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Expert warns against ‘dangerous’ viral dishwasher tablet oven cleaning hack
Comments by Matt Ayres, Appliance Expert,
RDO
“A viral TikTok video recommending a gel dishwasher tablet to effortlessly clean your oven has taken the internet by storm, garnering over 8.5 million views on the social media platform and inspiring others to try out the hack for themselves, to little success.
“If you assumed this hack was too good to be true, you’d be right. The reality is the dishwasher tablet won’t evaporate and clean your oven walls like this TikTok hack seems to suggest.
“Any success people may have found with this hack for cleaning stubborn stains is due to the steam from the water bath, not the dishwasher tablet.
“Some videos even recommend leaving the dishwasher tablet for over 40 minutes on a high heat setting, which is simply dangerous. Not only could the tablet catch fire if it’s not adequately submerged in the water bath, but the mix of chemicals in a high-heat oven is unpredictable in the way it will break down and could release toxic fumes.
In a dishwasher, this isn’t a problem thanks to the combination of water, detergent and the controlled temperature environment helps to dissolve the dishwasher tablet safely and effectively, without producing toxic fumes.
“So, it’s important to only use dishwasher tablets for what they are designed for – the dishwasher – and stick to products specifically made for cleaning ovens safely.
“Plenty of modern ovens have built-in self-cleaning functions, either with steam cleaning or by a pyrolytic self-cleaning process, where the oven will heat itself to a very high temperature to turn leftover food and grease to ash. So, take advantage of these functions for an easier time cleaning if your oven model has these.
“If your oven doesn’t have this function, you can try the water bath method to steam clean your oven using an oven-proof dish, but don’t bother with a dishwasher tablet.
“Instead, add a few tablespoons of white vinegar which will evaporate and help clean your oven walls and glass. Set the oven to a low heat of around 100 degrees Celsius and let it sit for no longer than 30 minutes.”
Matt Ayres, Appliance Expert
