Admin on June 8, 2015 26 Comments The self-cleaning on your oven might seem handy with its ability to cut your kitchen cleaning process in half, but as it turns out this feature can actually be quite hazardous to your health. Without you even knowing it, your oven might be contributing to your respiratory issues, and maybe even harming the health your pets. Here are four ways in particular that your self-cleaning oven feature might be doing more harm than good. 1. Carbon Monoxide Buildup The North Iowa Municipal Electric Cooperative Association revealed that the self-cleaning function on your oven has the potential to create carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is a hard-to-detect gas that is extremely toxic to humans and animals. Specifically, it’s the baked-on and charred foods commonly found on the bottom of the oven that can lead to the creation of carbon monoxide. This reaction happens as these leftover foods start to heat up and burn during the cleaning cycle. To avoid the production of carbon monoxide, it is best that you clean without heating up the charred food. You can use a wire scrubber and soap, but avoid using chemicals. Cleaning products can create hazardous chemicals when exposed to high temperatures. If you insist on using your self-cleaning feature, know that there is no way to ensure zero-percent carbon monoxide emissions. However, to reduce the amount of carbon monoxide produced during cleaning, you take care of spills inside of your oven as soon as they occur. For those especially stubborn spills and baked-on foods, it’s best that you ensure the kitchen is well ventilated and that you turn on the exhaust fan or range hood while you’re running the self-cleaning function. You’ll also want to check to see that any carbon monoxide detectors you have are in working order with fresh batteries. Click here to see the top-rated, Prime-eligible models on Amazon. 2. Animal Safety The fumes created during the oven’s cleaning cycle can be especially hazardous to the health of any pets you have in your home. Fumes known as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) toxicosis are especially dangerous to birds. A bird’s respiratory system is designed to send immense amounts of oxygen to their flight muscles. The downside is that their efficient systems quickly and easily send toxins straight through their bodies and endanger their lives. If you notice that your pet parakeet is acting sickly while you use your oven’s self-cleaning feature, it could be indicative of PTFE toxicosis. If you absolutely must use your self-cleaning oven feature, be sure that any animals you have are placed outside. Do this even if the kitchen area is well ventilated, because it is better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your animals’ health. Birds can either be placed in a ventilated room as far from the kitchen as possible or outside in a shaded area if weather permits. It might not be a bad idea for you and anyone else in the house to spend some time outside while the oven is cleaning. While you may not have the same sensitive respiratory system as a bird, there’s no reason for you to risk your health. Once again, it is always advisable to bypass the self-cleaning oven feature and clean it the old fashioned way instead. Your pets will thank you! 3. Asthma or Respiratory Diseases Anyone in your home who suffers from an upper respiratory disease or asthma should completely avoid the kitchen while running the cleaning cycle on your oven. Opening windows and doors and running the exhaust fan in the kitchen may not be enough to dispel dangerous fumes. There’s a Teflon coating on the inside of your oven that can withstand regular baking and broiling temperatures. That coating doesn’t stand up so well against the extreme temperatures bombarding the oven as it’s being cleaned. Any Teflon fumes a person breathes in can easily lead to trouble breathing, coughing, chills, sweating and other flu-like symptoms. 4. Blowing a Fuse or Control Panel If you have a newer oven, it more than likely has heating elements hidden beneath the bottom and over the ceiling. While these concealed elements make ovens easier to clean and prevent drips from charring or smoking, they can come at a cost. It’s hard for ovens to dissipate the high levels of heat produced during the oven’s cleaning cycle and still ensure there’s still enough air circulating. What happens is the fuses may blow out and control panels can burn out from the high heat. Even though oven manufacturers are well aware of what happens to oven fuses and control panels when exposed to extreme heat, so many consumers demand to have an oven with a self-cleaning feature that manufacturers feel they have no choice but to keep including it. When ovens do become damaged from the cleaning cycle, they can be much more expensive and time consuming to repair, mainly because the entire oven has to be pulled out in order for the repair technician can gain access to the problem area. This is when it would suit you best to clean your oven with soap and water instead, because you are much less likely to do any damage. It may be time consuming and hard work, but you’ll end up saving money in the long run as well as preserving your health and your family’s health. Cleaning Your Oven the Right Way Now that you know a bit more about the dangers of using your self-cleaning oven feature, you can better determine whether you want to use the feature at all. If you decide to take the risk, you should learn how to properly prepare your oven for a cleaning. The first thing you’ll want to do is read over your oven manual about what you should do before cleaning it. For instance, you’ll more than likely have to remove the oven racks and take care of any smears of grease and spills inside the oven. You may be able to leave in porcelain-coated shelves. Even though you can also leave in chrome-like shelves, the high temperatures can potentially leave them looking dull. If you decide to hand wash everything, all you do is take out the shelves and toss them in your sink for a good scrubbing. Before you replace them, wipe down the inside of your oven, and scrub any stubborn spots. Keep in mind that the more often that you clean your oven, the less amount of time food has to bake onto the sides. Try to clean your oven out after every one or two uses. Wiping away spots is not the only thing you should be concerned with when cleaning your oven. Maintenance is equally as important and can also cause damages if neglected or done incorrectly. If you have a damaged oven gasket, the seal around the door of your oven may not be as effective as it should be, meaning that some of the heat could escape as the oven is cleaning itself. Besides water and soap, it’s best that you not use any other cleaning chemicals on your oven, even if you use them before you start the cleaning cycle. Any remaining chemicals can have an adverse reaction with the fumes created in the oven as it’s cleaning itself. You can also save on energy costs by cleaning up right after you use the oven in order to prevent baked-on messes. Just take care not to burn yourself. Finally, if you must use the self-cleaning oven feature, you should limit your use to no more than six times a year to help save energy, as well as wear and tear on your appliance. Again, make sure to clear out of the kitchen when this feature is at work! It might be convenient to clean your oven with this feature, but this is a situation when taking the time to clean the old fashioned way can save you and your family. To make the task easier, consider lining the bottom of your oven with aluminum foil to catch anything that might drip as you’re cooking.
