If you’ve ever struggled to clean heavily baked on grease from glass pans, here’s how to clean burnt on grease from Pyrex – with one easy trick!
How to Clean Burnt Pyrex Dish
I wrote a thorough and extensive guide for how to clean Pyrex – including an answer to the commonly asked question, “how do you get buildup off of a Pyrex dish?”. Find my Pyrex Cleaning Guide here. If you’ve tried everything for removing baked on grease from Pyrex, here’s the ultimate Pyrex pan cleaning hack: oven cleaner! Take a look at a recently thrifted piece of Pyrex I found, which had what looked like years of baked on grease:
And here’s that same pan now:
How to Use Oven Cleaner to Clean Pyrex
Here’s how to use oven clean to clean Pyrex and remove that really tough, baked on grease and grime.
- Work in a ventilated area (open a window)
- Place the Pyrex in a plastic bag
- Spray on a liberal application of foaming oven cleaner, targeting the baked on grime
- Tie the bag shut
- Allow to soak for a few hours
- Rinse off the oven cleaner – the baked on grease should have softened and slide right off
- Give the Pyrex dish a thorough wash in hot, soapy water to remove oven cleaner
Word of Caution: I heard from one vintage Pyrex collector who said oven cleaner left a hazy film on her Pyrex. She thinks it might have been because she used extra strength cleaner. If you’re worried, either spot test on an inconspicuous area, or try experimenting first on pieces that are almost beyond saving before trying this method on a valuable piece of Pyrex (like my favorite piece of all time: Pyrex Blowing Leaves):
My “New” Flamingo Pink Vintage Pyrex
If you’re a Pyrex collector and you’ve been eyeing my new Pyrex pieces, let me tell you about them! These finds are unusual for me, because I usually only look for and collect turquoise Pyrex. (See more of my vintage Pyrex collection here).
But after not finding any (nice) Pyrex locally, in what seems like FOREVER, I could not resist these four pieces! I recently thrifted two brown fridgies (part of the town and country set, I think) and two flamingo bake ware pieces. The flamingo colour was produced 1952-1956 and, for some reason, this pretty color is not terribly popular among collectors.
But I thought the two flamingo pieces were especially neat because they were made in Canada! I’m not sure Canadians got a handle on Pyrex manufacturing because we only produced it between 1947-1954 (in Ontario!) Look at the uneven paint application on the piece below – you can even see the colour sort of fade away and become more sheer. It’s not dishwasher damage, the application even feels rough there – like they ran out of paint!
Also, the logo was applied backwards (like how it would be on a clear piece), so it’s readable from the top, through the glass, as opposed to flipping it over and reading the bottom. I’m not sure if this was intentional or not, but it looks a little funny.
How to Clean Vintage Pyrex Guide
Hopefully this tip for cleaning burnt on grease from Pyrex helps! If you’re looking for more tips on how to clean Pyrex, don’t forget to check out this post all about How to Clean Pyrex. I test a few viral hacks for cleaning Pyrex, share what works and what doesn’t, as well as share my tip for restoring dishwasher dead Pyrex!
I love the flamingo…possibly more than turquoise! And amazing tip about the baked on grime. I might try that on my stoneware, which is looking dirty
The flamingo is so underrated and I don't know why! It's even older than the turquoise and pink. If you like it, you're in luck. While a turquoise pie plate has sold for nearly $100 on Ebay, I saw a flamingo one linger for $9.99! It's a really rich colour, I think it's quite pretty.Let me know how the oven cleaner works. Just be warned that it's not safe for all surfaces – I felt confident that that it would work on Pyrex because others had tried it. If you have something really trashed (or can pick up a similar piece for a buck, thrifting), test on it first.
I think the flamingo is beautiful, too.
I bought a book on pyrex patterns and when I can't sleep I drool over the colours and patterns. I like these solid ones. There's a pretty lime green too. Must have been so colourful in shops in the 1950s…
Great color. Love the cleaning tip. Thank you
Happy to help!
I have these little white dishes with brown flowers I got from my mom when I moved out on my own and just realized they are Pyrex but it says Py-o-rex on the bottom. Do you know anything about that? We always used them for pudding growing up, but they kinda look like mini casserole dishes. About 5 inches round in diameter, straight sides with a handle on each side.
Sorry, don't know! Hmmmmm, if you post a photo to IG and tag #pyrexloven or #vintagepyrex you'll find some answers I'm sure. Lots of knowledgable people there. Meanwhile I'll check my book…
I think the dishes you're talking about are "Py-o-rey" and were made in mexico in 1967. hope this helps.
You are right about the quality of Canadian Pyrex. I can tell it the moment I pick it up because the paint finish feels grainy. Also all my Canadian pieces have a distinct rim edge where the US pieces are nicely rounded.
Isn't that so interesting? It's weird that Canadians couldn't produce Pyrex the same…