Lubricating oven rails

[tabbypurr]

'bung some in' works for me :) You don't need much, it's very strong stuff. The NaOH will heat the water. And obviously you need eye protection, and to rinse off any that gets on your skin.

NT

[Lee Nowell]

Just checked the garage it is sugar soap I have (a few opened packets left over over the years). Quick Google seems to say this is the same as caustic soda. Really? I guess I have lots of it so can give it a try and see what happens :)

[The Natural Philosopher]

It surely is not!

Mayb washing soda or sodium triphosphate..but not sodoum hydroxide!

get some oven clean caustic spry from the supemrmarket - Mr Muscle etc

[alan_m]

Pre heat the oven to a "warm to the touch" temperature and use a can of spray on foaming oven cleaner. Your soda water mix will just run off while a propriety can of oven cleaner spray will remain in place long enough to start working on the sticky gunge. You may need to leave it for 10 minutes before applying more foam. Wear disposable or washing up gloves and watch what you breath in - squirt the can foam cleaner on the rail for a few seconds holding your breath and then vacate the area immediately.

[ZakJames]

Lee Nowell [e-mail]> wrote

Too quick.

[ZakJames]

It can be

[Lee Nowell]

Thanks all great advice as usual. Bought 500g of caustic soda (£2 couldn't believe it) added the whole lot to around 40l of cold water (instructions said to use cold) and soaked them for a couple of hours. Water is now black and most of the grease is off the rails. They now run back in fully but not out fully so some progress. Cleanest they have looked in years.

Plan to get some more later and give them another soak to try and get the final runner working a d remaining crud off.

Thanks again

[ZakJames]

You should be able to just soak them longer in the same lot of dissolved caustic soda. You wont have consumed much of the original 500g of caustic soda.

[tabbypurr]

40 litres? there's waste and there's WASTE.

[Lee Nowell]

I ended up soaking the oven racks, my BBQ racks, couple of large roasting dishes, frying pan, roasting racks as well as the telescopic rails. Ended up using a wheelbarrow as it was the only thing I had that would fit everything in (racks were difficult due to size). I tried thick bin bags first but a hole in 4 of them trying to pack the stuff in so have up.

[ZakJames]

Still should work fine to soak the rails again to get rid of the last of the grunge. You are unlikely to have consumed all the 500g of caustic soda

[Lee Nowell]

I am amazed at the results. Much better than I thought. They were all rinsed with water and then put in the dishwasher to ensure all the caustic soda was gone. Probably a bit OTT but hey. The oven trays have come out clean but seem to have a coating of white powder on them. I initially thought it might be caustic soda but now thinking it is unlikely given the level of rinsing etc. Any ideas? Is it safe to just wash it off by hand? Was thinking of using vinegar to neutralise it if it was caustic soda.

Maybe I am worrying too much. After all the warnings about caustic soda wanted to be careful :)

[ZakJames]

It?s a form of soap, that?s how some soaps are made, caustic and fat.

Yep, or do them in the dishwasher too if they will fit.

It isnt caustic soda, its soap.

Yep.

That?s a different problem splashes getting in your eyes when dissolving it in water. That?s exothermic and a bit dangerous.

[newshound]

No, it's *very* dangerous. I would not suggest using NaOH pellets to anyone who had not been shown how dissolve it properly in a lab.

[The Natural Philosopher]

It is not that dangerous. Except to eyes and clothing. Any on your skin burns like hell and you will definitely be washing it off before you go any further.

I'd rather handle caustic than petrol..