How to clean the interior of a microwave?

My sister burned some plastic in her microwave. It has a typical
off-white painted, enameled?, metal interior, and it's gotten
surprisingly dirty. Spray cleaners don't do much, I guess because
they are meant for grease. (I cleaned the glass tray with a
razor-blade scraper, but even with that, it was hard to get everything
off.)

Soft-scrub products and iirc Bon-Ami use calcium-carbonate, which has
a Moh hardness of 3. While I've used but never visibly scratched
anything with either of those products, I don't think I've used them
on painted surfaces. Especially in a hard to reach inside, normally
just wiped microwave, scratches will pick up dirt and look terrible
(if I bend over!). Even the Soft-scrub surface guide doesn't seem to
recommend this**.

Talc has a hardness of 1. I have some of that, and some baby powder,
somewhere and plan to try it, but ....

I see that gypsum has a Moh rating of 2. Can I make some cleanser out
of a piece of sheet-rock? Pound it down to dust (wearing a
respirator?), add a little water, and some kind of thickener??? This
is a lot of work for one microwave, but it may be useful many other
places. Maybe I could market it and get rich. OTOH, there are people
who do nothing all day but work on new cleansers, and this is pretty
obvious, so they must have tried this already. Still, maybe it is
better for this particular purpose but not marketable enough that they
produce it.

A) How should I make gypsum-based cleanser?
B) What do you think of the whole idea?
C) Do they already sell this and I've missed it?
D) Comments?


** http://www.softscrub.com/guides/surfaces?surfaces=8

It recommends the product for enamel, but there is vitreous enamel
(fired in a kiln) and enamel paint (which is also heated sometimes --
what is the difference?), and the first is a lot harder than the
second. The Softscrub table has no entry for paint.
--
Posters should say where they live, and for which area
they are asking questions. I have lived in
Western Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis 7 years
Chicago 6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore 27 years

On Jan 2, 8:11*pm, mm wrote:
How to clean the interior of a microwave?

My sister burned some plastic in her microwave. *It has a typical
off-white painted, enameled?, metal interior, and it's gotten
surprisingly dirty. *Spray cleaners don't do much, I guess because
they are meant for grease. * (I cleaned the glass tray with a
razor-blade scraper, but even with that, it was hard to get everything
off.)

Soft-scrub products and iirc Bon-Ami use calcium-carbonate, which has
a Moh hardness of 3. *While I've used but never visibly scratched
anything with either of those products, I don't think I've used them
on painted surfaces. *Especially in a hard to reach inside, normally
just wiped microwave, scratches will pick up dirt and look terrible
(if I bend over!). Even the Soft-scrub surface guide doesn't seem to
recommend this**.

Talc has a hardness of 1. *I have some of that, and some baby powder,
somewhere and plan to try it, but ....

I see that gypsum has a Moh rating of 2. *Can I make some cleanser out
of a piece of sheet-rock? *Pound it down to dust (wearing a
respirator?), add a little water, and some kind of thickener??? * This
is a lot of work for one microwave, but it may be useful many other
places. *Maybe I could market it and get rich. *OTOH, there are people
who do nothing all day but work on new cleansers, and this is pretty
obvious, so they must have tried this already. * Still, maybe it is
better for this particular purpose but not marketable enough that they
produce it.

A) How should I make gypsum-based cleanser?
B) What do you think of the whole idea?
C) Do they already sell this and I've missed it?
D) Comments?

