How clean is my oven? (Cif Fume Free Oven Spray)

Member Name: jasminesarah

Product:	Cif Fume Free Oven Spray
Date:	20/09/08 (232 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gentler cleaner that works

Disadvantages: Doesn't clean the oven all by itself

It is no secret that I Hate cleaning, so I am approaching this review with very little experience of oven cleaners. I'm ashamed to tell you how long it has been since I cleaned one...so I won't. I do, however, make quite an effort not to get it dirty in the first place. Anyway, I finally admitted that mine needed doing and found nothing suitable in the under the sink cupboard. The last oven cleaner I used (I think) was Mr Muscle, and I was reluctant to buy it again because, as well as the incredibly annoying advert, I remember it smelling so toxic and filling my lungs with fumes.

So that brings us to Cif Fume Free Oven Cleaner. It cost about £3 for a 500ml bottle in Tesco and promised to be 'tough on grease and burnt-on food' so I thought I's give it a whirl. The bottle, as pictured above, is an acid green colour and has a pump action spray. The nozzle has a safety catch which I have not come across before (although, as I said, I don't buy a lot of cleaning products!). I was quite impressed with this as it would definitely slow little fingers down if it fell into the hands of a toddler.

I followed the instructions and sprayed liberally over the inside of the cold oven. My first impression of the smell was green fruit gums, but I then made the mistake of inhaling to see exactly how it smelt and the lime was then replaced with something a bit more toxic. However - it was nowhere near as bad as Mr Muscle. Cif advise you only to use this product in a well ventilated area, so it is clearly not entirely without fumes. The packaging advises that this product is an irritant, and the usual precautions involving avoiding contact with skin and eyes and so on should be taken. I found that there was no noticeable smell in the kitchen after cleaning.

Coming back into the kitchen a few minutes later I could see that the product was glowing green in quite a disconcerting way! It looks like something out of Ghostbusters or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! According to the recommendation on the bottle 'Heavy soiled areas' needed to be left for 60 minutes. After this time has passed, the instructions cheerfully advice you to 'Rinse'.

It didn't quite work like that. I needed to use a scouring sponge and quite a lot of effort to remove the grease on the glass door of the oven, and attempting to wipe inside produced lots of dirty brown bubbles that took a lot of 'rinsing'. I followed up with paper towels to remove the final traces.

I would recommend this product as one that has much less heavy duty scary chemicals than most brands, but I still am concerned about the contents. I feel like I should be using vinegar and baking powder really - but I'd probably be there all day. It does definitely work, although you need to do more work than is suggested by the packaging - but isn't that always the way?

Summary: Much better than the scary alternatives