The Cleaning Hack That Lets You Clean Under The Oven Without The Heavy Lifting

The room that takes the longest to clean is the kitchen. It's one of the rooms homeowners use the most in the house. Cooking multiple meals a day for the family or preparing a significant dinner for guests leads to ingredients splashing and spilling over counters and stoves, inevitably falling on the floor and between small cracks. 

Unfortunately, while you can effortlessly wipe down flat surfaces, picking up food under appliances, like the stove, is more challenging. Food gets kicked under the stove almost daily. Even though sweeping can help eliminate dirt, food crumbs, and debris from every corner, it can also help push crumbs under the stove when the broom is dragged along the exterior. But, according to the COO of The Cleaning Authority, Leanne Stapf, food left under the oven for months can eventually affect how the appliance runs (via Martha Stewart). She recommends deep cleaning the area every three to four months to keep your appliances in solid condition. 

Having to pull out the oven from the wall to clean up the food underneath it is the last thing anyone wants to do. However, instead of disconnecting the oven from the wall, you can remove the oven's warming drawer to pick up all the food, dirt, and debris trapped underneath. After learning how to unfasten the warming drawer from your oven, you won't dread cleaning the area anymore. It'll simply become part of your kitchen deep cleaning routine.

Since every oven model is built differently, it's crucial to note that you should read your owner's manual to figure out the proper way to remove the warming drawer from your oven. Standard ovens with a pull-out drawer at the bottom will have a lever on either side that allows you to detach it completely. It can be tricky at first, but you'll become a pro once you get the hang of it. When removing the levers, you need to lift one side upward and push the other downward to slide it out.

Once you take out the drawer, you'll see all of the debris and crumbs. Use the long, flat vacuum attachment to clean the floor and reach the back end of the oven. After vacuuming the small pieces, take a mop, Swiffer, or wet towel and wipe the floor to eliminate sticky food stains. Allow the area to dry, then return the drawer to its slot by lining up the sides of the drawer rails and pushing it straight through until you hear a click. The drawer should smoothly push in and pull out after the click.

If your oven doesn't have a removable warming drawer, you might have to disconnect the entire oven to clean underneath it. However, some ovens have a small gap between the floor and the stove, so you can wrap a wet cloth over a mop's handle and stick it underneath to clean the area.