**http://www.softscrub.com/guides/surfaces?surfaces=8

It recommends the product for enamel, but there is vitreous enamel
(fired in a kiln) and enamel paint (which is also heated sometimes --
what is the difference?), and the first is a lot harder than the
second. *The Softscrub table has no entry for paint.
--
Posters should say where they live, and for which area
they are asking questions. I have lived in
Western Pa. * 10 years
Indianapolis * 7 years
Chicago * * * * *6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore * * * 27 years

I suggest first putting a microwaveable dish Filled with a couple of
quarts of water into the uwave and letting it run at high heat for
about 15 minutes,. That should steam up the inside quite nicely and
soften the dirt up. Then a damp rag with just a hint of detergent on
it should be applied along with some elbow effort to clean the unit.
I have done this on some uwaves that looked hopeless, the steaming is
the trick as it softens virtually anything that could be on the walls,
battom and top of the uwave.

mm wrote:
How to clean the interior of a microwave?


Same way you clean a window, with a weak solution of amonia water and
detergent.

Jon

On 03 Jan 2011 02:42:43 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
wrote:


Original Magic Eraser Sponge

http://www.mrclean.com/en_US/magic-eraser.do?gclid=CIrP4uOAnaYCFQcKbAodJmJqoQ

This looks pretty good. If I see one, I'll get it. I already look
once in a while at what the cleaning aisle has, but I may even look
even farther for it.

On Sun, 2 Jan 2011 18:16:52 -0800 (PST), "hr(bob) "
wrote:



It recommends the product for enamel, but there is vitreous enamel
(fired in a kiln) and enamel paint (which is also heated sometimes --
what is the difference?), and the first is a lot harder than the
second. *The Softscrub table has no entry for paint.
--
Posters should say where they live, and for which area
they are asking questions. I have lived in
Western Pa. * 10 years
Indianapolis * 7 years
Chicago * * * * *6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore * * * 27 years

For those who have Agent, at least those using an old version, it's
interesting to note that my sig here is for the english usage groups.
By accident, I initiated the post and posted in one of them, then I
took the same post and changed the newsgroup to this one, and posted
it again. And clearly, it dragged the sig along to this ng too.

I suggest first putting a microwaveable dish Filled with a couple of
quarts of water into the uwave and letting it run at high heat for
about 15 minutes,

Thank you. I tried this, though only for 5 minutes and indded it
seemed to soften the dirt.

. That should steam up the inside quite nicely and
soften the dirt up. Then a damp rag with just a hint of detergent on

I skipped the detergent and that probably slowed me down too. I will
do better tomorrow.

it should be applied along with some elbow effort to clean the unit.
I have done this on some uwaves that looked hopeless, the steaming is
the trick as it softens virtually anything that could be on the walls,
battom and top of the uwave.

But frankly, I think you sent me in this direction to get me off of my
Really-Sof-Scrub, because you see a real money-maker. Despite this
duplicitous behaviour, I'm not a person who bears a grudge, and indeed
it shows that you are a go-getter, so if you want to go into this
enterprise together, I would probably be willing to do that, even if
uwaves aren't involved. I think we can start with this and maybe
someday Hoffman and Meirman will be as well known as Proctor and
Gamble.

On Sun, 2 Jan 2011 19:13:12 -0800, "Jon Danniken"
wrote:

mm wrote:
How to clean the interior of a microwave?


Same way you clean a window, with a weak solution of amonia water and
detergent.

AIUI, my sister already spent time trying to clean this, but I will
try this too. Thanks.

Jon

On Jan 3, 12:05*am, mm wrote:
On Sun, 2 Jan 2011 18:16:52 -0800 (PST), "hr(bob) "


[...]

For those who have Agent, at least those using an old version, it's
interesting to note that my sig here is for the english usage groups.
By accident, I initiated the post and posted in one of them, then I
took the same post and changed the newsgroup to this one, and posted
it again. * And clearly, it dragged the sig along to this ng too.




[...]

Hey, I'm -- or was -- using Agent 2.0! I never upgraded because I
didn't see the sense of all those bells & whistles -- desks, etc. --
for my humble needs. Agent is -- was? -- a powerful and elegant email
client I wish they hadn't chucked the newsgroups; that's partly what
sent me into Google, Yahoo, etc. land.

