How to clean above the grill element.

Posted by Jason Ready on August 25, 2010 No comments

To clean above the grill element inside the oven we use scraping tools to remove the carbon. Scraping around and in-between the element taking care not to damage it.  Then we apply our paste and leave for a small amount of time whilst we clean another part of the oven. We then resume by scrubbing the paste using wet wire wool to remove the remaining grease and carbon. Any remaining solution is then wiped with a wet cloth and then dried. We do not clean the element itself as this can cause damage to it.

Some elements inside an oven drop down after removing a screw or bolt, usually located at the front centre or either side of the element. Other ovens, generally the older models have elements that just pull out. Obviously if the element does drop down or is removable then it makes the process of cleaning the roof of the oven a whole lot easier and is then just the same process as cleaning the bottom of the oven.

Categories: Tips.

The Association of Approved Oven Cleaners.

Posted by Jason Ready on August 21, 2010 No comments

Oven Ready have always been members of the The Association of Approved Oven Cleaners from day 1. This means that like all other members we adhere to the following ethos :

To ensure members provide a domestic oven cleaning service of the highest standard, ensuring health and safety are considered with utmost importance at all times.

All members use non-caustic & non-toxic products inside the customers home. This means that :

  • There are  no nasty smells, so you do not have to open all the kitchen windows
  • There is no danger to people who have young children or pets
  • There is no danger to people who have respiratory problems
  • There is no chance of food contamination when using the oven
  • The oven can be used immediately after the clean

All TAAOC oven cleaning members have been trained to the highest standard using the latest products and techniques to ensure your oven clean is the best on the market.

When having your oven cleaned you should check that the company you use are members of the TAAOC and have the logo displayed on their website. If unsure go to the TAAOC website to check if a company is listed.

Categories: News.

Extractor filter cleaning.

Posted by Jason Ready on August 16, 2010 No comments

Most extractor hoods have stainless steel or aluminium filters. Generally speaking they do not need to be replaced, they just need to be cleaned. They have a wire mesh appearance and that is what traps the grease. They normally slide or pull out. We clean these by placing them in the heated dip tank inside our vans to remove all the grease and then we spray them down with a water jet. The filters are dried and then put back in place.

Built-in / Pull-out extractors normally have paper filters, sometimes with a carbon filter located behind it. We replace the paper filters as part of our service. Our filter papers go a red colour when they are coated with grease, indicating when it is time to change the paper filter again.

To clean the extractor units themselves involves lots of degreasing paste as they get very sticky and greasy inside and out. Even when the extractor is not in use, steam still rises into the extractor area, meaning it is constantly absorbing residue that then dries and forms layers of grease and fat.

Categories: News.

Microfiber cloths.

Posted by Jason Ready on August 12, 2010 No comments

Where would we be without Microfiber cloths? They are superb for the final touch when cleaning an oven and glass door. Normal cotton cloths sometimes leave behind small particles inside the oven, but these cloths finish the job off nicely, removing anything that is loose. We also use them to remove any sticky residue on plastic surrounds on ovens and doors, plus plastic control knobs, after they have been soaked with de-greaser.

We use high quality microfiber cloths imported from the USA. We find the more expensive ones are thicker, have a good capacity for obtaining water and can go through the washing machine more times than the smaller cloths found in UK supermarkets.

Categories: News, Products.

Door to door.

Posted by jo on August 6, 2010 No comments

With all this lovely weather we have been blessed with recently its ideal for getting out of the office for a while to enjoy it.  Not only do you get exercise which is free and fresh air, but it gives us chance to spread the word about  Oven Ready through the medium of leaflets. Today I walked about 2 miles delivering approximately 300 leaflets in the process. Sometimes you get to meet the homeowners that could be your perspective customers, one lady said to me today ” its is such a chore.. every Sunday I spend most of my evening in the kitchen scrubbing the oven”.  I handed her the leaflet and said let us do the hard work for you. Off out leafleting again tomorrow, there’s no stopping me now, well except if the weather takes a turn for the worse that is.

