Willie Mae Truesdale was startled by a huge bang that came from her kitchen. Curious about what happened, she went to check it out and discovered that her glass oven door was shattered all over the floor. “It was unbelievable, and you really had to see it to understand,” she said.
It was totally shocking! Glass was everywhere on the floor. To make things even weirder, her oven wasn’t even turned on. And the scariest part? Truesdale isn’t the only person whose oven has blown up like that.
The Curious Case of Exploding Glass Oven Doors
Cheryl, a mom living in the suburbs, went through a surprising moment during the COVID-19 lockdown. She attempted to bake some brownies, but they turned out all mushy in the center. Even though her oven was just three months old, she discovered that it was running about 25 degrees too hot. After the quarantine ended, she reached out to a repair expert to help with her oven. Before that, she thought it would be a good idea to run a self-cleaning cycle. Near the end of that cycle, there was a loud bang, and the glass on the oven door shattered into the oven!
Michelle Wheat had a scary experience when her oven door exploded, scattering glass all over her kitchen. Just like Truesdale, her oven, which was three years old, wasn’t even on when it happened. Luckily, none of her four little kids got hurt by the glass. Both Wheat and Truesdale had ovens from different brands; Wheat’s was Frigidaire while Truesdale’s was Bosch. However, there have been reports of exploding glass doors from other brands too. Since 2019, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has gotten around 450 reports about this issue.
All three women had a tough time dealing with the manufacturers after the event. Truesdale’s oven was still covered by warranty, but the technician from Frigidaire said the family was at fault for the explosion, even though the oven wasn’t even on. Because of this, she had to buy a new door herself. On a brighter note, Bosch gave Cheryl a new oven after NBC contacted them for a statement.
Wheat’s oven was out of warranty, so she had to pay a technician $100 just for him to tell her that the glass was broken and needed to be replaced, which ended up costing her family another $314. Frigidaire recommended that Wheat get an extended warranty to avoid this issue in the future. “This shouldn’t have happened,” said the upset mom of six. “That’s what I was trying to explain to them.”
What Causes Oven Doors to Shatter?
Mark Meshulam from Chicago Window Expert explains that there are two main reasons why oven glass might break on its own. “One type of oven glass is called soda lime glass, which is similar to window glass. It gets really hot and then cools down quickly, making it tempered. This is commonly used for oven doors. The other type is borosilicate glass, which is often found in lab equipment or the old Pyrex dishes. This glass can handle heat and cold much better. Because more ovens are using soda lime glass now, we’re seeing more of these breakages since it doesn’t handle temperature changes as well.”
The explosions might be caused by a tiny flaw in the glass called a nickel sulfide inclusion. This little defect is only about a tenth of a millimeter wide, but it has some unusual characteristics. Meshulam explained that over time, this tiny ball is trying to escape. Sometimes, when the glass gets really hot, like during oven cleaning, it can lead to that flaw finally breaking apart.
Meshulam wants to calm everyone down by saying that the self-cleaning option on ovens is actually safe. He mentioned, “Most people will go their entire lives using the self-cleaning feature without facing any issues.” He thinks that tiny chips and defects might be what lead to ovens blowing up when they’re off. What’s really scary about this is that the oven door can break even long after the first damage happens.
Prevention Tips
Sometimes, little bits of damage can occur while things are being made, shipped, or set up. Homeowners can’t really control these situations, but there are ways to prevent damage at home. For example, some everyday habits can cause tiny scratches or chips on the glass. This can happen from using harsh cleaning methods or applying too much pressure.