This Is the Best Way to Clean Dirty Oven Racks

You’re here because you want to know the best way to clean your oven rack. That makes sense, as there are some zany hacks out there—but they can get so convoluted it’s hard to know if they’re the best way. For instance, a not-insignificant number of people swear by setting oven racks in dewy grass overnight. But what else is there to do when you don’t want to awkwardly stick your body into the oven to scrub racks that are too large to fit in your sink or dishwasher? You need to think bigger—you need to broaden your idea of what a “dishwasher” is.

A dishwasher can be anything that washes a kitchen implement. And what do you have in your home designed for washing the big stuff? That’s right: a bathtub. The place where you shower is also the best place to clean your oven rack.

The best way to clean oven racks is in a bathtub

As you’ll see in the below TikTok from cleantok influencer Carolina McCauley, the best way to get baked-on, stuck-on grime off your oven racks is as simple as taking them out of the kitchen and bringing them into the bathroom.

First, grab a dish detergent pod. Stop up your tub drain, toss the pod in, and fill the tub with warm water, the same as you would do with a bath bomb if you were getting in yourself. Then, carefully place the racks in the tub to give them the spa treatment. Leave them in for about three hours and let the detergent and water loosen up and work away the dried-on food and burned grime. This is a case where warmer water is really going to help you, so it’s best to make it hot. (Bonus: Dish soap cleans tubs excellently, so this is a two-for-one deal.)

Other things to keep in mind when cleaning oven racks

A few extra tips: First, if you have non-slip bath mats, make sure they’re in place to avoid scratches to the interior of your tub. Second, if there is a big piece of crust on the wires, pop it off manually before putting the rack in the tub so you don’t wash that down the drain. (It’s a good idea to only do this in tubs with drain grates, just in case.) Finally, after you drain the tub, use your shower head to give the rack a final rinse to remove any lingering detergent.

Let the rack dry in the tub and then put it back in the oven. You never even had to scrub it. That’s why this is the best way to clean an oven rack.