Clean, Grease-Free Oven Racks Take Way Less Effort When You Use A Tool From Your Laundry Room

Cleaning the kitchen is already tedious as it is — but when a greasy mess is added to the mix? You're in for a taxing world of double (sometimes triple) washing. But don't be one of those people who never cleans their oven. To make the cleaning easier once and for all without much effort — especially for the stubborn grease on your oven racks — you can try soaking them with hot water, dryer sheets, and dish soap, which is a popular hack that's been circulating online.

For the uninitiated, dryer sheets are thin cloths that look a bit like wet wipes infused with perfuming agents and fabric softeners, and they're often used to make clothes smell and feel good. But when cleaning an oven, they can loosen up the persistent food debris clinging to the oven racks thanks to anti-static ingredients. These anti-static agents can also help get rid of dust, impurities, and of course, grease. When dish soap is added to the mix, grease becomes even easier to get rid of, which is especially helpful if you're regularly cooking something like bacon in the oven. You'd want to use this dryer sheet hack every now and then; there's no need to do it every time you're done using the appliance. 

While the process admittedly isn't completely painless, it's still much easier compared to endlessly scrubbing the grease and grime the old-fashioned way. You'd just need three to four hours of time for the racks to soak (or more, depending on the accumulated dirt), a bit of patience, and possibly a few minutes of gentle scrubbing, along with other tools to make the job easier.

Other than the dryer sheets — which you'll need around five to ten pieces of depending on how many racks you're cleaning — and dish soap, a big container where you can fit your oven racks is what you should reach for. Some people use their bathtubs, but you can also use your sink (if it's big enough for soaking), a clear storage crate, or anything your imagination can think of. The key here is to leave the racks submerged in water until the grease and gunk can be removed easily.

Since dryer sheets are usually triggered with heat, you'd want to use hot water here, too. Plus, hot water helps soften hardened fatty residue on the racks, allowing the process to work even better. You can check from time to time during the soak process to see whether the residue has softened enough to be wiped off without much effort on your part. Gloves can be handy to have here, as afterward you'll be picking up all the nasty gunk to avoid it clogging your sink or bathtub. 

The thing about this hack, while effective, is that it can leave a soapy taste to your oven racks, which is an issue if you cook things like frozen pizzas directly on the rack. When you're done soaking, make sure to give the oven racks a quick extra cleaning with the dish soap and a rinse-off to remove any remnants of chemicals from the dryer sheets. Other than keeping the area where you cook your food clean, cleaning your oven racks also helps avoid costly repairs down the line. So, not only are you keeping up with proper hygienic practices, you're also saving potential big bucks on something completely avoidable.