Angie's List: Oven cleaning warning

Many of us are getting our homes ready for Thanksgiving, especially if we have a bunch of guests coming for dinner.

That can include cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming the carpet, and cleaning the baked on dirt inside our ovens. But there is one those three things you should not do.

Don't clean an oven this way

Thinking of cleaning your oven before the big holiday? Many appliance repair shops say it's too risky this time of year.

John Mathew, who owns appliance repair company, said "I wouldn't "self clean" it at all because it does tend to create more problems for the appliance, because everything has electronic controls now. Self cleaning can cause control panels to short out because of the excessive heat."

Mathew says he has seen many ovens fail because someone decided to self clean it. He says never do that in advance of any holiday when you need to to use the oven.  It can be tough to get a repairman two days before Thanksgiving or Christmas.

He said "if you are going to self clean your oven for the first time in a long time, do it in June, so you've got plenty of time to get it fixed." January works, too.

Just make sure it is heating well

Our partners at the consumer guide Angie's List say the only thing you should do before Thanksgiving is make sure it is heating properly.

Angie Hicks, the founder of Angie's List, said "to do that, go out and buy a simple boxed cake mix and cook it to the specifications. If the cake comes out too dry or undercooked then you likely have a problem with the temperature and you want to have that checked out."

Caution about spray-on cleaners

As for oven cleaning sprays, you may want to wait till after the holiday to use them, because they can leave an odor behind.

If you don't want your turkey smelling like oven cleaner, wait till December 1st to clean the oven.

As always, don't waste your money.

________________________

Don't Waste Your Money is a registered trademark of the EW Scripps Co.

Click here to learn more about Angie's List.

"Like" John Matarese on Facebook