Sacha says March 15, 2017 at 12:05 pm I bought a Kitchen Aid glass top electric range in 2014. I only used the self cleaning feature once two years ago. It was horrible and we had to leave the house! I have noticed that when I use the oven (350) there is a white powder on the oven door and sometimes on the tinfoil covering the food. I have contacted the seller as I have insurance. I am very concerned about how toxic this powder is. I can’t seem to find an answer online. Do u know anything about this issue? Reply
Richard says May 2, 2017 at 9:43 pm The white powder is likely the ash that the foodstuffs are oxidized to by the catalytic coating of the oven. As such, I’d imagine it has a similar composition to wood ash, a mixture of calcium oxide, calcium carbonate, maybe some iron oxide. Fairly harmless, in other words, but basic if dissolved in water. Reply
Peter White says May 14, 2020 at 7:01 am You don’t know what you are talking about. Self-cleaning ovens are NEVER lined with Teflon. Furthermore neither do they produce much Carbon Monoxide. Gas stoves are the main producers of this poison in the kitchen. Reply
Perer White says May 14, 2020 at 7:09 am The lining isn’t a special catalytic one. It is simply porcelain enamel. The ash is simply produced by the intense heat, not by some chemical reaction. Reply
dave Boatman says September 16, 2020 at 1:09 am The carbonizing of the food spills is a chemical eaction just as burning a match is. lol Reply
T Swain says June 22, 2017 at 6:37 pm I agree the fumes can be noxious and can chase people out. Recommend doing at night with kitchen exhaust fan on, helps remove heat and fumes. Typical cycle can be 3 to 3 1/2 hours long. Been building homes for >30 years, never seen an oven or any major appliance with fuses self contained. All should be on separate circuit protected by properly rated circuit breaker. Manufacturers have surely tested their goods (self cleaning cycle). If this was issue it would also show up in feed back to Consumer Reports etc. Reply
Bama Girl says October 5, 2017 at 9:48 pm I have a problem as well with self cleaning oven. Purchased oven March 2017. I used an oven cleaning spray August 2017 then decided to use the aqua self cleaning feature right after. This resulted in a white build up all over the oven. I then cleaned the oven a third time but the white build up appears to be permanently engrained in thr oven Now when using the oven, there is a strong smell from the oven itself which isn’t bearable. Im afraid the smell is toxic and thus may be harmful for the food. Although, I’ve attempted to clean the oven 3 times since the first cleaning I am unable to correwcr the problem. Any advice? Reply
Perer White says May 14, 2020 at 7:11 am The aqua cleaning feature is no good. Only use the high-temperature pyrolytic cleaning feature. Reply
Rich says December 7, 2017 at 11:30 am The manual for my self cleaning oven says “DO NOT use oven cleaners or oven protective coatings in or around any part of the self-cleaning oven.” As I understand it, self cleaning ovens have a coating on the surface of the interior, and traditional oven cleaners damage that coating. You probably damaged that coating. I have no idea as to weather or not there is a way to restore that coating. Reply
Suzanne Darrah says December 31, 2017 at 12:47 pm I have many little “pit” marks in one area on the bottom of my self- cleaning oven. Is this from the self-cleaning part and has this destroyed or made my oven unsafe? It’s almost 20 years old and have only self-cleaned it 4 or 5 times.I just noticed the pitting the other day and haven’t used the oven since. Reply
Alisa miller says December 30, 2019 at 2:37 pm I also have put marks and need answers why they are there. I never have used any cleaners. Is it safe to use the oven? Is it because over time this will happen. Stove is well over 20 years old Reply
Jan says January 13, 2018 at 9:37 am We have a Bosch slide in range. I rarely use the oven and when I do I’m careful about avoiding messes. So after having the stove for a year I decided to use the self cleaning process. Next time I went to use oven no heat. The ignitor had gone bad. Repairman said it was likely caused by the self clean process. So no more self clean for me. And no more baking anything greasy in oven. Reply
Janis Jenkins says March 19, 2018 at 4:48 pm I used the oven cleaner and cannot get it off of the top of the oven above the heat elements. It’s a good thing that I bought a Cruisinart Toaster oven, which is working great, because I’m afraid of potential toxic fumes from the left-over cleaner. The Cruisinart cooked chicken, pizza and even cookies great. suppose I can tackle cleaning it some more tomorrow. So glad that I did not use the self-cleaning option as I have 2 cats that I want to protect. Thank you for this informative article. Reply