I also hung out in an English group for years. Is that where you used
to go? If so, did you ever run into the house Nazi, the one who runs
the magazine for naughty words? Reinhold or something like that? Did
time in a Federal pen for threatening a judge?

HB

On 1/3/2011 2:59 AM, mm wrote:
On 03 Jan 2011 02:42:43 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
wrote:


Original Magic Eraser Sponge

http://www.mrclean.com/en_US/magic-eraser.do?gclid=CIrP4uOAnaYCFQcKbAodJmJqoQ

This looks pretty good. If I see one, I'll get it. I already look
once in a while at what the cleaning aisle has, but I may even look
even farther for it.

If the residue is sooty, Magic Eraser will likely help. You don't
explain what/how the plastic burned - flamed, melted, or? If it is
melted on, then it won't come off with detergents.

Magic Eraser is finely abrasive, but I've cleaned greasy fingerprints
from semi-gloss paint without causing visible scratches.

On Mon, 03 Jan 2011 10:45:35 -0500, "
wrote:

On 1/3/2011 2:59 AM, mm wrote:
On 03 Jan 2011 02:42:43 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
wrote:


Original Magic Eraser Sponge

http://www.mrclean.com/en_US/magic-eraser.do?gclid=CIrP4uOAnaYCFQcKbAodJmJqoQ

This looks pretty good. If I see one, I'll get it. I already look
once in a while at what the cleaning aisle has, but I may even look
even farther for it.

If the residue is sooty, Magic Eraser will likely help. You don't
explain what/how the plastic burned - flamed, melted, or? If it is
melted on, then it won't come off with detergents.

I don't think it flamed but it did melt. However the melting was on
the glass plate and not on the sides or ceiling. When I first looked
at it, I only saw the bottom and the cleaner side. Didn't see the
other side or the back until a couple days ago. But boiling water hs
done okay so far. I'll do it more when I have time, maybe tonight.

Magic Eraser is finely abrasive, but I've cleaned greasy fingerprints
from semi-gloss paint without causing visible scratches.

I should have one of those, then. Sounds like it has lots of uses,
including maybe here if necessary. (I don't insist on this being
perfectly clean, but it's far too dirty now even for me.)

On Mon, 3 Jan 2011 01:19:45 -0800 (PST), Higgs Boson
wrote:

On Jan 3, 12:05*am, mm wrote:
On Sun, 2 Jan 2011 18:16:52 -0800 (PST), "hr(bob) "


[...]

For those who have Agent, at least those using an old version, it's
interesting to note that my sig here is for the english usage groups.
By accident, I initiated the post and posted in one of them, then I
took the same post and changed the newsgroup to this one, and posted
it again. * And clearly, it dragged the sig along to this ng too.




[...]

Hey, I'm -- or was -- using Agent 2.0! I never upgraded because I
didn't see the sense of all those bells & whistles -- desks, etc. --
for my humble needs. Agent is -- was? -- a powerful and elegant email
client I wish they hadn't chucked the newsgroups; that's partly what
sent me into Google, Yahoo, etc. land.

I also hung out in an English group for years. Is that where you used
to go? If so, did you ever run into the house Nazi, the one who runs
the magazine for naughty words? Reinhold or something like that?

Yes, he usually behaved okay, but something about his words made me
suspicious. I saw him go off the wall once, like you say, and someone
set him straight. (Well, set the record straight. I'm sure it didn't
affect him.)

Did
time in a Federal pen for threatening a judge?

Yeah. Maybe I didn't know it was a judge. Because I thought it was
amazing that someone did time for threats, when usually I suspect you
can say you were kidding, say you were angry, would never really do
anything, show your non-violent record (which I'm not sure he has),
plead down, and get probation. But I do think it's reasonable to have
stricter standards for threatening judges. They can't do their job if
they are afraid of the people tried or sued before them.

Even then he must have been off the wall. And maybe he had pled down.

He mentions this, but not all the details, on his own webpage!

