The powder holds fats and grease in suspension, meaning that only fresh cleaning molecules take part in our cleaning processes. Once these cleaning molecules are gone, the mixture is replaced and the result is a safe, yet supremely effective cleaning process.
Price: Not available for retail purchase
Active Ingredients: Biologically safe, eco-friendly
Reviews: This product isn’t available for purchase, but the customer reviews of the professionals using this product are uniformly positive.
“My oven was cleaned yesterday and Wow what a wonderful result! Looked like new!”
“Excellent service again and a wonderfully sparkling oven. No harsh chemicals are used – they don’t even have to wear gloves – just elbow grease. Highly recommended.”
“Double oven and hob cleaned today and has been brought back to shiny and new all again. Would recommend”
Ovenu Liquid Degreaser
The degreasing, eco-friendly oven cleaner that we use on indoor ovens is water-based and is great at degreasing everything from control dials to extractor hoods. It is biodegradable and is even sold in recyclable containers.
You never need to worry about our oven cleaning products producing unpleasant odours, as Ovenu Liquid Degreaser is mildly scented and will leave your kitchen smelling clean and fresh after our technicians leave!
Price: Not available for retail purchase
Active Ingredients: Biologically safe, eco-friendly
Reviews: Outstanding reviews for the work carried out by oven cleaners using this product suggests that the best eco-friendly oven cleaning products are only available to industry professionals.
“I really thought my oven was past being cleaned. However, Ovenu brought it back to new. Absolutely thrilled with the results. I would fully recommend using this company. The cost is very reasonable and I will not hesitate to use it again. Fantastic.”
“A thoroughly good job – my oven is gleaming. Thank you.”
Ovenu Carbon Remover
When you need our oven technicians to deal with heavily soiled areas, Ovenu’s eco-friendly carbon remover will be the oven cleaner of choice. It’s perfect for cleaning inside your oven, your oven door and even your microwave.
Once again, the Ovenu Carbon Remover proves that oven cleaning products can be both kind to the environment and tough on dirt, especially when used by experienced professionals.
This eco-friendly oven cleaner contains no caustic soda and it smells great. This means that when our technicians and our oven cleaning products have done their job, your oven will end up smelling as good as it looks.
Price: Not available for retail purchase
Active Ingredients: Biologically safe, eco-friendly
Reviews: More excellent reviews show that eco-friendly products used by professional oven cleaners can bring out some of the best results.
“Brilliant service, quick and easy! And my oven is brand new.”
“James worked really hard. He brought both ovens up to brand new spec and the hood runs smoother now. Excellent job. More than happy to recommend his services.”
“Superb job!! My AGA hadn’t been cleaned for 2 years & Andrew (bless his cotton socks) had it looking like new again, he also did my integrated ‘normal’ oven as well and again, it looks like new. Really great job, a lovely guy as well, I can highly recommend & he’ll definitely be coming back to do them again.”
Ovenu Stainless Steel Cleaner and Polish
Our Ovenu Stainless Steel Cleaner and Polish is the icing on our eco-friendly-cleaning cake. It will leave a sparkling finish while maintaining our commitment to caring for both the planet and your oven.
Price: Not available for retail purchase
Active Ingredients: Biologically safe, eco-friendly
Reviews: 5-star reviews of the technicians using this particular range of products show that customers are happy with the results that these eco-friendly formulas produce.
“Our oven had not been cleaned for a number of years. Peter did a fantastic job and even fixed the light. He worked extremely hard to restore the oven back to its original condition and left the kitchen spick and spam. Thoroughly recommend the service, I would definitely use him again.”
“I have a flat in Leeds which I let out and the former tenants left the oven, hob and hood in a pretty bad state. I was tempted to replace all these items with new ones, however, I got in touch with Ovenu who assured me that they would easily be able to tackle the toughest of the dirt and grime would make it look like new. And what can I say…the results were amazing. Dean was professional and did an amazing job. Definitely will be using his services again.”
If you want to find out more about how our local oven cleaning services can perfectly combine looking after your oven and taking care of the environment, why not book your eco-friendly Ovenu clean today!
