Being one of the most convenient and the most used kitchen appliances, the microwave may gradually get dirty and greasy without you noticing it.
But once the buildup is too obvious to ignore it, getting rid of it and making your microwave all glowing with clearness turns out to be quite difficult. It’s like someone’s used super glue to make that grime on microwave’s walls irremovable.
Luckily, there are a couple of magic solutions that will dissolve that ‘super glue’ and help you turn your microwave from a grimy Cinderella to a sparkling princess. (No Fairy Godmothers involved).
5 microwave cleaning solutions
Apart from commercial cleaners designed to clean kitchen appliances and remove heavy grime and grease residue, you may use easy to prepare homemade solutions in order to clean your microwave. Those consist of 2-3 ingredients you may easily find in your kitchen.
1. Water and lemon cleaning solution
How to make:
Get a lemon and cut in in half. Use a fork to poke the lemon halves with it (it will help you get more juice out of your lemon).
Squeeze juice out of lemon halves into a microwave safe bowl. Don’t throw the lemon zest just yet.
Add half a cup of water into the bowl and mix it with lemon juice. Throw the zest halves into the bowl as well.
2. Water and vinegar cleanser
How to make:
Measure 1 part of plain vinegar and mix it with 4 parts of room temperature water. Vary the amount of each ingredient depending on the microwave’s ‘pollution levels’.
This mixture is great at softening old grease residues, as well as getting rid of odd microwave smells. Once taken out from the microwave, this solution may be used to soak the cleaning sponge in.
3. Water and baking soda microwave cleaner
How to make:
Grab a microwave-safe bowl (a plastic one will be perfect) and fill it with tap water. Add 2-3 teaspoons of baking soda (not powder!!!) to it and stir until combined.
Again, you may soak your cleaning sponge in this mixture after the first part of the cleaning cycle. Just be careful not to burn your hands.
How to use (applies to cleansers 1-3):
- Inspect your microwave and wipe its interior with a rag to get rid of food crumbs.
- Place the bowl into your microwave and let it work on the highest settings for about 3 minutes to let the cleaning liquid boil for a while.
- After your microwave turns off, let the cleanser’s steam do its crusty grime dissolving job for additional 5-10 minutes.
- Then, open your microwave and take the bowl with cleanser along with the spinning plate out.
- Grab a cotton rag or dishwashing sponge, soak it in soapy water, rinse a little bit and wipe the microwave’s walls till clean.
- Make sure to wash your rag as often as you need while wiping the microwave’s grime and grease off. Pay attention to the appliance’s door. Wash with a clean non-soapy rag in the end.
- If the grime is too stubborn to come off, use the rougher side of the dishwashing sponge to get rid of it.
- Don’t forget to hand wash the spinning plate and clean the microwave’s exterior.
4. Professional cleaning
The matter is that all kitchen and laundry appliances require regular cleaning and maintenance.
While microwaves are relatively easy to take care of, dishwashers, ovens, washing machines, boilers and other larger appliances are significantly harder for an average person to deal with.
Thus, if you go to HireRush.com to post a request for appliance cleaning contractors and hire one of them to come to your house and conduct a throughout appliance cleaning session, don’t lose your chance and include your microwave into the list.
5. Ammonia-based microwave cleaning
How to make:
Soak a bunch of paper towels in ammonia liquid and pop them onto the microwave’s spinning plate. This solution works great even on the oldest and the most stubborn grime spots.
In order to eliminate unpleasant ammonia after smell, choose lemon scented version of the product.
How to use:
- Place ammonia paper towels onto the spinning plate and close your microwave’s door.
- Choose the highest settings and let your appliance work for 60 seconds.
- After that, let everything inside your microwave cool down for 5-10 minutes with the door closed.
- Open your microwave and proceed to wiping the dirt off. Repeat steps from 4-7 of the previous tutorial for that matter.