HB

On 1/3/2011 3:05 AM, mm wrote:
On Sun, 2 Jan 2011 18:16:52 -0800 (PST), "hr(bob) "
wrote:



It recommends the product for enamel, but there is vitreous enamel
(fired in a kiln) and enamel paint (which is also heated sometimes --
what is the difference?), and the first is a lot harder than the
second. The Softscrub table has no entry for paint.
--
Posters should say where they live, and for which area
they are asking questions. I have lived in
Western Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis 7 years
Chicago 6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore 27 years

For those who have Agent, at least those using an old version, it's
interesting to note that my sig here is for the english usage groups.
By accident, I initiated the post and posted in one of them, then I
took the same post and changed the newsgroup to this one, and posted
it again. And clearly, it dragged the sig along to this ng too.

I suggest first putting a microwaveable dish Filled with a couple of
quarts of water into the uwave and letting it run at high heat for
about 15 minutes,

Thank you. I tried this, though only for 5 minutes and indded it
seemed to soften the dirt.

I'd put in much less water and let it boil longer. (I have done this)
It would take one hell of a microwave to make much steam using a couple
quarts of water in 15 minutes.

On 1/3/2011 10:45 AM, wrote:
On 1/3/2011 2:59 AM, mm wrote:
On 03 Jan 2011 02:42:43 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
wrote:


Original Magic Eraser Sponge

http://www.mrclean.com/en_US/magic-eraser.do?gclid=CIrP4uOAnaYCFQcKbAodJmJqoQ


This looks pretty good. If I see one, I'll get it. I already look
once in a while at what the cleaning aisle has, but I may even look
even farther for it.

If the residue is sooty, Magic Eraser will likely help. You don't
explain what/how the plastic burned - flamed, melted, or? If it is
melted on, then it won't come off with detergents.

Magic Eraser is finely abrasive, but I've cleaned greasy fingerprints
from semi-gloss paint without causing visible scratches.

Auto polishing compound will do about the same and for the same price as
one silly sponge, you'll have enough for a lifetime of fine abrasive
cleaning.

On Mon, 03 Jan 2011 22:38:50 -0500, Tony Miklos
wrote:

On 1/3/2011 10:45 AM, wrote:
On 1/3/2011 2:59 AM, mm wrote:
On 03 Jan 2011 02:42:43 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
wrote:


Original Magic Eraser Sponge

http://www.mrclean.com/en_US/magic-eraser.do?gclid=CIrP4uOAnaYCFQcKbAodJmJqoQ


This looks pretty good. If I see one, I'll get it. I already look
once in a while at what the cleaning aisle has, but I may even look
even farther for it.

If the residue is sooty, Magic Eraser will likely help. You don't
explain what/how the plastic burned - flamed, melted, or? If it is
melted on, then it won't come off with detergents.

Magic Eraser is finely abrasive, but I've cleaned greasy fingerprints
from semi-gloss paint without causing visible scratches.

Auto polishing compound will do about the same and for the same price as
one silly sponge, you'll have enough for a lifetime of fine abrasive
cleaning.

Thanks.

You mean rubbing compound? In the green can from Simoniz?*** At
least it was green 30 years ago, when I bought my second can**.

Or some other polish?


**I bought my first can in 1964 to clean the '50 Olds my cousin gave
me. I think it took 4 hours, or more likely 8, or maybe 4 for
compounding and 4 more for Simonizing, but it was beautiful when I was
done. A few years later some company talked about using their
product to get a shine a foot thick. My shine was about 3 feet thick.
It was like a mirror from 3 feet away, with my dark green car.

***I'm told that now if you use Simoniz rubbing compound it will take
the entire layer of paint off down to some other layer. That's why
I'm asking.

