Twas The Night Before Christmas (Cif Fume Free Oven Spray)

Member Name: wigglylittleworm

Product:	Cif Fume Free Oven Spray
Date:	24/12/08 (140 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Low fumes

Disadvantages: not the best performance

My oven was severely in need of a good clean, the fact that the burnt on grime would start smoking and set the fire alarm off every time I used it for a prolonged period of time was not enough to make me clean it but the thought of not being able to cook my turkey for several hours without starting a fire was.

Cif fume free oven cleaner seemed like a good bet as I had read a few reviews about it, most normal oven cleaners are so harsh that they leave a horrible smell for hours afterwards and I wanted to avoid that. My bottle cost me £3.50 for 500ml from Tesco.

To use it you spray onto a cold oven and leave for between 15 and 60 minutes depending on how heavily soiled your oven is, mine was pretty filthy so it got left for the whole hour.

The spray was a shocking luminous green in colour which made it easy to see where it had made contact with the black oven. The spray was thick enough to coat the oven nicely without running down the sides.

The spray smelled like chemicals, not pleasant but not nearly as horrible as other oven cleaners I have used in the past. I could detect some fumes when I had my head stuck in the oven rinsing the cleaner away and they did make me slightly short of breath but nothing too major.

The spray washed off the oven relatively easily but it took several rinses to get all of the residue off the oven. I didn't bother with rubber gloves and while the spray did dry out my hands slightly a couple of applications of hand cream were enough to restore them to their former glory.

In terms of performance then it was fairly good, I still had to use some brillo pads on the stubborn burnt on grease but the light soiling just wiped away with a cloth after the hour was over. The oven looked nice and shiny after I had finished with it, not quite brand new but certainly acceptably clean.

Cleaning the oven is not the best way to spend your Christmas Eve but at least the job is done now. The cif fume free oven cleaner was not totally fume free but smelled better than other oven cleaners. I think I used about a quarter of the bottle so it compares well on price terms too.

Summary: A good oven cleaner