Yes, A Pumice Stone Can Help Clean Your Oven (& Here's What You Need To Know First)

When food drips off of a baking dish and falls onto the bottom of your oven, this signals that a tough cleaning session is in your future. The grime can seem impossible to remove, especially after it becomes baked onto the oven's surface. Splattered oil can be equally as difficult to scrub away. You probably turn to all sorts of oven-cleaning hacks to deal with these stains, but have you ever attempted to use a pumice stone? 

Kathy Cohoon, operations manager at Two Maids, revealed that you can use this stone to scrub away grime in your oven as long as you take precautions to prevent scratches. "A pumice stone can be an effective cleaning tool for removing tough, baked-on grime from an oven, but it requires caution," Cohoon shared while speaking exclusively to House Digest. "While it's great for scrubbing away stubborn stains, there is some risk of scratching the oven's surface, especially if it's made of a softer material like enamel." 

The expert shared that a pumice stone shouldn't necessarily be your first choice for an oven-cleaning tool — think of it as more of a last resort to consider when fighting particularly stubborn grime. Even then, you still need to be careful to avoid causing damage by using the stone.

At this point, you are likely wondering how to really clean your oven with a pumice stone without leaving scratches. Luckily, Kathy Cohoon, operations manager at Two Maids, shared her expert advice to help you pull this off successfully. She explained that you should apply a bit of water to both the stone and the spot in your oven you will be cleaning to help the abrasive tool scrub more gently. According to Cohoon, this will make the stone less likely to scratch your oven.

Ovens aside, pumice stones are great to use on a variety of other household surfaces. "For example, they work well on toilet bowls to remove hard water stains and on concrete or stone surfaces to tackle stubborn grime," Cohoon said while speaking exclusively to House Digest. Unfortunately, there are also many materials that cannot handle the abrasiveness of a pumice stone. Cohoon revealed that this includes glass and stainless steel, among other surfaces. These materials are super susceptible to scratches.

Before going in with a pumice stone to remove stubborn oven grime, consider giving some of the other cleaning methods Cohoon recommends a try. "We'd recommend starting with a good oven cleaner, which is specifically designed to break down grease and grime," the expert shared while speaking exclusively to House Digest. "You can also use a baking soda and vinegar paste for a more natural approach; it's great for lifting off grease." This is one of the best ways to clean your oven naturally. 

There are also a few tools that can scrub away grime with a bit less risk than a pumice stone. "A nylon scrubbing pad or a soft-bristled brush can help agitate the cleaner without risking damage to the surface," Cohoon continued. "For those particularly stubborn spots, a plastic scraper can be useful, but avoid anything too abrasive."

If you have ever wondered why ovens are so difficult to clean in the first place, Cohoon has an explanation for that, too. She shared that food debris, grease, and carbon spills build up over time, and the oven's heat creates more problems from there. "The high temperatures in the oven can cause these substances to harden and adhere tightly to the surfaces, making them difficult to remove," Cohoon revealed. "Regular cleaning can help prevent this build-up and make maintenance much easier in the long run!"