On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 21:11:23 -0500, 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.

I was wrong about this. Bon-Ami, which is labeled "Hasn't scratched
yet" includs Feldspar, which has a hardness on Moh of 6 !!!

And calcite, which I haven't checked yet.

That makes it softer than Ajax and Comet, that include silica
(quartz), according to the Bon-Ami label which I'm sure is correct.
My carton is 10 or 15 years old, but I'm sure nothing has changed with
any of them.

And indeed, BonAmi doesn't strongly claim to not scratch painted
enamel appliances. The label has drawings of bathtubs, sinks, and
toilets, and the companies that endorse the product are Corning,
Pyrex, Farberware, Rival, West Bend, Congoleum, a ceramic tile comapny
and others like that. In other words, glass and ceramiic dishes, not
painted things.

It is Soft-Scrub which has a hardness of only 3, and it too warns
about using on painted enamel appliances, and says to use it lightly.
I looked on the label of the container I had, rather than the sparse
webpage. Why is the manufacturer's webpage not as complete as the
label on the package?

So I will be looking for the two products that were recommend in this
thread in the alt.home.repair ng. One a sponge-type thing and one I
forget, because it was easier to find this thread in the other
accidental newsrgroup than the very busy one.

I did use softscrub on an unfinshed shiny metal part and it did a good
job and quickly. Plus even 409 does something on the rest but it
takes a lonnng time and a lot of effort.

Just don't use Bon-Ami like I suggested, except where they recommend
it.


And I still think I should make my own stuff out of gypsum
(sheetrock), but don't have time right now. Join me, we can get
rich!

mm


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 12, 5:52*am, mm wrote:
On Sun, 02 Jan 2011 21:11:23 -0500, 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.

I was wrong about this. *Bon-Ami, which is labeled "Hasn't scratched
yet" includs Feldspar, which has a hardness on Moh of 6 *!!!

And calcite, which I haven't checked yet.

That makes it softer than Ajax and Comet, that include silica
(quartz), according to the Bon-Ami label which I'm sure is correct.
My carton is 10 or 15 years old, but I'm sure nothing has changed with
any of them.

And indeed, BonAmi doesn't strongly claim to not scratch painted
enamel appliances. * The label has drawings of bathtubs, sinks, and
toilets, and the companies that endorse the product are Corning,
Pyrex, Farberware, Rival, West Bend, Congoleum, a ceramic tile comapny
and others like that. *In other words, glass and ceramiic dishes, not
painted things.

It is Soft-Scrub which has a hardness of only 3, and it too warns
about using on painted enamel appliances, and says to use it lightly.
I looked on the label of the container I had, rather than the sparse
webpage. *Why is the manufacturer's webpage not as complete as the
label on the package?

So I will be looking for the two products that were recommend in this
thread in the alt.home.repair ng. *One a sponge-type thing and one I
forget, because it was easier to find this thread in the other
accidental newsrgroup than the very busy one.

I did use softscrub on an unfinshed shiny metal part and it did a good
job and quickly. *Plus even 409 does something on the rest but it
takes a lonnng time and a lot of effort.

Just don't use Bon-Ami like I suggested, except where they recommend
it.

And I still think I should make my own stuff out of gypsum
(sheetrock), but don't have time right now. * Join me, we can get
rich!

mm



*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

Use a cup or bowl of water. heat to boil, let boil until everything
is nice and damp. Let sit a couple minutes, then use a sponge and dish
cleaner.