There is one chore which I absolutely hate doing and that has to be cleaning the insides of the oven and grill as well as cleaning out the grill tray. Mainly because the burnt on stains are absolutely terrible to remove, I could easily spend an hour possibly longer scrubbing the inside of the oven with soapy water and numerous Brilo Pads. I'm the sort of person who likes to keep everywhere in my home clean and tidy, but I hate spending hours upon hours cleaning. So I like to choose cleaning products which are quick and effective so as I can spend less time cleaning and more time doing other fun things like spending time with my little boy. Every time I went into the supermarket I always seemed to forget to purchase Oven Cleaner hence the reason why I was always scrubbing the oven with a Brilo and soapy water solution. I was going into Poundland one day and they had a big display of Mr Muscle Oven Cleaner right at the door as you walked into the store, so I immediately lifted four cans of the stuff regardless of whether it was any good or not. At the end of the day if the product was rubbish then it would have only been £4 I wasted.
As you can see from the picture at the top of this review the Mr Muscle Oven Cleaner is supplied in a cylindrical tin container which has an orange plastic coloured lid. The Orange lid on the tin is a safety lid; which means that it is virtually child proof, you need to squeeze the tow raised areas on the lid and then lift off. On the front of the tin it has the Mr Muscle logo and a blurb near the top of the container stating that the oven cleaner provides powerful cleaning action. Like most cleaning products there is a list of Do's and Don'ts on the back of the tin as well as a list of ingredients and instructions on how to use the product carefully. Normally I don't read usage instructions on the back of cleaning products because normally they're all the same; but as this is a powerful cleaning mousse I decided that it was probably best that I read it carefully before I used it. I'm glad I did though as you have to make sure that the kitchen is well ventilated before you use the product, mainly because it contains an ingredient called formaldehyde (H2CO).
Formaldehyde has many different used from embalming corpses to freezing warts, but in this instance it acts as a disinfectant and kills most bacteria and fungi (mould). As I have previously stated you should make sure that the kitchen is well ventilated before using Mr Muscle the main reason for this is because the Formaldehyde content is quite toxic and can cause shortness of breath, a coughing sensation, watery eyes and/or a burning sensation in the back of your throat. Even although I made sure that all the windows in the kitchen were opened as was the back door, the smell from the Mr Muscle Mousse still gave me the burning sensation at the back of my throat, fits of coughing, watery eyes and mild wheezing (I am asthmatic). If you so suffer from any sort of breathing trouble I wouldn't advise using this product because the smell is really pungent and it could trigger off an asthma attack. The smell from the product is very hard to describe, mainly because the smell was far too strong to investigate, but I suppose it is stronger than ammonia and it is one of those smells which instantly catches you in the back of the throat and makes you cough.
Despite the strong smell, wheezing and shortness of breath Mr Muscle Oven cleaner is really effective and does what it is intended to do. It is really easy to use all you have to do is take the lid off of the can, give it a shake and spray it onto your oven and/or grill at a distance of 9 inches making sure that you don't spray it directly onto pilot/grill lights etc. Once you have sprayed the Mr Muscle Oven Cleaner on you have to leave it on for a minimum of 30 minutes before rinsing it off, you can leave it on for up to two hours if you wish though. Depending on the state of my oven and grill depends on the amount of time I leave the oven cleaner on. If my oven and grill aren't too bad I only leave the solution on for approximately 30 minutes if however they are really dirty and greasy I will leave it on for an hour and a half.
The Mr Muscle Oven Cleaner looks a lot like a mousse when it is first sprayed onto the surfaces in the oven, ( thick white lather) however the white colour soon changes to brown colour within a few minutes due to the cleaner breaking through the grease and grime in the oven. The thick mousse also gets thinner and bubblier the longer it is left on your oven, I however find it easier to clean if it is left on until it goes thinner and bubblier. When I think the solution is ready to be cleaned off I use a sponge scouring pad to remove most of the grease and burnt on stains, once I have removed most of this I will get a new scouring pad and remove the excess solution from the oven. When this is done I find it easier to use a wet cloth which has been soaked in warn water to rinse the insides of the oven so as I can remove all traces of the Mr Muscle Oven Cleaner. It really doesn't take long to clean the oven with this cleaner because all of the hard work is done for you, all you are doing is simply just wiping it off and rinsing. Sometimes my oven gets into a poor state and the stains are really burnt on, the glass oven door goes a funny colour which is the grease building up and there always seems to be spillage marks everywhere, despite this Mr Muscle Oven Cleaner breaks through the grease, grime and dirt really well that a wipe over with a cloth is all I need to do in order to have a nice shiny cooker again. The smell from the oven cleaner slightly lingers in my cooker, the smell left behind is a little bit like ammonia and lemon, I usually just give the oven a wipe with some Flash or Stardrops so as the smell is removed and replaced with Lemon or similar. However if you just leave it the smell from the Mr Muscle Oven Cleaner does die down and go away after an hour or two.
I really think this is a great oven cleaner, the only thing which is dislike about it is the fact that the smell is really strong and makes me cough and wheeze, but then again if it didn't contain the Formaldehyde as one of the active ingredients than my oven probably wouldn't be as easy to clean. You should also wear rubber gloves when handling and removing this product as it can irritate, sting, and dry your hands out, oh and if you have a gas mask or similar lurking around the house wear that as well. I bought 4x300ml cans from Poundland; each can should clean your oven approximately 4 times before it runs out which is really good going considering it is only a small sized can. Mr Muscle Oven Cleaner can also be bought in a larger sized 500ml can from most supermarkets such as Tesco, ASDA, Morrison's, Somerfield etc although the price may vary depending on where you purchase it from. The price of Mr Muscle Oven Cleaner averages from as little as £1 up to £3 for a larger 500ml can.
I have gave this particular product 3 stars, not becasue it doesn't clean my oven, mainly becasue it makes me wheeze and cough and this may pose a problem for asthmatic people or similar.