Categories: On The Road.

Flexible Friends.

Posted by jo on August 2, 2010 No comments

Last month we started using the chip and pin device to make payments easier for our  customers. A lot of people prefer to pay by card as it means they don’t have to spend time hunting around the house for the chequebook and then filling it in. As this is a new concept for us, there will always be a few small teething problems. One technician put the till roll in the wrong way round and wondered why it didn’t print! He came back to base and I sorted it out. Another incident occurred when a technician couldn’t get a signal on the machine (these work like mobile phones), he had to walk around the customers garden waving the machine in the air to find a signal to complete the transaction. Other than that, things seem to be going smoothly … so far so good.

Categories: News, On The Road.

Cleaning inside Teka & Neff oven doors.

Posted by Jason Ready on August 2, 2010 No comments

Some oven doors made by Teka, Neff and a few other manufacturers have very large vents which attracts drips that mark the inside of the glass door. At first sight with some Teka models there appears to be no obvious way to clean inside the door. There are no screws whatsoever that can be removed to separate the door apart.

To clean inside the door on some Teka models, the glass has to be pulled away from the door with a  tugging action. The glass itself has spring like clips glued to the under side of the glass and are not immediately viewable. To remove the glass we tug the glass upwards at the end nearest the oven until it pops up, the glass then slides forward 1cm and lifts out.

Some of the Neff oven doors are accessible to clean inside using the same method as above. Quite often they also have a middle pane of glass that is supported by 4 loose plastic corner brackets, which also needs to be removed for cleaning. The door itself has a number of screws  but it is not advisable to remove them and dismantle the door on these particular models as they are very difficult to put back together, largely because the middle pane of glass will only sit still when the front and back of the door is attached.

Oven Ready would only advise that you attempt to remove the glass panel from your Teka or Neff oven door  by tugging it, if you are 100% certain that, that is the correct method for your particular oven door. If you are unsure consult the instruction manual or manufacturer. If still uncertain then Oven Ready can visit your property and clean the oven and door for you.

Categories: Tips.

Removing Candy oven doors.

Posted by Jason Ready on July 30, 2010 No comments

At first glance there is no obvious way to remove these doors from the oven as there are no catches on the hinges like most conventional oven doors. There are a few screws just above the hinge that looks like they may attach the door to the oven but this is not the case. If those screws are removed then the brackets that hold the door on will drop backwards into the oven cavity and then the door will never go back on again.

To remove these doors we place 2 small steel pins into the tiny holes located in the hinges. Then close the door to a 45 degree angle and the hinges close and press against the 2 pins. Then the door lifts out.

The door has to be taken off to clean inside the glass, as the screws to split the door apart are located at the bottom of the door and are inaccessible with the door on the oven.  Once those screws are removed the door slides apart and we clean the inside of the glass so our customers can once again view what they are cooking.

Categories: Tips.

We always like to help.

Posted by Jason Ready on July 29, 2010 No comments

Today when I was at a customers house I switched the oven on before cleaning and there was a humming noise. I noticed the oven fan was not spinning even though I had put it on the fan assisted setting. The customer advised that it had always done this.

Whilst cleaning the oven with the back panel off and the fan removed for cleaning I turned the oven on again and the spindle spun normally. It appeared that the back panel was slightly warped and must have been preventing the fan from spinning. After cleaning I bent the pack panel outwards slightly so that it would not catch the fan and prevent it from spinning. The humming noise stopped and the customer once again had a fan assisted oven with reduced cooking times and no more annoying humming noises.

Whilst cleaning the door I noticed that the door handle was very loose on one side. As I had the door open in two parts for cleaning, I tightened up the screw inside the door now that it was accessible and the customer was delighted that she now had a clean, fully working oven, minus a wonky door handle.

Categories: News.

Back to school.

Posted by Jason Ready on July 28, 2010 No comments

Today we cleaned 8 single ovens & hobs at a school in Oxfordshire. We never know what we will encounter at schools. Sometimes they are in a really bad way as the students don’t clean up after themselves and sometimes they are surprisingly only mildly dirty.

