Get that like-new, squeaky clean microwave you’ve always wanted with this microwave cleaning trick. It involves zero scrubbing and it’s totally natural!
If you own a microwave, then it’s almost definitely got some baked-on splatters, spills, and messes inside of it, despite your best efforts. If you’re like most people, then you probably dread all the awkward scrubbing and scraping that comes with trying to clean it out and you maybe put off cleaning that microwave a little longer than you should. It’s OK, you can admit it. We’re all friends here. 🙂
Well, procrastinate no longer, amigos! If you didn’t know about this easy microwave cleaning trick I’m about to tell you, then you’re about to have your life changed for the better, just a little bit.
You don’t need any chemicals, you don’t need any cleaners. You don’t need any scrapers or scrubbies either. All you need is a bowl, a working faucet, and some lemon juice or vinegar. I like lemon juice because of the nice fresh smell for this particular application.
The Easy Microwave Cleaning Trick
So here’s what you do!
Start with a dirty microwave!
That’s kind of the point of this post though, isn’t it? 🙂
Take your microwavable bowl, squirt a bit of lemon juice (maybe 1/8-1/4 of a cup-ish) and fill it about half-way up with tap water. You could also squeeze half a lemon into the bowl of water and then drop it into the bowl if you have real lemons laying around that you want to use up.
Pop the bowl into the microwave and nuke it for about 5 minutes. Did anyone else’s parents always say “nuke it” when they were microwaving stuff back in the 80’s? Chris always thinks it’s weird when I say that.
I just realized that you can totally see the reflection of me standing there in my sweats and the camera strap hanging down in this picture. Oh well! This post is not about pretty pictures! It’s about useful stuff!
After the 5 minutes are up, leave your bowl in there for another 2 minutes or so. The steam is doing magical things!
Now, open the microwave up, take out the bowl, and be careful not to burn yourself. It will be HOT!
If your microwave has a spinning plate, take that out and wipe it down, then wipe down all the sides, top, and bottom of your microwave. All that crud will just melt right off!
Related: The Easiest Trick for Cleaning Greasy Kitchen Messes!
If you still have a little bit of baked on cheesiness on your plate…
you can re-steam your whole microwave using the same bowl of lemon water or just dip the corner of your rag into the bowl of hot lemon water and then put it down right on top of the crustiness. After about 30 seconds of soaking, it should wipe right off!
Done!
Is this how you clean your microwave too or do you have another easy microwave cleaning trick that we all need to know about?
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Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.