On 1/4/2011 3:24 AM, mm wrote:
On Mon, 03 Jan 2011 22:38:50 -0500, Tony Miklos
wrote:

On 1/3/2011 10:45 AM, wrote:
On 1/3/2011 2:59 AM, mm wrote:
On 03 Jan 2011 02:42:43 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
wrote:


Original Magic Eraser Sponge

http://www.mrclean.com/en_US/magic-eraser.do?gclid=CIrP4uOAnaYCFQcKbAodJmJqoQ


This looks pretty good. If I see one, I'll get it. I already look
once in a while at what the cleaning aisle has, but I may even look
even farther for it.

If the residue is sooty, Magic Eraser will likely help. You don't
explain what/how the plastic burned - flamed, melted, or? If it is
melted on, then it won't come off with detergents.

Magic Eraser is finely abrasive, but I've cleaned greasy fingerprints
from semi-gloss paint without causing visible scratches.

Auto polishing compound will do about the same and for the same price as
one silly sponge, you'll have enough for a lifetime of fine abrasive
cleaning.

Thanks.

You mean rubbing compound? In the green can from Simoniz?*** At
least it was green 30 years ago, when I bought my second can**.

Or some other polish?


**I bought my first can in 1964 to clean the '50 Olds my cousin gave
me. I think it took 4 hours, or more likely 8, or maybe 4 for
compounding and 4 more for Simonizing, but it was beautiful when I was
done. A few years later some company talked about using their
product to get a shine a foot thick. My shine was about 3 feet thick.
It was like a mirror from 3 feet away, with my dark green car.

***I'm told that now if you use Simoniz rubbing compound it will take
the entire layer of paint off down to some other layer. That's why
I'm asking.

No, I meant polishing compound which is finer than rubbing compound. If
polishing compound doesn't take care of it, then go up to rubbing
compound. Also, if the rubbing compound leaves scratches or a dull
spot, then go over it with the polishing compound to shine it up again.
I know this is for the inside of a microwave oven which may not matter
if it's dull, just adding that info for other projects down the road.

On 1/4/2011 3:24 AM, mm wrote:
On Mon, 03 Jan 2011 22:38:50 -0500, Tony Miklos
wrote:

On 1/3/2011 10:45 AM, wrote:
On 1/3/2011 2:59 AM, mm wrote:
On 03 Jan 2011 02:42:43 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
wrote:


Original Magic Eraser Sponge

http://www.mrclean.com/en_US/magic-eraser.do?gclid=CIrP4uOAnaYCFQcKbAodJmJqoQ


This looks pretty good. If I see one, I'll get it. I already look
once in a while at what the cleaning aisle has, but I may even look
even farther for it.

If the residue is sooty, Magic Eraser will likely help. You don't
explain what/how the plastic burned - flamed, melted, or? If it is
melted on, then it won't come off with detergents.

Magic Eraser is finely abrasive, but I've cleaned greasy fingerprints
from semi-gloss paint without causing visible scratches.

Auto polishing compound will do about the same and for the same price as
one silly sponge, you'll have enough for a lifetime of fine abrasive
cleaning.

Thanks.

You mean rubbing compound? In the green can from Simoniz?*** At
least it was green 30 years ago, when I bought my second can**.

Or some other polish?

No. Polishing compound is finer, rubbing compound is more coarse. See
other reply.

You can tell it's hard enough, when she screams "Moh! Moh!"

I'd want to try Simple Green on the microwave. I've cleaned
some odd stuff with that, and worked reasonably well.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"mm" wrote in message
...
How to clean the interior of a microwave?

My sister burned some plastic in her microwave. It has a
typical
off-white painted, enameled?, metal interior, and it's
gotten
surprisingly dirty. Spray cleaners don't do much, I guess
because
they are meant for grease. (I cleaned the glass tray with
a
razor-blade scraper, but even with that, it was hard to get
everything
off.)

