This oven-door cleaning hack cleaned away 10 years of grime in 10 minutes using a sponge and dishwasher tablet

Mordern kitchen with silver oven. There are drak blue cupboards and white countertops.

I hate cleaning my oven, so when I came across a cleaning hack on TikTok that promised to help me clean my oven door in just 10 minutes I had to give it a go.

I've heard of cleaning an oven with a dishwasher tablet before, but this hack uses a slightly different method to make the job even faster by pairing the sponge and tablet together. When I tried the method I got my oven door sparkling in just 10 minutes.

@mama_mila_ ♬ Gimme More - Britney Spears

How the hack works

I first saw the hack tested by creator @mama_mila on TikTok. It is really simple, all you had to do is place a dishwasher tablet under a damp sponge and scrub away at the grease and grime.

At Ideal Home, we'd already tested a lazy oven cleaning hack that heated a dishwasher pod inside the oven in hot water before cleaning, and we'd been left far from impressed. But this hack was far simpler.

My oven door before trying the hack (Image credit: Future PLC/ Kezia Reynolds)

Looking at the state of my oven, I knew my singular dishwasher tab and sponge had a big job on its hand - it was pretty grimy. My oven is over 10 years old, and in a rental property, I dread to think how it’s been used and abused over the years.

Although the original TikTok video just slipped the tablet under the sponge, to keep the table in space I opted to cut a hole into my sponge to slot the dishwasher tab inside. I was using tabs by the Lidl's brand W5 and placed it with the blue side facing up.

I wet the sponge in hot water and got to work, and well, I couldn't believe it. Almost instantly the grime was budging.

My oven door after trying the hack (Image credit: Future PLC/ Kezia Reynolds)

I was scrubbing solidly for 10 minutes - it is a hack that requires a bit of elbow grease and effort, but please remember I was scrubbing away about 10 years' worth of grime. As someone who doesn’t have a lot of time in the evening, I want cleaning hacks that are quick and easy - and 10 minutes for a sparkling oven really isn’t time-consuming.

You have to agree that my oven door looks fab. Before you couldn’t even see through the glass, and now it’s sparkling.

I used a Morrison’s saver sponge which cost me 60p for a pack of 10 and my W5 dishwasher tablets were £4.05 for a pack of 50 from Lidl - I could clean my oven 10 times over for less than a fiver!

For me it’s a cleaning hack I will be returning to - you can’t beat cheap, easy and quick.