Yes, use it, but on the right oven and on the right evening. The self-clean cycle is made for a thin layer of baked-on food, not for a floor of burnt grease. Before you press the button, take everything out, wipe up what lifts easily, clean the edge of the door by hand because the heat doesn't reach it, open a window, and plan to be home for the next three to four hours. If the oven is badly crusted, or you used a spray oven cleaner in it recently, leave the button alone tonight.
Look at the oven floor first
Whirlpool's help page on the high temperature clean asks you to run the cycle before the oven becomes heavily soiled, because heavy soil means a longer clean and more smoke. Samsung Canada puts it another way on its oven cleaning page: clean up all you can first, and use the cycle only for what's left. So open the door, take a torch if the light is weak, and look down.
| What you see on the floor | Run self-clean? | What to do first |
|---|---|---|
| A light brown film and a few dark spots | Yes, this is what the cycle is for | Take everything out and wipe the door edge |
| One crusted spill from a pie or a roast | Yes, once the spill is mostly gone | Lift the loose crust with a plastic scraper and a damp cloth, then wipe again |
| Grease that is still soft or pooled in a corner | Not yet | Soak it up with paper towel and wipe with warm soapy water until the cloth comes away clean |
| Thick black layers across the whole floor and walls | No | Clean it by hand in stages, or book a deep clean |
| Spray oven cleaner was used in the last while | No | Wipe the inside with plain water several times and read your manual |
The last row matters on a self-cleaning oven. Samsung says commercial oven cleaners and oven liners should never be used in or around any part of the oven, because their residue damages the inside during a self-clean.
What the heat never reaches
People are often surprised that a long, very hot cycle leaves dirt behind. It's not a fault. A few parts are kept out of the heat on purpose, and some things have to come out of the oven before it starts.
- The door edge and a band about 3.8 cm wide around the front of the oven frame. Whirlpool says this area does not get hot enough to clean itself, so wipe it by hand with a damp cloth before the cycle.
- The door seal, the soft woven strip around the opening. Whirlpool asks you not to clean, rub, move or bend it, because the door depends on it to seal. Clean around it, not on it.
- The slots in the door frame. Keep water and cleaner out of them.
- The racks, depending on the kind. Samsung's page for ranges sold in Canada says porcelain-coated racks can stay in, while nickel-plated ones should come out. If you don't know which you have, take them out and wash them in the sink.
- The broiler pan, any baking dish, a thermometer and every scrap of aluminium foil.
- The storage drawer under the oven and any plastic on the cooktop above it. Whirlpool says to empty the drawer and move plastic items off the cooktop so nothing melts.
The racks and the door edge are the two places that still look dirty after an otherwise good cycle, which is why they're done by hand before you start.
Why a fire chief tells you to stay home
In March 2021, Clarington Emergency and Fire Services in Durham Region sent out a warning after crews went to a house fire in Orono. Eight trucks and 32 firefighters were on the scene, and the department found the cause was a gas oven on self-clean mode. No one was hurt, but the kitchen and the back of the house were badly damaged. The chief put it this way in the Municipality of Clarington news release:
Never leave your oven unattended when you set the self-cleaning option.
He gave three to four hours as the usual length of the cycle, and asked people to empty the oven first and be home for the whole time. That rules out the most tempting plan, which is to start it on the way out to work or just before bed.
The evening you run it
- Pick a time when you'll be in the house, awake, for about four hours, and when nobody needs the oven for dinner.
- Take out the racks (unless your manual says they can stay), pans, foil and anything else inside, and empty the drawer underneath.
- Wipe loose crumbs and soft grease off the floor, then wipe the door edge and the front of the frame, keeping clear of the seal.
- Clean the inside of the door glass with a soft cloth while it's cool.
- Open a kitchen window and turn on the range hood fan. Keep the oven vent clear; Whirlpool says air must be able to move freely through it.
- Close the door fully and start the cycle on your oven's controls. The door locks by itself.
- Leave the door alone until the lock lets go. Samsung warns that forcing it can damage the locking system, and that hot air and steam can come out when you open it, so stand back.
- When the oven is cool, wipe out the grey ash with a damp cloth.
Expect a smell while it runs. The more food was left inside, the more smoke there is, which is the whole reason for the wiping in step 3.
Who should be out of the kitchen
Pet birds
This is the warning every oven maker repeats. Whirlpool says the fumes from the self-cleaning cycle can kill certain birds, and asks you to move them to another closed, well-ventilated room. If your parrot or budgie lives near the kitchen, that's the first thing to arrange.
Children
The outside of the oven gets hot during the cycle. Samsung says it can get hot enough to cause burns, so keep small children away from the front of the range until it has cooled.
Oven cleaner and the cycle don't go together
Some people spray a store-bought oven cleaner first to give the cycle a head start. On a self-cleaning oven that's the wrong way round, for the reason Samsung gives above. Use warm water with a drop of dish soap for the pre-wipe, then plain water, and let the heat do the rest.
Keep one product at a time in your hand. Health Canada says never to mix household chemical products, because some mixtures give off dangerous gases. Rinse with plain water before you reach for anything else.
When the steam button is enough
Many newer ranges have a steam clean as well. Samsung describes it as a lighter option than a full self-clean: you empty the oven, pour a cup of tap water into the tray or onto the oven floor, close the door and start it. It's a good fit for a fresh splash after Sunday dinner. It won't do much with an old crust, and for that the full cycle, or a scraper and some patience, is the answer.
After it cools
Most of the oven should now be a dull, even grey with a light dusting of ash. Wipe it out, put the racks back, and look at the door glass from an angle. If there's still a brown film between the panes, that's not something the cycle cleans, and your manual will say whether the door comes off.
The oven sits under a range hood that collects the same grease, so it's worth doing the hood filter on the same evening. If the oven is past the point where self-clean helps, the inside of the oven is part of every deep clean we do, and our kitchen deep cleaning page shows what else goes on that list.
