Clean a Microwave With a Lemon
Have you been neglecting your microwave and are now struggling to remove the build up of all your past microwaved meals? Cut out that elbow grease by grabbing a lemon and discover the easy way to do it!
Steps
- Mix the juice from one lemon with about a cup of water. Citric acid is a natural, and powerful, cleaner. When mixed with water, you dilute it enough to make it easily applied and to your microwave.
- Squeeze the juice into a microwaveable dish or container and mix with roughly 300ml (1 1/4 cups) of water.
- In a pinch, white vinegar can be easily substituted, though it doesn't smell quite as appealing.
- Microwave the mixture. Place the container in the microwave and put the power on max for 5-10 minutes. This allows the steam to condense on the walls and roof of the oven.
- If the dish starts running out of liquid, you can stop the microwave and move on. This may only take 2-3 minutes depending on the strength of your microwave.
- If you have a microwave with automatic venting, it may take a long time to get noticeable condensation ,or the vapor may not condense at all. Some microwaves are designed to vent the air inside to prevent vapor buildup. If this trick hasn't worked after 10 minutes of microwaving water, it probably isn't going to work at all.
- Wipe out the microwave. Once the time is up, carefully remove the bowl. Grab a soft dishcloth and wipe that microwave out with unparalleled ease. Dip the cloth in some clean water and ring it out, then wipe everything down with one last clean sweep.
- Wipe the microwave down with a clean rag and admire. Your kitchen will also smell fresh and clean.For best results, repeat this every few months, or whenever your microwave gets nasty. This works because the steam from the water moistens and loosens the cooked, dry food-splatter particles. The lemon imparts a delicious, fresh aroma.
Tips
- It helps to remove the interior tray before wiping down the rest of the microwave. That way, you can clean under it and, if it needs to be wiped down (very likely), you can wipe it outside of the microwave. Make sure it is dry before returning it.
- Clean the outside of the microwave at the same time, so that it is gleaming all over. Use your regular kitchen spray for this job.
- This method also works with plain white vinegar/water. The vinegar smell goes away when dry.
- You can use any leftover juice and a sponge to clean the outside of the microwave, too.
Warnings
- Do not boil all the liquid out of any container, ever! It is dangerous and may damage the container or burn you by overheating.
- Under some conditions, the water in the container may become superheated, or raised above its normal boiling point. Removing or disturbing superheated water can cause it to boil rapidly, often causing very hot water to spill over the container. You may reduce the risk of burns by using an oven mitt to remove the container of water, and by avoiding the use of containers with very smooth sides or putting an object such as a wooden chopstick in the water to create "nucleation" sites to allow it to boil. It must be wooden because of its uneven surface..
- Beware when removing the container - the contents will be boiling hot.
Related Articles
- Clean a Microwave
- Clean and Maintain a Dishwasher
- Maintain a Garbage Disposal
- Boil Water in the Microwave
