How to Clean Your Microwave Without Harsh Chemicals

If you do much of your cooking in the microwave, it's essentially important that you keep this appliance clean. However, the microwave needs to be handled very carefully during cleaning process so as not to damage it.

Use of harsh chemicals to clean the microwave can contaminate its interior and consequently poison your food. Some of these harsh chemicals can also have a damaging effect on the microwave.

How can you clean your microwave without encountering any of the cleaning challenges mentioned above?

Methods you can adopt

Water and lemon juice
Vinegar and steam

Water and lemon juice

Lemon juice is a natural cleaning agent, and it can get your microwave cleaned without any harsh or toxic effect on the kitchen appliance or the food you are preparing.

Check below for information on how to apply lemon juice to clean microwave

What you need

Clean, cleaning rag or dry dishtowel
Small measuring cup or microwave-safe bowl
Lemon fruit

What to do

First of all, pour about half cup of water into the bowl
Afterwards, cut the lemon fruit in half and squeeze out the juice right into the water in the bowl, after which you should drop the leftover lemon inside the bowl.
Next, place the bowl containing the lemon juice and lemon fruit inside the microwave. Leave it to microwave for up to 3 minutes or until the water starts to boil.
After boiling, allow the steam from the boiling water in the bowl to saturate the interior of the microwave for up to 5 minutes; the trapped steam will soften any food gunk in the microwave within this period.
Then, use the dishtowel to wipe the interior of the microwave. Make sure every part of the microwave is wiped clean, including the sides, the floor, the ceiling and the door.

Vinegar and steam

Vinegar is gentle on the microwave, but tough on stains. It is, therefore, safe to be used in cleaning your microwave. Check the processes involved below

What you need

A sponge
A toothpick
A glass measuring cup or a microwave-safe bowl.
Vinegar
Water
A drop of lemon essential oil as an optional addition

What to do

Firstly, pour 2 cups of water into the bowl
Next, add two tablespoons of vinegar
Afterwards, add the lemon essential oil
Then, drop the toothpick into the same bowl, and this will prevent the water from boiling over the edge of the bowl
Microwave the bowl and its content for about 5 minutes.
Allow the heated bowl to stay in the microwave for about 3 minutes to let the steam settle on the interior of the microwave and loosen all the food stains. The lemon oil added will get rid of any odour in the microwave.

The simple methods described above, aside from being non-toxic, are also very easy to apply.

The items required are very easy to obtain; some of them are also already available at home, which makes these methods inexpensive means to keep your microwave clean.

Author
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Vanessa Pruitt, PLMHP, MS

Vanessa is a Provisionally Licensed Mental Health Practitioner in Nebraska and holds an MS in Clinical Psychology. She is a certified trauma professional with a special interest in helping people heal from trauma and complex trauma.

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