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ssdarb

Cleaning the oven; I'm scared to do the auto-clean bc of GW!

ssdarb
9 years ago

So we gutted and renovated the kitchen, everthing is really wonderful. A great layout, wonderful finishes, terrific fixtures, but I am afraid about how to clean my oven. The thing is when I was researching ovens on GW, there were all these horror stories about how doing the auto-clean or self-clean ruined peoples' ovens!

We are very very active cooks. I need to clean this thing. All the horrible stories on GW have got me worried about it.

Can someone tell me for sure, should I get a can of oven cleaner and do it that way, or should I try to do the auto-clean/self-clean cycle.

FWIW, the oven is still the the warantee period.

Comments (20)

  • dadoes
    9 years ago

    Run self-clean while it's still in warranty (1st year?) so any repairs will be covered if a problem occurs and the manufacturer will have a record of the case.

  • weissman
    9 years ago

    I agree with dadoes. Since you're still under warranty I would try it now or you never will!

  • kaseki
    9 years ago

    Also blue speckle porcelain interiors seem to be reported as chipping more than the old-time black speckle porcelain interiors.

    I haven't seen chipping yet in my blue Wolf ovens, but I think only one oven has seen its self-clean cycle. My ovens were burned in using a series of rising temperature then cool-down cycles until reaching the maximum burn-in temperature, so there could be some relaxation effect minimizing chipping.

    kas

  • Fori
    9 years ago

    Now or never! Do it under warranty for sure!

  • gtadross_gw
    9 years ago

    Just make sure to take out all the racks when you do. They will lose their polish and shine if you don't.

    I left mine in there during a self clean of my Viking and the racks are now a dull grey instead of high polish stainless that they once were. No big deal. They still work so it's just an aesthetics issue more than anything.

  • ssdarb
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks! I have a 5 yr warranty and we at yr 1.5, so I'll do it now. And thanks for the tip about the racks.

  • westsider40
    9 years ago

    my ovens are 3.5 years old and I just completed my first self clean a couple of days ago. It works. Was great. Even after it shut off, the noise continued and I started to worry. No problem. I just waited and the noise stopped.

    But worrywart me, I called Abt, the seller and warranty folks, and the service dept said that I could shut off the circuit breaker for 10 minutes. But before I did that, the noise stopped.

    And about a year ago, I started the self clean and the glass oven door shattered. Was replaced. They said this happened to all brands with equal frequency. It happened because the service tech had overtightened the screws holding the glass. The service tech had done me a favor and removed the glass and cleaned it as stuff dripped between the glass and was unsightly. He was out to check something else and I asked if he could clean the glass.

    Anyway, the self clean is wonderful. I had been wanting this feature for many years and I am not afraid of it anymore. I am a big girl now.

  • dadoes
    9 years ago

    Any noise or operational sounds continuing after the self-clean cycle ends likely is a cooling fan for the electronics. I suggest that an attempt to circumvent the normal cooling cycle by shutting off circuit breakers is not a good idea.

  • westsider40
    9 years ago

    Well, I called Abt in a panic, imagining that it would blow up! So they responded, in a worst case scenario. I understand and appreciate their thoughts.

    You make sense and it is good to know. And this info should be valuable to the op, to allay any concerns about noises after the self clean, and that it is normal. Thanks, dadoes.

  • bireland
    9 years ago

    I use self clean a lot (appx. every 6-8 weeks) on our Wolf oven. My husband bakes bread weekly and I use for roasting, broiling and baking. No problems. Wolf has good instructions for cleaning the glass doors.

  • dadoes
    9 years ago

    Advisory I've run across is that chemical oven cleaners should not be used on a self-cleaning unit *unless* the self-clean function is *never* used again. Not because they'd damage the finish (a self-clean oven has a regular porcelain finish, same as a manual-clean) but because chemical residue may remain that could vaporize into toxic fumes next time the high-heat self-clean cycle is run.

  • ssdarb
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Yikes! Thanks for that. I did the self-clean, and I haven't used chemicals on this oven before.

    It just finished. I did have to get out a few fans, put the hood vent on and open doors and turn the AC down to help ventilate the space. It was pretty fumey. The kids came home from school in the middle of the fuminess, so I asked them to go play outside and keep the dogs happy in the back yard instead of coming in for a while.

    Next time I will do it in earlier in the day so that there is plenty of time to air out the house before the kids come home.

    It's still hot right now and I have to wait an hour or so before opening it.

    I was a little nervous, I admit that I got out the fire extinguisher and placed it at the ready just in case.

  • westsider40
    9 years ago

    Yay for you strayer. Now you have a gorgeous clean oven.

  • a2gemini
    9 years ago

    Way to go!
    I last cleaned mine while under warranty but should do again but being chicken.
    Glad to see 2 Wolfies aren't chipping. Mine makes number 3 so there is hope in the world.
    Also, clean them now- not just before the big holidays. I remember breezygals horror story of getting the lock feature stuck and making horrific noises. She had a whole gaggle coming for dinner.
    She did use the circuit breaker trick to save the day.

  • scrappy25
    9 years ago

    One word of warning, be sure that you do not have any domestic birds in the house when you self clean the oven. The fumes are very toxic to them I read about this when we had a small mammal pet die a few days after self cleaning the oven; he lived a few rooms away on the first floor and was on the older side, so his sudden death (without looking sick) may have been completely unrelated, but I was worried and then found all the bird warnings on internet searches. The bird warning is even mentioned in my oven manual.

  • geoffrey_b
    9 years ago

    I never use the self clean.

    First always use a cookie sheet or something similar to catch any overflow.

    Second, if you do have cooked on food - clean it up within a day or two. Sometimes a rag or paper towel - soaked in water and let it set for an hour will remove the spot.

    Otherwise I clean the ovens about twice a year with Easy-Off.

    Heat is destructive - especially high heat - it also kills electronics.

  • sail_away
    9 years ago

    I'm not using the self-cleaning oven, either. I don't have any birds, but I do have pretty severe asthma. So no way am I subjecting myself to those fumes.

    I have found a thick mixture of baking soda and peroxide has worked well on my oven so far. Don't go too crazy with the baking soda, unless you want to be wiping white powder out of the oven for weeks after you clean.

  • dadoes
    9 years ago

    To clarify, the fumes produced during a self-clean cycle are resultant from the grease and food soil burning off / vaporzing. How much is produced depends on the degree of soiling. Running an exhaust hood over the range (assuming it's vented outside, not a recirculating-type) and/or opening a window will help.

  • mjocean
    9 years ago

    Hi,
    I have self cleaned both our Wolf ovens without incident. They are still on warranty and will be cleaning them again next week before the holidays as A2 suggested.
    MJ