A microwave oven has long been an integral attribute of a modern kitchen. Cooking in it is quite difficult, it requires skill, the principle of its operation and the method of heating is very specific and cannot compete with a classic oven, however, it has found its use as a quick way to heat food or defrost meat and vegetables. However, no matter how hard you try, even with the use of a special hood cover, the entire inner surface of the microwave eventually becomes covered with a layer of splashes and stains. It is useful to know how to clean a microwave oven at home without damaging it. At the same time, the main thing is to remember simple rules that strongly distinguish a microwave oven from other kitchen utensils.
What you need to know about the microwave oven before cleaning
Conventional wet cleaning of the microwave oven cannot be used. The entire inner surface should remain as smooth as it was after purchase. In addition, there are several places that should not be climbed even with a wet cloth or simply with tenacity.
Inside the microwave oven, there is a common chamber into which food is loaded for reheating. In it you can find:
- A round tray mounted on a rotary gear;
- A rectangular hole in the upper part, closed with a metal grid – ventilation;
- A rectangular opening across the entire width of the camera is a grill (optional);
- In the side, usually the right part, the window is covered with a matte plate – behind the mica protective plate is the magnetron, its own heart and the source of energy in the microwave.
- The hole in the side panel is closed with a grid – a compartment with a backlight lamp.
Not a single drop of liquid should get into any of the holes, let alone food and fat residues.
No matter how you are going to clean the microwave from fat inside and what available ingredients to use, it is better to follow simple rules:
- Do not use abrasive preparations, even undiluted soda.
- Wipe the inner surface only with a slightly damp, well-wrung cloth, it is better to use microfiber. The microwave has a foolproof feature, so a small amount of liquid entering any of the openings will not damage it, but dirt will accumulate and cause more serious problems than a perfectly cleaned grill.
- Do not try to rub and scrape stains and dirt. If even the first time it was not possible to dissolve and soften the contamination by one of the methods listed below, it is better to repeat everything from the beginning.
- It is better not to remove the mica plate from its seat, if it is possible to wipe it only from above. It cannot be rubbed with effort, even with a microfiber, and in no case can it be pressed. It is very fragile and due to its leafy structure, it will not just crack, but will become more voluminous, which will lead to its rapid clogging.
- No need to disassemble the microwave. If it is already too dirty, then give it to the workshop, where they can disassemble it and clean it from all sides.
If the mica plate installed in the window in front of the magnetron is heavily contaminated, you can risk removing it, but only if you know which side to hold the screwdriver and have a healthy sense of accuracy. The plate is usually held by one or two self-tapping screws diagonally. If you unscrew them, you can get the mica out of the nest. In no case do not pick up the corner and do not apply force to the break, it is better to grab something flat and flat, for example, a spatula or a credit card by one of the sides and, gradually pushing the object, disconnect the plate.
It should be cleaned only with dishwashing detergent or soapy foam and only after placing it on a flat, hard surface. After getting wet, it will stick to the table, so it will have to be hooked again to the side or pulled to the end of the table.
The choice of means to clean the microwave is quite large and they should be united by the main property – softening old, baked-on fat stains to a state when they can simply be wiped off with a rag.
Lemon, citric acid, vinegar
Prepare a deep plate, preferably a tested one that does not heat up by itself in the microwave.
Pour two medium-sized lemons, cut into slices, inside. If there are no lemons at hand or it is simply a shame to spend them on such out of season, then citric acid will do just as effectively. Pour a packet of acid into the water and stir until it is completely dissolved. When using vinegar, pour half a glass into a plate and top up with water.
Put the plate in the microwave and turn it on at full power for 7-15 minutes, depending on the number of watts produced by the oven. For an ordinary stove with a capacity of 800 W, it takes just 12 minutes to heat a plate with two glasses of water.
After turning off the oven, wait another ten minutes until the liquid in the plate cools down a little, the steam mixed with acid will soften the dirt on the walls and it will be possible to clean it quickly.
If you take the plate outside immediately after heating, you can get seriously burned and fall under an avalanche of splashes of boiling water. Always remember that water in a microwave oven easily overheats without boiling and can cause a lot of damage to people and surrounding objects in a violent reaction.
Before cleaning, pull out the power cord and only then proceed with further cleaning of the microwave.
Remove the plate and remove the tray from the gear. It is easier to clean the pallet separately in the sink using ordinary detergents. Wipe the inside of the microwave with a damp cloth. Add a couple of drops of dishwashing detergent, just to keep the grease from clogging the microfiber too quickly, but not too much suds.
It remains to clean the walls of the camera with a dry cloth or napkins, completely getting rid of water, drips and leaks.
If it was not possible to quickly clean the microwave from the inside the first time, then the procedure should be repeated from the very beginning, without resorting to radical methods in any case. Even with very advanced cases, a maximum of three treatments will take place, but the stainless steel or enamel surface of the microwave oven will remain intact and undamaged.
A few remarks about the selected means:
- Although lemon slices are not as effective as pure citric acid diluted in water, they have the advantage of getting rid of unpleasant odors and spreading a persistent citrus aroma that will fill the entire kitchen.
- Citric acid will be the perfect answer to how to clean the inside of the microwave from grease and dirt. Has no smell.
- It is better to use vinegar as a last resort, and only if it is possible to turn on the hood at full power and ventilate the kitchen well.
- There is also an option with ammonia, but we will not even mention it.
Soda
If in the first case the active substance is citric acid or vinegar, then alkali will come into play. Soda, dissolved in water and heated to a high temperature, will provide approximately the same result – burnt fat will soften, as well as other types of dirt. Then it is easy to clean the camera.
Detergents
The main thing is not to forget that priority is given to means without abrasives. It is advisable to find in the store products of well-known brands for cleaning ovens and stoves or universal means for cleaning kitchen utensils. In fact, many manufacturers know how to clean a microwave in 5 minutes without using particularly aggressive substances. There is no need for high concentration of surfactants, acid cocktails or caustic alkali. Here is a list of options:
- Frosh with soda;
- OvenCleaner from AmWay;
- Chillit Bang;
- Grizly for furnaces;
- FortePlus from Sano;
- Mr. Muscle for the kitchen.
They should be used strictly according to the instructions, in the case of powder products, first dissolve them in water. If this is a cleaning agent in a container with a spray bottle, then it should be applied only to the walls of the microwave oven, where there are no windows and openings, and the rest of the space should be wiped with a cloth soaked in the agent.
It usually takes up to 5-10 minutes for the cleaning agent to take effect, after which it is removed along with the dirt with a damp sponge or cloth.
As in the case of folk methods, physical efforts should not be made to remove pollution. If not all stains and drops of fat have been removed the first time, then you should simply repeat the procedure with soaking, the exposure time may increase.