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.

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 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 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.

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 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

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