This is Day 56 of the Green in 365 series!
Our microwaves can get pretty dirty from splatters and spills all over the top, sides, bottom and door of the microwave, and they become harder and harder to scrub off every time we use the microwave.
One easy way to keep your microwave clean is to wipe it out after ever time that you use it, or at least whenever you have a spill or splatter. But let’s be honest, cleaning the microwave probably doesn’t happen that often for most of us.
So, once your microwave is quite a sight on the inside, you want a quick and easy way to get all those crusty and petrified spills off.
How to Green Clean Your Microwave
• Place the bowl in your microwave and heat it up for a few minutes. The length of time will depend on how hot your microwave gets. Ours is old and doesn’t heat up very quickly, so I do about 4 minutes, but if you have a newer, hotter microwave you can probably just do 2 minutes. You want the water to get really hot and steamy.
• After the time is up, leave the door shut and the bowl in the microwave for another 5-10 minutes to let the steam do the hard work for you.
• After 5-10 minutes, carefully remove the bowl. Then take a damp rag and wipe out the inside of the microwave. The spills and splatters should wipe right off. Now, if only all our other cleaning was that easy!
*Note: This post is not discussing the merits of whether we should be using microwaves or not. That’s another topic for another day, which we might tackle next week, we’ll see how it goes. 🙂
How often do you clean your microwave?
Find all the Green in 365 posts.
More Green-Cleaning Kitchen Ideas:
Clean a White Kitchen Sink Without Harsh Chemicals
10 Green Cleaners for the Kitchen
Using Cloth Napkins and Towels
Green Spring Cleaning in the Kitchen
5 Simple Castile Soap Cleaning Recipes
10 Ways to Clean with Salt
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I do this too! I skip the dish soap–because to be honest–I clean the microwave this way by accident!
I have a cup of tea each afternoon before I begin my afternoon loops of pick ups and drop offs and then pick ups again! I use a large measuring cup to heat my water in–I take out what I need for my tea–then put the rest back in to boil and steam. By the time my 15 minutes of quiet time are over . . .the microwave is ready to wipe out!
Be Blessed.
I do this with just vinegar and water–usually only 3 or 4 times a year, since we are pretty good at remembering to cover things. I never saw the suggestion of including dish soap–does it really work better that way?
Hi ‘Becca, it’s probably fine with just vinegar and water, or even just dish soap and water. My hubs doesn’t like the smell of vinegar, so I use the dish soap when he’s around to cut the smell of the vinegar. 🙂
Admittedly, I don’t clean our microwave a lot. But we actually don’t use it very much either. It is looking pretty rough right now so I think I just might try this tip tomorrow. Thanks for the tip!
We just got rid of our microwave! I am SO excited. It was ugly, which was my initial motivation, to be honest; and we had nowhere to put it. Everyone says when we have kids we will get one. But that will not happen. I found a $10 toaster oven at Goodwill. We have not missed our microwave at all. That is one less energy sucker. And admittedly I have not done the research, but have heard many people talk about the radiation it gives off. We decided to play it safe and get used to a microwave-free life before littles come along.
Thank you! I love this tutorial! Much needed. God bless.