What Dissolves Baked-on Aluminum Foil on an Oven's Surface?

Non-Chemical Solutions

• Ovens come in close contact with your food, so you might be uncomfortable using household chemical cleaners on them. Before trying to remove the aluminum foil with oven cleaner, Heloise of the "Hints from Heloise" column suggests scrubbing your oven with the rough side of a kitchen sponge using soapy water when your oven is cold.

  If mild soap does not remove the aluminum foil, you can create a paste with baking soda. Take 1/4 cup of baking soda and mix it with 2 tablespoons salt and enough hot water to make a paste. Rub it on the aluminum foil and let it sit for five minutes. Scrub the area with a scouring pad or the rough side of a sponge to remove the aluminum foil.

Typical Cleaning Products

• You can also use your oven’s self-cleaning function to dissolve some of the aluminum foil. When the process is finished and the oven is still warm, take a plastic or metal scraper and try to scrape out the aluminum foil, as the heat will make it more pliable. Or, soak the area in an oven cleaner overnight, and scrub it with a scraper the next morning. Most oven manufacturers recommend not using abrasive cleaners on the oven, so use a cleaner only intended for ovens.

Prevention

• If you want to protect the bottom of your oven in the future, another alternative is to place baking sheets at the bottom of the oven. They will not melt, and you can easily remove them to clean. If you still want to use aluminum foil, place it on the baking sheets and switch the aluminum foil often, especially if you use your oven frequently.

Considerations

• Most aluminum foil manufacturers warn against placing aluminum foil on the bottom of the oven. A new product, non-stick aluminum foil, still is not meant to be placed on the bottom of the oven. Check the warning and instruction label on your brand of aluminum foil.