I cleaned my oven with a popular TikTok hack that worked so well, I'm never buying cleaner again. Here are my before and after photos.

Before and after photos show how much gunk came off the author's oven using the lemon TikTok hack.Joey Hadden/Insider

• TikToker @Washy_wash earned 10 million views for an oven cleaning hack using just a lemon.
• Her trick places a cut-up lemon in a bowl of water and bakes it. A rag then wipes the oven clean.

TikToker and cleaner @washy_wash has racked up 10 million views on a video she posted in May that shows how she cleans her oven with just one lemon.

@washy_wash #foryou #lifehack #yum ♬ Ultimate life hacks - Kelly

I hate using cleaner due to fear of chemicals lingering in my oven so I knew I had to try the hack for myself. I watched the TikToker, Dominika, heat up a bowl of water with sliced lemons, and then use a rag dipped in the lemon water to wipe the oven clean.

The reporter's oven cleaner (L) and the reporter as she gets ready to try the hack (R).      Joey Hadden/Insider

Source: @Washy_Wash/TikTok

My hatred of oven cleaner has kept me from cleaning the inside for months, so it was pretty grimy before trying this hack. Dominika, who has 869,000 followers as of the time of this writing, didn't share her last name for privacy reasons. She told Insider that she suggests you should clean your oven every other week.

The inside of the author's dirty oven.      Joey Hadden/Insider

Dominika uses the metric system and recommends first preheating your oven to 200 degrees Celsius. I set my oven to 395 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the closest setting to her recommendation.

The author preheats the oven.      Joey Hadden/Insider

Then I cut up my lemon into slices.

The author cuts up a lemon.      Joey Hadden/Insider

I placed the cut lemons in an oven-safe bowl filled with water, and then put the bowl in the oven. I waited about 30 minutes.

The lemon bowl sits in the oven.      Joey Hadden/Insider

Then I turned off the oven and let it cool down for about 15 minutes before dipping a rag in the warm lemon water and using it to wipe down the oven.

The author dips a rag into the lemon water and wipes down the oven.      Joey Hadden/Insider

I was amazed by how easily the gunk came off of my oven. If any dirt is difficult to remove, Dominika told Insider to mix dish soap and water, wait a few minutes, and then gently scrub.

The author's oven door dirty (L) and clean (R).      Joey Hadden/Insider

But I didn't have to, because even stains that my oven cleaner couldn't clear in the past were easily wiped away on the first try.

Before and after photos show how clean the oven is.      Joey Hadden/Insider

This was by far the easiest way I've ever cleaned my oven, and it only cost me the price of one lemon — 59 cents.

Inside the author's now-clean oven.      Joey Hadden/Insider

Looking at the difference between a clean rag and the one I wiped my oven with using this hack was so satisfying. I'll never procrastinate cleaning my oven again now that I know this hack — and I'll always keep a lemon on hand.

The dirty rag post clean (L) and a clean rag of the same color (R).      Joey Hadden/Insider