You Can Use an Oven Cleaner to Clean Wood Furniture.
TikTok and Instagram are brimming with DIY tutorial videos and furniture flips that make it look quick and easy to turn second-hand items into high-end items. (Of course, if you cut four hours of paint removal and sanding down to two seconds, you can make any project quick and easy.)
Many of these videos showcase time-saving “hacks” that supposedly got them through the project in record time. A recent example of this is the use of an oven cleaner to clean wood. While this viral trick can get the job done, it’s not for every project and can sometimes do your furniture more harm than good. Here’s what you need to know.
Can an oven cleaner be used to clean wood?
An oven cleaner can effectively remove some stains and varnish from certain types of solid wood furniture (i.e. not wood veneer or laminate). This works because most oven cleaners and special cleaners contain sodium hydroxide (also known as lye or caustic soda). While some people have been able to use oven cleaner on painted furniture, this method generally doesn’t work as well as it does on stains and varnishes.
If you’re really stuck and have no other options, you might want to try oven cleaner as a wood remover (assuming you’re using it safely – more on that in a minute). But if you go to the store and buy a new product, you can choose one that has been specifically designed to remove stains, varnish, or paint.
Does oven cleaner damage wood?
Using an oven cleaner to clean the wood will dry out the fibers , making the wood brittle and more likely to split. This also bleaches the wood gradually, although this may be what you want depending on what kind you want.
How to clean wood with oven cleaner
Whether you are using an oven cleaner to clean wood or clean your oven, be aware that it contains harsh chemicals and you must take all proper precautions when using it. This means working in a (very) well ventilated area (ideally outside, but a garage or shed with open doors can work too), wearing gloves, goggles and a face mask, even if the product is labeled “smoke free”.
Although oven cleaner comes in several forms (e.g. powders, gels, liquids), the spray version is the easiest to use. Here’s what to do :
- Start by thoroughly cleaning the furniture from dust, dirt, sticky stains and other debris.
- Then, in a well-ventilated area, coat the product with a layer of oven cleaner.
- Wait 30 minutes.
- Scrub it with a brush and dish soap.
- Rinse it off with a hose.
It may take several cycles of this process to remove a stain or varnish from an item.