How To Clean A Dirty Microwave Fast

Inside: Tired of a dirty microwave? Check out how to clean a dirty microwave fast. You will love this no-scrub way to clean a microwave.

My microwave is usually a giant mess. My teenager is pretty much constantly eating food and uses the microwave daily.

I would love to say that he is neat and clean all the time, but unfortunately, he leaves messes in the microwave occasionally.

His favorite food to make as a snack is ramen noodles. He has one of those microwave ramen bowls that he cooks it in and ever once in a while the water bowls over leaving gross ramen water on the microwave glass plate.

I usually find it once the water has dried leaving behind a gross mess.

Luckily, I have found an easy solution to clean the microwave. It only takes a few minutes to get it really clean and your kitchen will smell good too!

If you are tired of a gross, dirty microwave check out these easy tips on how to clean a dirty microwave.

How To Clean A Dirty Microwave

To clean your microwave you will need a few things. A microwave-safe bowl or container, water, vinegar, and a microfiber cloth. Plus, if you would like it is also nice to have lemon essential oils. I love this brand!

In about 10 minutes you can get the cooked on food off of your microwave walls and your microwave looking like new again.

Here is my microwave at its worst.

Steam Clean The Microwave

To start, you will want to put a cup of vinegar and a cup of water in the microwave in a microwave-safe bowl or container.

If you would like to make your microwave smell better too you can also add a few drops of lemon essential oil to your water.

I use this brand of lemon essential oils in the kitchen. Lemon essential oils don’t just make the microwave smell good.

cleaning microwave with vinegar and lemon essential oil

They will also help degrease any greasy food you have that is cooked on in the microwave.

Next, you will want to “cook” the vinegar water for about 3 to 4 minutes. Keep a close eye on the microwave while the vinegar water is cooking.

Once it finishes then let the microwave sit with the door closed for a minute or two.

Clean Out Microwave

Next, we are going to clean out the inside of the microwave. Be very careful because your water is very hot!

After letting it sit for a few minutes then take a microfiber cloth and dip it in the vinegar water mixture. Start wiping down the walls of the microwave.

cleaning baked on food from dirty microwave

The water boiling in the microwave should have helped loosen any food that is stuck on the sides or top of the microwave.

You don’t need to scrub real hard, just try your best to wipe down a lot of the food that comes off.

Repeat if Necessary

If you have some stuck on food that doesn’t come off really easily you may want to repeat the first couple of steps again.

Put the vinegar water mixture back in the microwave to cook for 3-4 more minutes.

I have found that the second time really does the trick. Next, just use a clean microfiber cloth and once again get it wet.

Then, wipe it down one more time, cleaning your glass tray plate if you have one. Your microwave will look almost perfect!

You can see below how much better mine looks.

Wipe Down The Exterior Of The Microwave

To finish up you will want to wipe down the exterior of the microwave. Mine tends to get little fingerprints on it.

I recommend using a cleaner with a disinfectant in it to clean off the exterior of the microwave, especially during cold and flu season.

You can either buy a store-bought cleaner or you can make this easy countertop cleaner that works great on appliances too. It’s one of my favorites!