Jason says March 21, 2018 at 9:23 pm Does anyone know what that terrible smell is that comes with the see cleaning feature? It smells toxic and is extremely overwhelming… Reply
Lisa Stewart says January 30, 2020 at 4:44 am Be sure to use alot of ventilation when your self-cleaning oven is on, and run the fan above the oven. Reply
Cory says October 19, 2018 at 6:37 am How do I get rid of the smell now??? It’s still bad enough our eyes burn. I have cleaned the inside completely. We tried making a pizza and all the fumes came back. Reply
carol burke says January 2, 2019 at 9:53 am I had a white residue on the bottom of the oven and I laid some tin foil over it to catch any spill from something I was baking. As the oven heated up the oven began to smell and I tried to take the foil out. Not all of it came up and “cooked” into whatever was on the bottom to begin with. I’m afraid to run the self cleaning option. Any suggestions as to how to get this off? I’ve tried scraping without success . Reply
Roseanne Fitzlaff says March 4, 2019 at 1:46 am Once you use the self-clean feature, you are supposed to wash the white off the inside before using. Running the oven will help burn the residue off the elements before using again. Most oven manual says NOT to use tin foil sheets under the element. Reply
Alan says April 6, 2019 at 4:30 pm Used Self cleaning feature on LG oven. It got so hot it started to melt plastic part that holds the circuit boards that control the oven. Had to have relay board and control board replaced and temp sensor. Am now reluctant to use feature after 3 tech people said they would not recommend using self cleaning feature. Reply
Lyn Parker says August 19, 2019 at 7:54 am I made the mistake of using foil on the bottom of the oven too only to find it stuck to the oven floor. I have not been able to get it off, unfortunately. Reply
Dee says October 5, 2019 at 11:40 pm Put a baking dish with water in the oven and turn it on with enough heat to allow the water to warm and create steam. This will losen up baked on food and should allow you to remove the foil pan and clean. Reply
Michael says November 15, 2019 at 12:07 am I’ve used my self cleaning oven 3 times in 5 years. Each time I could smell those strong fumes from it. I have to open the kitchen window and put a fan blowing towards the window.on the counter , but still get that terrible smell. My oven fan doesn’t vent to the outside, so its worthless. The feature works great,but I think I’ll leave the house for a while next time.The white dust is just ashes. i vacuum them out when the oven cools down. Reply
Fuzzy says December 1, 2019 at 10:30 am There’s no Teflon coating on self-cleaning ovens. It wouldn’t survive the high heat. Telfon melts at 620.6°F. Self-clean ovens reach in excess of 850F. Pyrolytic (high-heat) self-cleaning ovens have a standard porcelain finish, same as a non-self-cleaning unit. Oven cleaners can be used on self-cleaners without damage … the warning against it is because chemical residue left behind can cause poisonous fumes when burned the next time self-clean is run. Don’t ever again run the self-clean function if chemical cleaners are used, that’s the restriction. Continuous-clean ovens, which are no longer on the market, did have a special finish that would be damaged by chemical cleaners … but that’s an entirely different kind of oven than high-heat self-cleaners. The newer AquaClean / steam-clean ovens may also have a special finish that is damaged by chemical cleaners .. .but also not the same thing as true high-heat self-cleaners. Reply
Lia Churchill says February 18, 2020 at 9:27 am I have a Bosch self-cleaning oven gas range that also allows using the cook top while self cleaning. I am cleaning it for the second time in two years. There is very little odour during the self-cleaning process. The oven also does not become excessively hot on the outside. I found that the manuel’s self-cleaning instructions explained in great detail the proper method for preparing the oven for self-cleaning and was very adequate but does need to be followed explicitly. So needless to say I am happy with the process and the results. Reply
Kathy Townsley says March 10, 2020 at 12:17 pm I used the self cleaning on my newer GE gas range last night, we almost died from the fumes. We opened every door in the house and ran all the fans. I called GE to let them know that I have run other self cleaning ovens in my life over 50 times and it was nothing like this one. She said they have changed the product, apparently for the worst. Next time “GET OUT OF THE HOUSE ” for 24 hours. Reply
