The inside of a messy microwave can look like a Jackson Pollock painting. Only instead of world-class artistry that evokes a wide array of emotions, it’s more like a world-class pain in the butt that evokes a lot of frustration.
The good news is that getting your microwave clean doesn’t have to be that hard. Follow the tips below to make cleaning your microwave as quick, easy and efficient as possible.
Line Up Your Supplies
Before we get to the techniques, you should make sure you’ve got the right supplies for cleaning your microwave. The good news is that you don’t need fancy cleaning products to get your microwave spotless; a lot of the supplies — and even a few pieces of fruit — that you already have around the house will do the trick.
Everyday household items like baking soda, vinegar and even regular dish soap can all be used to give your microwave a makeover. Citrus fruits like oranges, lemons and limes can also be used. Make sure you have a decent sponge, a roll of paper towel and a dish towel handy as well.
As a word of caution, you should avoid using any cleaning products that contain chemicals. In addition to posing a potential health risk, cleaning products that contain chemicals could make some of the plastic parts of your microwave brittle and potentially cause damage to the machine.
Cleaning the Inside of the Microwave
When you first look inside a microwave that’s splattered with gunk, it can be intimidating; scrubbing off all that excess splatter often looks like a lot of work. But with a few household supplies and a microwave-safe bowl, the whole process can actually be as easy as wiping up a small spill.
How to Clean Your Microwave
Grab a bowl that’s safe to go in the microwave and fill it with one cup of water. Then slice up some citrus fruits like oranges, lemons or limes and add the citrus slices into the mix. If you don’t have any citrus fruit, you could also mix a few tablespoons of vinegar into the bowl—this method works with either option.
When your mixture is ready, place the bowl in the microwave and run it for about five minutes on high power. You will want the water in the bowl to come to a boil, and the steam to coat the walls of your microwave. Keep an eye on it during the five minutes, checking to see when the window of the door steams up.
When it’s done, leave the microwave door closed for a few minutes to let it cool off, and to keep the steam contained within the box. After a couple of minutes, open the door and remove the bowl — and remember it’s hot! Thanks to the steam, all of the gunk that was previously dried to the walls of the microwave will be liquidy. Grab a sponge or a sturdy paper towel and wipe down the walls, and the gunk should come right off.
Cleaning the Door of the Microwave
The door of the microwave can be one of the most annoying parts to clean. Food and liquid often splatter into the rubber gasket that surrounds the door, and once it dries, it can be tricky to get out.
Using the bowl method outlined above will help loosen up the gunk on the door, but if anything is hiding within the rubber of the gasket, it may have been protected from the steam. This is one area where a little elbow grease can go a long way.
Grab a bowl and mix up a couple of teaspoons of baking soda in one cup of water. Then grab a sponge and dip it in the mixture until it’s damp, and use it to wipe around the gasket. Go slow and press hard when necessary to make sure the sponge gets into the little crevices of the gasket.
To wipe the window, you can use a mixture made of one part water and one part vinegar. The bowl method mentioned above will help loosen any gunk, but the vinegar will be effective at wiping off any grease that may be on the window.
Cleaning the Outside of Your Microwave
To clean the outside of the microwave, grab your sponge and dampen it with water, then add a little dish soap. When cleaning the outside, the main thing you want to remember is that you don’t want any water seeping into the machine through the vents or the control panel, so make sure your sponge is damp but not soaking wet when you apply it to the microwave.
After you’ve wiped the outside with the soapy sponge, use a dry sponge or paper towel to wipe it clean, then do one more pass with a dry paper towel to make sure the surface is totally dry, and you haven’t left any residual wetness that could seep in through any openings.
Cleaning your microwave is not just important for aesthetics but also for your health. According to a report in the New York Times, microwaving food doesn’t kill bacteria, meaning that the excess gunk needs to be cleaned in order to be removed.
Opening your microwave to see the remnants of your former meals splattered all over the walls can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. By using the methods and supplies laid out above, cleaning your microwave can actually be both quick and easy.
One of the most effective ways to make microwave cleaning easy is to do it often so that excess gunk doesn’t pile up—or to hire a trusted cleaning company to do it for you.
For more quick and easy ways to your microwave and other appliances, call Maid4Condos at 647-822-0601 or contact us here.
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