Trial Purpose:
To determine the efficiency of various oven cleaners in removing DCC-12 soil from ceramic, stainless steel, and porcelain coupons.
Date Run:
01/29/2018Experiment Procedure:
Eighteen pre-weighed coupons (split into sets of three porcelain, stainless steel, and ceramic for each cleaner) were collected to test two separate cleaners: Easy Off Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner and Formula 409 Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner. Each coupon was contaminated with 0.3 grams of DCC-12 soil (85.4% butter, 6.5% sugar, 4.7% deionized water, 3.4% all-purpose white flour) using a hand held swab. The coupons were placed in an oven to cure for two hours at 475 ºF. After aging, coupons were allowed to cool, and weights were recorded again. The product was left to soak for five minutes on each coupon, and then each was cleaned for 20 cycles using a manual straight line washability unit. Three coupons were placed on the machine at once, washed, and then left to air dry. After air drying for one day, the coupons were reweighed to determine the final weight. The coupons were visually rated by three different individuals on a scale of 1 to 5 (1- completely cleaned, 5- soil untouched).
Trial Results:
Table 1: Summary of Gravimetric Results
| Cleaner | Substrate | Initial wt. of cont. | Final wt. of cont. | % Removed | Average % Removal | Product Average % Removal |
| Easy Off Oven Heavy Cleaner | Ceramic | 0.17557 | 0.1802 | -2.637 | 13.35 | 21.24 |
| 0.1948 | 0.1707 | 12.37 | ||||
| 0.3312 | 0.2308 | 30.31 | ||||
| Stainless Steel | 0.1609 | 0.1812 | -12.62 | -11.26 | ||
| 0.1972 | 0.2192 | -11.16 | ||||
| 0.1279 | 0.1407 | -10.01 | ||||
| Porcelain | 0.1475 | 0.0395 | 73.22 | 61.64 | ||
| 0.1265 | 0.1028 | 18.74 | ||||
| 0.2826 | 0.0199 | 92.96 | ||||
| Formula 409 Heavy Duty Oven | Ceramic | 0.2903 | 0.0858 | 70.44 | 69.52 | 54.60 |
| 0.4554 | 0.1258 | 72.38 | ||||
| 0.434 | 0.1487 | 65.74 | ||||
| Stainless Steel | 0.3924 | 0.3937 | -0.33 | -0.29 | ||
| 0.3654 | 0.3666 | -0.33 | ||||
| 0.4715 | 0.4726 | -0.23 | ||||
| Porcelain | 0.4804 | 0.0247 | 94.86 | 94.57 | ||
| 0.3779 | 0.0218 | 94.23 | ||||
| 0.2695 | 0.0145 | 94.62 |
Formula 409 Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner was more effective than Easy Off Oven Cleaner at removing DCC-12 oven soil.
Table 2: Summary of Visual Ratings
| Cleaner | Substrate | Rater 1 | Rater 2 | Rater 3 | Average Rating |
| Easy Off Oven Heavy Cleaner | Ceramic | 3 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3.72 |
| 3.5 | 4 | 4 | |||
| 3.5 | 3.5 | 3 | |||
| Stainless Steel | 5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.78 | |
| 5 | 5 | 5 | |||
| 5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | |||
| Porcelain | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.28 | |
| 3 | 4.5 | 4.5 | |||
| 2.5 | 2.5 | 2 | |||
| Formula 409 Heavy Duty Oven | Ceramic | 2.5 | 3 | 2.5 | 2.94 |
| 3 | 3 | 3 | |||
| 3 | 3.5 | 3 | |||
| Stainless Steel | 5 | 4.5 | 5 | 4.94 | |
| 5 | 5 | 5 | |||
| 5 | 5 | 5 | |||
| Porcelain | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2 | 2.17 | |
| 1.5 | 2 | 2.5 | |||
| 2 | 2.5 | 2 |
Success Rating:
Test showed little or no promise.Conclusion:
Brand Buzz Formula 409 Heavy Duty Oven cleaner was found to be over twice as effective as the Reckitt Benicker Easy Off Oven Heavy Duty cleaner. Visual observation produced similar results for both products. Neither cleaner appeared particularly effective under the testing conditions.
