We can all appreciate how good Easy Off is at tackling fresh stains, but sometimes you might be dealing with really tough stains that are difficult to remove, and in that case a simple “spray, wait a little, and wipe” might not be sufficient. What should you do then? Leave it for a longer duration or allow it to sit on the surface overnight?
Can you let Easy Off sit on surfaces overnight?
You can spray Easy Off in a heavily Soiled oven and let it sit overnight to facilitate soil removal. To leave Easy Off Overnight, remove oven racks, spray the top, sides and bottom of the oven at a distance of 9 to 15 inches from the oven door and close the door. Clean the inside of the oven with a sponge dipped in water (and wrung) the next morning.
When should you leave Easy Off Overnight?
Most of the time, you will be able to achieve a perfect cleaning with Easy Off products in as little as 5 minutes.
But sometimes, you might have really stubborn stains to work with, and 5 minutes might not be sufficient to remove them.
In this case, the Easy Off Manufacturers advise that you spray the grease spot with the solution and let it sit between 8 hours to overnight before cleaning.
This way, the product will be able to penetrate deeper into the grease and let it loose.
It is very important to point out that the technique of leaving Easy Off on the interior of ovens is mostly recommended for the cold cleaning method.
With the cleaning technique that involves warming the interior of the oven, it’s way easier for grease or gunk to come off because they have been heated from underneath, which let them loose.
With the warm technique, you should be able to remove grease stains from the interior surface of ovens in as little as 5 to 7 minutes.
Can you leave Easy Off on for 2 days?
While it’s sometimes perfectly safe to leave Easy Off on surfaces overnight, it is not recommended to be left on them for as long as 2 days.
This is for the following reasons.
Number one is that products like these typically hit their decline from peak (with regards to functionality) after only a couple of hours, because they are exposed, after which they no longer function as they originally were supposed to function, and this gets worse with the progression of time. So there’s really no point letting Easy Off sit on surfaces for that long.
The second is that it can cause staining and smelling of the inside of your oven. You shouldn’t be releasing grease and letting them sit for a very long time. The solution can serve as a breeding ground for odor causing bacteria.
How long to leave Easy Off on?
So we’ve talked about how long you can leave Easy Off to sit inside an oven.
Easy Off offers more products aside from the oven cleaners such as the grill cleaner, degreaser: all in normal and heavy duty varieties.
We’ll go through each one of them and how long you can leave them on the surfaces to work their magic.
Easy Off Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner
The heavy duty cleaner is an extra edge formulation that is meant to tackle even tougher grease and gunk. It can do so under 30 seconds for normal day-to-day cleaning that doesn’t involve difficult to remove bits.
For a deep cleaning using the preheating technique, where you heat up an oven to about 200F and turn it off, Easy off should be able to release whatever is inside your oven in as little as 5 minutes.
For cold cleaning, you are required to spray the product inside the oven from top, sides to bottom and allow it to sit for about 30 minutes.
Then proceed to use a sponge to clean the interior, making sure to rinse the sponge as you clean until you achieve a sparkling clean oven.
Easy Off Fume Free Oven Cleaner (Normal and Pro)
Another product in the line of the oven cleaner of Easy Off is the fume free cleaner which they claim does not produce caustic fumes so can be used with no gloves.
For the fume free, you are not expected to use it in a warm or hot oven, or using the warm cleaning technique.
Because of this, you cannot use it in a self cleaning oven when the self cleaning feature is turned on.
When working with the fume free cleaner, spray it at an angle of 45° and from a distance of 9 to 12 inches from the oven door.
Coat the sides and bottom of the oven and let the product sit for as long as 30 seconds to 1 minute if spot cleaning, or 1 hour 15 minutes if deep cleaning.
If you’re dealing with tougher stains, meaning you waited for the period, tried to wipe them off and they weren’t coming off, then you spray again and leave the foam to penetrate deeper overnight and return back the next morning to clean it. When you’re spraying overnight, make sure to spray at night time.
The next morning, use a sponge dipped in a solution of warm water and gently scrub the interior of the oven properly. Make sure to continuously wring the sponge while using it to clean the oven, and keep doing so until you achieve a sparkling clean interior.
This same product can also be used on grill racks, although it MUST never be used on the exterior, interior, or other components.