Soft-scrub products and iirc Bon-Ami use calcium-carbonate,
which has
a Moh hardness of 3. While I've used but never visibly
scratched
anything with either of those products, I don't think I've
used them
on painted surfaces. Especially in a hard to reach inside,
normally
just wiped microwave, scratches will pick up dirt and look
terrible
(if I bend over!). Even the Soft-scrub surface guide doesn't
seem to
recommend this**.

Talc has a hardness of 1. I have some of that, and some
baby powder,
somewhere and plan to try it, but ....

I see that gypsum has a Moh rating of 2. Can I make some
cleanser out
of a piece of sheet-rock? Pound it down to dust (wearing a
respirator?), add a little water, and some kind of
thickener??? This
is a lot of work for one microwave, but it may be useful
many other
places. Maybe I could market it and get rich. OTOH, there
are people
who do nothing all day but work on new cleansers, and this
is pretty
obvious, so they must have tried this already. Still,
maybe it is
better for this particular purpose but not marketable enough
that they
produce it.

A) How should I make gypsum-based cleanser?
B) What do you think of the whole idea?
C) Do they already sell this and I've missed it?
D) Comments?


** http://www.softscrub.com/guides/surfaces?surfaces=8

It recommends the product for enamel, but there is vitreous
enamel
(fired in a kiln) and enamel paint (which is also heated
sometimes --
what is the difference?), and the first is a lot harder than
the
second. The Softscrub table has no entry for paint.
--
Posters should say where they live, and for which area
they are asking questions. I have lived in
Western Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis 7 years
Chicago 6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore 27 years

On Tue, 04 Jan 2011 10:32:31 -0500, Tony Miklos
wrote:

On 1/4/2011 3:24 AM, mm wrote:
On Mon, 03 Jan 2011 22:38:50 -0500, Tony Miklos
wrote:

On 1/3/2011 10:45 AM, wrote:
On 1/3/2011 2:59 AM, mm wrote:
On 03 Jan 2011 02:42:43 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
wrote:


Original Magic Eraser Sponge

http://www.mrclean.com/en_US/magic-eraser.do?gclid=CIrP4uOAnaYCFQcKbAodJmJqoQ


This looks pretty good. If I see one, I'll get it. I already look
once in a while at what the cleaning aisle has, but I may even look
even farther for it.

If the residue is sooty, Magic Eraser will likely help. You don't
explain what/how the plastic burned - flamed, melted, or? If it is
melted on, then it won't come off with detergents.

Magic Eraser is finely abrasive, but I've cleaned greasy fingerprints
from semi-gloss paint without causing visible scratches.

Auto polishing compound will do about the same and for the same price as
one silly sponge, you'll have enough for a lifetime of fine abrasive
cleaning.

Thanks.

You mean rubbing compound? In the green can from Simoniz?*** At
least it was green 30 years ago, when I bought my second can**.

Or some other polish?


**I bought my first can in 1964 to clean the '50 Olds my cousin gave
me. I think it took 4 hours, or more likely 8, or maybe 4 for
compounding and 4 more for Simonizing, but it was beautiful when I was
done. A few years later some company talked about using their
product to get a shine a foot thick. My shine was about 3 feet thick.
It was like a mirror from 3 feet away, with my dark green car.

***I'm told that now if you use Simoniz rubbing compound it will take
the entire layer of paint off down to some other layer. That's why
I'm asking.

No, I meant polishing compound which is finer than rubbing compound. If
polishing compound doesn't take care of it, then go up to rubbing
compound. Also, if the rubbing compound leaves scratches or a dull
spot, then go over it with the polishing compound to shine it up again.
I know this is for the inside of a microwave oven which may not matter
if it's dull, just adding that info for other projects down the road.

Yes, good idea, there are always other projects coming down the road.

Things have come up and no time to work on the microwave now. But I'm
sure it will turn out fine. If not, her plastic dirt will change in
to my plastic dirt, in my head, and I'll use it anyow. It's bigger
than mine, and I still haven't fixed my earlier middle bigger one.