How to Clean a Microwave with Lemon: Fresh and Chemical Free
Do you prefer natural or chemical free ways to clean your home? Discover how quick and easy it is to clean a microwave with lemon and water. In just a few minutes you can have the inside of your microwave sparking and smelling fresh too.
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Why use lemon to clean your microwave?
There are so may reasons to choose to clean your microwave with lemon. It’s so quick and easy, it doesn’t use any harsh chemicals and it leaves your microwave smelling fresh.
Lemon is the perfect cleaning agent for this job. Heating lemon and water makes steam that is just acidic enough to help remove food splatters and build up from the inside of your microwave. The lemon and steam does the work to loosen the food residue. You just need to wipe with a soft cloth afterwards. This way of cleaning doesn’t use harsh chemicals or abrasives and won’t damage the inside of your microwave.
How to remove food build up from inside your microwave
Cleaning the inside of your microwave with lemon is so simple:
- Cut a fresh lemon into slices with a sharp knife.
- Add the lemon slices to a small microwave safe bowl filled with water (at least 1 cup).
- Place the bowl of lemon slices and water into the centre of your microwave, close the door and microwave on high setting for 3 minutes – or until the water boils.
- When finished, leave the microwave closed with the bowl of water inside for another 2 minutes to let the steam do it’s work.
- Carefully remove the bowl of water (the bowl and the water will be hot). Also remove the turntable (if your microwave has one).
- Using a soft cloth, wipe the base, sides and roof of the microwave interior to remove the water and any food residue with it. Don’t forget to wipe the inside of the microwave door.
Don’t forget to clean other parts of the microwave
Now that the interior of your microwave is clean, don’t forget to do the rest. If you have a turntable – my microwave has a glass one – wash in warm soapy water, dry and replace.
Wipe the hinges and seals with the damp cloth. Also wipe over the outside buttons and carefully remove any build up from raised dials if you have any. Clean the handle too – you’d be surprised how dirty that can get. Finally, wipe over the top and sides of your microwave with a damp cloth. And if you are being thorough, don’t forget to wipe underneath your microwave too.
How often should you clean your microwave?
The best way to keep your microwave clean is to make sure that you clean up any food spills or splatters as they happen. If you accidentally heat something without a cover and make a real mess, make sure to clean it up straight away. This makes regular cleaning a breeze.
Wipe the inside of your microwave after use. A good time to do this is straight after you have cooked or reheated something that has created moisture on the inside of your microwave.
I like to do a more thorough clean at least once a week. How often you clean yours will depend on how often you use it.
More about lemons
If you love using lemons and other citrus, make sure you read our post on the best citrus juicer for home cooks. Or if you would like to, or already do, grow your own lemons, you can get some handy tips on our gardening and growing page.
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That’s brilliant! I have switched to natural cleaning to reduce the endocrine disrupters in my home, and I love using citrus fruit and citrus essential oils. They smell so nice and clean well. I’ll try this for my microwave.