[Paul Jones]

Hi Everyone,
                    I'm in the process of setting up my own oven cleaning round in the Northamptonshire area and i was just after some free advice please.

I'm not going down the training route as i'm really starting up on a low budget,but i'm going to practice on friends and familys ovens (they are very brave i know! lol)
I've sourced a lot of information on the net so far (and by having a nice little conversation with my local ovenu man the other day : ) )

So managed to learn how to take a lot of oven doors off,materials used etc etc.
But i'm just stuck on a few things.....

1)  with self cleaning ovens,what do i use? is it safe to use the bio non caustic degreasers? and is it ok to use a damp stainless steel scourer on them?

2) with freestanding ovens,i noticed my mums main oven door is on a hinge,but i can remove the glass without taking the door off...i'm guessing on some though you can't? do you remove the doors still on this kind of oven? or is it a case of sometimes you can and sometimes you can't?
also a notice when i look at people's pricing that they have a set price for a freestanding oven,ie 59-69 pounds,is that for the whole thing? or do you price for the top bit as well? (sorry if that seems a daft question lol)

3) i've just ordered a standard stainless steel cleaner,but i've also seen oils mentioned? can anyone recommend a good product please?

4) again another silly question...do you just use standard glass cleaner on the doors? or can i clean it with the bio oven cleaner?

5)nearly there i promise lol........what type of wire brush do you use to finish off cleaning trays,racks etc? i notice there are copper,brass,steel etc?

6)and lastly....when cleaning the top of the inside of the oven near the element,i know some people of said sometimes it's hard to move to clean,so they use a bendy scraper? any suggestions on this please?

I'm really sorry for all the questions,i have learnt a lot already...honest!
In an ideal world i would pay for a little bit of training but like i said i'm on a tight budget,so could do with all the help i can get.

My email is barleyhill76@yahoo.co.uk and my mobile is 07824705731 if you don't wish to share the info with everyone! lol

Thanks again
                    Paul

[Pristine Clean]

Hi Paul,

I am not sure if I can be bothered to write all of what you are asking.

So I will call you on your mobile. Probably tomorrow, what's the best time?

I will be interested to see what some of the regular oven cleaners say about this

"1)  with self cleaning ovens,what do i use? is it safe to use the bio non caustic degreasers? and is it ok to use a damp stainless steel scourer on them?"
[\quote]

Dave

[Neil kell]

Hi,

I only do ovens inclusive during my EOT cleans inclusive with the other appliances. I don't really feel there would be a huge market ( here in Ireland with the recession) to justify a specific course. If your getting into removing elements and doors make sure you have the skill that comes with professional expertise or you may hang yourself. Professionals use dip trays for the racks. Or perhaps this new oven brite thing which I'd like to find out more about myself actually. I just do them instinctively with scourers, glass cleaner, back to black, scrapers ( bohemian bladed unger ) oh and  Elbow grease too, but I gotta get some more of that, I'm running low, ha, - yeah sponges and cloths. Don't leave any residue in there from your cleaning agents, rinse them all away, but thats an obvious point I suppose.

[Paul Jones]

Hello mate,
               that would be great thanks (thought i was pushing it a bit with all my questions! lol) any time tomorrow is cool with me whenever your free,thanks again.

Pristine Clean thanks for your input,don't worry that's why i'm getting all the infomation i can and also doing trial cleans on friends and family. taking the oven apart isn't as hard as it sounds as i've been practicing already,there's just obviusly a few more things i need to learn (hence why i'm on here)

I have dip tank and bio degreaser and things already,but again just want to get all the information i can on this.

If anyone just wants to answer one question,rather than all 5 lol that would be great : )

[Graham Rogers]

Hi Paul,

Re your questions:

1. For removal self cleaning sides: Put them in your dip tank - though some of the cheaper make ovens such as Beko won't appreciate two many dips or length of time in the solution. For sprayed on self cleaning sides don't touch them unless they are thick in grease. If you get a Stoves oven with sprayed on sides usually they are fine expect for a patch on the top of the main oven. I'd scrape this patch off and clean with Astonish. For sides which do come off if you take out some screws, but you don't want to take off, say for example Creda ovens, then use a combination of multi fibre cloths, a degreaser (a good stainless steel cleaner will do) and steel scourer; I now dip these after a bit of experience I can remove and put back the sides.

2. Not sure what you mean here but the ovens with doors that swing to the left on hinges on top and bottom sometimes have glass that can be just slid out and other others the door is a complete unit. On these as there are no gaps in them the inside of the door doesn't get dirty so there isn't a need to take them apart. An example of this type would be a Leisure or Rangemaster range. Where the hinges are like this on top and bottom I suggest not taking the door off as I have had problems with the backing plate falling off into the inside of the oven and then it becoming a complete nightmare to get that plate out of the oven - on a Beko oven (cheap crappy oven) I ended up turning it upside down to get the plate out. So as a rule I don't take these apart. If there is dirt inside tell the customer that you don't remove these type of doors. You also get these type of doors where the glass can be removed with a couple of screws and then dipped in your solution. For the pricing usually the price is just for the ovens, the hob is extra. For older style ovens with high level grill make sure you price them accordingly as can be very dirty and therefore take longer than a standard single oven and hob.

3. Stainless steel cleaner - I use Selden K050 which is also branded as Jangro Stainless Steel cleaner. All round excellent cleaner with degreasing properties.

4. I'd use Astonish on all surfaces after I had removed grease with blade. On cleaner doors or glass use Selden K050.

5. If you really need to use a wire brush on the racks - you'd normally won't need to -  I recommend using a good quality wire brush that has four rows of bristles. The more rows the better the quality. This is a bog standard wire brush. I have tried the copper ones without success so don't use them.

6. On most ovens the grill element will either fall down after taking out screws, turn a catch or you can bend it down. Then clean the top of the oven as you would the rest of the enamel surfaces.

Overall my advice would be watch out for painted surfaces inside the oven (some Smegs) and on the outside of range cookers (will look like enamel) and extractor hoods (again will look like enamel).

I have a free guide to successful oven cleaning on my blog - link on my profile. Also my oven cleaning business blog has comprehensive info.

Give me a ring emall me if you get stuck.

Graham