The other night, one of my kids managed to spill soup into the vents on the top of the oven door, which then dripped between the two oven door glass panels. Googling around, I discovered this is not uncommon, but there were scant instructions for cleaning between the glass of an oven door. Rather, forum contributors were evenly divided among “buck up and live with it,” “sell the house,” “call a professional to repair it,” and “replace the oven” — roughly my priority of options. Since this was a relatively new kitchen remodel, my better half was antsy to have it fixed. As I’m always up for a challenge, I thought it would be helpful to document the process in case anyone else has a need for cleaning between the glass of their oven’s door
I started with the helpful ‘sploded diagram below. This confirmed the project was doable by a mortal. So, for those of you who come here because you have the same issue, here is a pictorial guide, using my oven as the model for all ovens ever made.
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate. The door is heavy. If your oven is older, the door screws may be corroded and difficult to remove.
Tools and materials required:
- #2 Philips screwdriver with a good point.
- Cleaning supplies. For the internal pane, Windex was sufficient. On the inside of the oven, I used a razor blade and vinegar.
- Ice cold beer.
Time: About 30 minutes, including cleaning stuff and step 10.
Step 1: Disconnect the rack from the door. Mine has two rods that connect to the lower tray. Rotating them 90 degrees will let them slide out.
Step 2: Lock the hinges. There is a lever on each hinge that slides down to keep it from moving further. (See yellow arrow for the range of motion.)
Step 3: Close the door all but a hand-length (about 10° open). Grab each side of the door — not its handle — and lift up. Repeat: do not lift by the handle. Lift by handle, you shall not. (Why? The handle won’t support the weight of the door.)
Step 4: Gently set the door on a flat surface.
Step 5: There are six screws you’ll need to remove: four small ones (“60B” on the schematic above) on the bottom of the door (below the hinge levers), and the two large ones (“10” on the schematic) holding the handle (“39” in the schematic) that you did not use to lift the door with.
Below the door screws are two smaller screws on each side. Don’t remove these as they’re only for the hinge mechanism. (Because I didn’t know what I was doing, I did. It’s not a big deal, but it’s unnecessary work.)
Step 6: Gently lift the black, heavy, hinged part off the facade.
While I had the main door out, I used the razor blade to scrape the cooked food splatters off the oven glass, then cleaned grease with vinegar and paper towels.
Step 7: Clean the drip off the facade:
The stain wasn’t bad, so I just used a simple glass cleaner. While I was at it, I cleaned out the vent holes with wadded up paper towels.
Step 8: Reassemble the door: put the facade on the main door. Attach the four screws on the bottom. Squeeze the top of the door together and attach the two door handle screws.
Step 9: Gently set the door hinges into the slots on the oven. The door hinges will not release until they’re settled into the oven and you’ve pulled on the door a little bit:
If you’re still having problems with the hinge, here is an instruction sheet that might help. (Thanks to Kristina Manu for the information.)
Step 10: Drink cold beer.