The ovens & hobs we cleaned today were average, which meant we were able to clean them all in one day. It was tough going trying to do so many ovens in one day and required extra working hours, but it is well worth it and the students next term now all have clean ovens at their disposal.

The good thing about cleaning ovens located together is that all the removable parts can be placed in the dip tank in one go and can be left inside for a long time meaning that there is no extra scrubbing to do at the end of the job.

Oven Ready offer a discount on current prices to educational institutions.

Categories: News.

A bright idea.

Posted by Jason Ready on July 26, 2010 No comments

Can’t change your oven light bulb because the glass bulb cover is stuck? This is a common problem we encounter. After time they can  sieze, although the trick is to not over-tighten them in the first place. Most engineers will have a special rubber suction tool that fits the bulb cover perfectly and then twists using a rotary arm.

We use a microfiber cloth and muscle power to twist them. If that does not work then we apply white vinegar to the rim of the cover that touches the metal plate underneath. Leave it for 10 minutes and then hey presto, the cover will twist and can be removed.

Sometimes however the bulb cover can be over threaded, meaning they have been screwed on too tight and the thread has jumped the attachment. The bulb cover will just turn and turn and never unscrew. To remove these we pull the bulb outwards while twisting to re-thread the bulb and then they twist off.

Categories: Tips.

Anyone for German Shepherds Pie?

Posted by Jason Ready on July 25, 2010 No comments

Recently I cleaned a single oven that was coated with more than just grease and carbon. When visiting a household that has pets there is always a good chance that there is plenty of fur inside the oven. I know how bad it can get as I have a fluffy white cat and her hair gets everywhere, sometimes even clothes still have hair on them after they’ve been through the washing machine.

Anyway, this particular household had 2 German Shepherd dogs and I’m sure there was more of their fur inside the oven than there was on the dogs! It came out cluster by cluster. My bin was full up with fur before I even started on removing the carbon. It’s amazing how it builds up. I can’t imagine the food tasted too good which is probably why they called us in to resolve the problem. As always Oven Ready left the oven clean, gleaming and fur free. It is always worth switching the oven light on and from time to time wiping around with a damp cloth to pick up any hair that may be lurking at the back of the oven or stuck to the door glass. A fur free oven is a healthy oven.

Categories: News.

Glass door issue.

Posted by jo on July 20, 2010 No comments

On a job yesterday, one of our team encountered a difficult glass door panel. He couldn’t remove the centre panel form the unit, after trying all the various ways it was decided that the two main screws which bolt into the door had lost their thread or were rusted and couldn’t be removed until a oven repair technician had a look at them. Our driver advised the customer to call up and get a repair man to fix it. Once done, we will come back and clean the inside of the door. The customer called up and explained as it was a rental property she would need to inform the landlord to rectify the matter. But all in all, was extremely pleased with the work we had already done on the oven. In her words “it’s ten times better than before” many thanks.

Categories: In The Office, News.

An AGA day.

Posted by Jason Ready on July 15, 2010 No comments

Yesterday I cleaned 3 AGAs. Two 4 door AGAs and one 2 door AGA. Coincidentally they were all cream coloured, which seems to be a popular colour, along with dark blue. Cleaning an AGA is a fairly straightforward procedure. Sometimes the aluminium doors and dome lids can be real hard work to clean though. No lack of sweating when cleaning these, as at least one of the doors and dome lids is always really well covered in carbon.  To clean the top of the AGA  we use a  method of blading, pealing off layer by layer of burnt on carbon and then buff clean and shiny with our soap based paste and microfiber cloths. It’s always good to clean an AGA as we don’t have to place our head in the ovens like conventional ovens. The ovens themselves are steel casts so just need to be swept out as all the carbon inside them disintegrates to dust

Categories: News.

A clean sweep.

Posted by Jason Ready on June 23, 2010 No comments

We had a number of customers this week requiring their oven to be cleaned before they move out of their property. Not a rented property, but a sold property. As is often the case, people selling their home, feel it unfair to move out and leave the oven in a bad condition for the new owners. Many people are considerate when moving home and like to leave the property in a condition that they would be happy to move into.