For use on the grill rack, remove the rack from the surface of the grill and place it on a layer of newspaper placed over a non porous surface — so the easy off doesn’t penetrate deep into the porous surface.
Use a wire brush to remove any stuck on food bits, and spray the product liberally over the surface of the rack and let it sit for an hour or even more.
Easy Off Professional Heavy Duty Oven and Grill Cleaner
This product can be used the same way you use the Heavy duty oven cleaner. It’s meant for use on both grill racks as well as the interior of ovens.
Easy Off BBQ Grill Cleaner Aerosol
The Easy Off BBQ cleaner is specifically meant to be used on a grill rack. Do not use it on the interior, exterior or other components of the grill as doing so can cause damage to them.
This product can be used exactly the same way you use the Easy Off Professional Heavy Duty Oven and Grill Cleaner, or the Easy Off Professional, Fume Free Oven Cleaner, on a rack.
Easy Off Degreaser
The Easy Off degreaser line is the product meant to be used on stove tops, backsplash, countertops, cabinets, sink, microwave, and even oven interiors.
Its use is quite easy as we have outlined in this article. You’re only required to spray and clean it immediately. You can spray again on the target spot when the grease persists.
The degreaser comes in two varieties, the normal degreaser and the heavy duty degreaser. You’re typically required to use gloves on all heavy duty products of Easy Off, and even nose masks and protective eyewears.
It’s still a good idea nonetheless to use gloves and other protection on ALL Easy Off products.
What are some Easy Off Oven Cleaner Hacks?
When it comes to Easy Off, you really don’t need any hacks as the product itself does what it claims to do: which is to tackle grease, grime, gunk, and stains on your everyday household surfaces.
But here are some things that can serve as a hack:
- Apply Easy Off from a distance of 9 to 12 inches from the target surface to keep yourself safe.
- Use a wire brush on surfaces that have stubbornly stuck bits on them in order release these bits and make cleaning a breeze. Such surfaces include grill racks, oven racks, stovetop grates etc.
- Preheat the oven before applying Easy Off products that are meant to be used inside hot ovens like the heavy duty oven cleaner.
- Wear gloves, nose mask, and eyewear to protect yourself.
- Let really dirty oven interior or surfaces sit overnight with easy off applied on them.
What are some General Easy Off Oven Cleaner Warnings?
When it comes to warnings, there are a lot of them with regards to Easy Off. Here are the general warnings to put at the back of your mind when using Easy Off Oven Cleaner.
- Don’t use Easy Off on porous surfaces, especially those that are used to prepare food. The cleaner contains powerful chemicals and you don’t want these penetrating into your food.
- Always use protection like gloves and eyewear.
- Make sure to rinse sponge in clean water consistently, and use that to clean the interior of the oven or any surface you’re cleaning until you no longer have the easy off solution on it.
- Avoid spraying Easy Off directly on heating elements, pilot lights, connections, knobs, etc. If you must clean surfaces that have them, make sure to spray away from them, or spray the solution on a cloth and use the cloth to rub around target spots while avoiding these elements.
You should know that different Easy Off products have different warnings attached to them.
There are some that can be used inside a hot oven while others can’t, and some can be used on painted surfaces (like the degreaser) while others can’t.
Make sure to check the label on the container of your specific product to find out exactly how to use it and what the warnings for it are.
How soon can you cook after using the oven cleaner?
If it’s the stovetop, you can begin to cook almost immediately after the cleanup has finished because any fumes must have evaporated completely.
It’s always a good idea to allow 20 to 30 minutes before using an oven cleaned using an oven cleaner, just in case.
In the oven, it’s recommended that you let the door open and the oven sit for a couple of hours before you put it to use.
And when you do put it to use, and find out that you have fumes or smoke coming out from it, make sure to turn off the oven and let it sit for a much longer duration.
Accidentally Turned on the oven with Easy Off Sprayed inside?
There are a couple of Easy Off products that can be used inside a hot oven, for instance the Easy Off Professional Heavy Duty Oven and Grill Cleaner, so turning on the oven with them spread inside really wouldn’t be a problem, although it’s still not recommended.
If you have the variety that cannot be used inside a warm or hot oven, then you should turn off the oven instantly and let it cool before you continue cleaning.
