Commercial oven cleaners are often basic or alkaline solutionbased (sodium hydroxide/caustic soda). Oven cleaners can be dividedinto two main groups, those that work and those that don't!* Oven cleaners that "work" usually have pH greater than 7(basic or alkaline solution). * Fat and carbon are easily dissolvedin reaction with alkaline solutions. This is why alkalinedetergents are used to clean greasy ovens. The more alkaline theoven cleaner, the better the results you'll get. * Of course,good/powerful oven cleaners should contain more essentialingredients (besides being alkaline) in order to be reallyeffective and at the same time remain relatively safe. * Since ourskin likes pH-7 (i.e. balanced pH), any solution lower or greaterthan pH-7 getting in touch with the skin, might cause irritation oreven damage. Therefore, protect your hands with rubber gloves,protect your eyes and open a window for ventilation when usingalkaline oven cleaner.* "Eco friendly" oven cleaners are simple washing up liquid inmany cases. They are very limited in effect and will take muchlonger to work. These are the oven cleaners that "don't work"!