On the flip side we do get a lot of people who have just bought a new property and  do not want to cook in the oven because it has been left in a bad way and the customer doesn’t mind cleaning their own mess but would prefer not to clean other peoples mess.

Either way Oven Ready will clean an oven for anyone moving in or out.

Categories: News.

Cleaning an oven with Baking Soda.

Posted by Jason Ready on June 17, 2010 No comments

Baking Soda also known as Sodium Bi-Carbonate mixed with water and lemon or vinegar is a popular method amongst many households for attempting to clean an oven. This process involves warming the oven to approximately 100c and then applying the solution liberally all around the oven and then leaving overnight.

It is a slow method and obviously one we could not use  at Oven Ready as we clean an oven in roughly 1 hour. The chemical reaction between the baking soda and vinegar is meant to fizz and loosen the carbon inside the oven from the enamel.

We have experimented with this method and whilst it can loosen the carbon, it is certainly not just a case of wiping the oven clean and shiny afterwards. Stubborn carbon or very dirty ovens will need the application to be applied more than once in an effort to remove the layers of carbon and get the oven clean. Elbow grease is still required to remove what’s left.

Different makes of oven are made from different quality enamels. This process works well on some ovens but does very little on other makes of oven.

Unfortunately what this process cannot do is clean inside the door where gravy stains run down through the vents, it also does not clean the shelves or the fan behind the back panel and it is unable to clean self cleaning liners if  the oven has them.

Categories: Products.

Returning customers.

Posted by jo on June 12, 2010 No comments

We have a lot of customers that have a regular oven clean with us. Some are 6 monthly and some are yearly. We have, however, had a few telephone calls recently from customers that used our service way back in 2007/8. It’s always refreshing to welcome back customers that have been previously cleaned. One lady called up just to have a chat and to arrange her appointment. So if you are a returning customer .. welcome back to Oven Ready. Our service is better than ever… let us bring your oven back to life!

Categories: In The Office, News.

Pestered by pets.

Posted by jo on June 10, 2010 No comments

We encounter many pets on our visits to customers homes. They do love all the extra attention. We have found that some of our four legged friends do try and assist with the oven cleaning (must be the smell of all the burnt on roasts dinners). They sometimes try to eat what comes out of the oven. This is especially true of dogs.

Some drivers have reported back that the family dog is so interested in helping or hindering it adds more time to the job. As much as we love animals it is not safe to have them in the kitchen whilst we are there, as we do use some very sharp tools. Most of our customers respect this and put the animals in the garden. It’s for their safety and for the technician to not have to worry about being interrupted.

Categories: On The Road.

Wire Brushes.

Posted by Jason Ready on May 22, 2010 No comments

We use these on a regular basis. They are great at cleaning around intricate parts such as alluminium hob burners in combination with wire wool. They are aslo good at cleaning behind elements inside the oven where the element enters the back of the oven as it is very difficult to clean stubborn dirt behind these, especially when the element does not drop down or pull out. Also they are good at brushing down cast iron hob supports especially the corner sections.

3 brushes bought from a DIY store will probably set you back about £4. We buy ours from another store for 80 pence as we get through a lot of these.

Categories: Products, Tips.

“I bet your oven at home is spotless?”

Posted by Jason Ready on May 14, 2010 No comments

spotless ovenA lot of our customers say this to me. Well it is true, sort of. I have trained the wife up to clean our oven on a regular basis! It’s the last thing I want to do when I get home and I don’t want to spend my weekends doing it. It’s a tough job and I have to have a rest from it. Fortunately my wife is pretty good at keeping on top of it and wiping it down regularly. I do however, about every 3 months give it a proper deep clean just to keep it in tip top condition.

Whenever we have friends over for dinner, knowing what we do, the first thing they do is look in the oven to see if it’s clean and I would hate to disappoint them. So in answer to my customers question, yes it is spotless, but it’s not all my doing.

Categories: News.
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