How to Keep a Microwave Clean Longer and More Easily

Psst! We may receive a small commission for affiliate links posted within this page, such as Amazon and Walmart, but at absolutely no cost to you. All opinions are our own. Visit the Disclosure Page for details. Thanks for dropping by!

If you want to know how to keep a microwave clean consistently or daily, or find you hate doing it in general, keep reading our 12 time and effort-saving tips on how to keep a microwave clean for longer and more easily.

1. Consider Cleaning Your Microwave on a Routine Schedule

A routine cleaning schedule is often one of the best ways to maintain a clean home. This can be more so when it comes to knowing how to clean your microwave daily.

Microwave Cleaning Routine Tips

Set a cleaning schedule around specific days of the week if you prefer to have structure in your day-to-day scheduling.

Or add cleaning the microwave cleaning to a “loose” list of cleaning chores to do on any given day, typically based on priority, the amount of time you have, or as you feel up to it.
It can also be helpful to use designated routines for cleaning, such as daily morning cleaning routine chores and evening cleaning routine chores.

2. Tackle messes in the microwave as they occur

Another great way to tackle messes in the microwave is by getting to them right away.

When messes are cleaned up as they occur or as soon as possible, they won’t have as much of a chance to harden and stick to surfaces—meaning less scrubbing.

3. Use Simplistic Cleaning Products for Faster Cleanup

Sometimes, less is more when it comes to using cleaning products.

Luckily, and in most cases, some of the best, most effective, and most popular microwave cleaning methods tend to involve basic house staples as opposed to heavy-duty, store-bought microwave cleaners.

Easy Does It

Lightly damp microfiber cloths can be highly useful for quickly wiping up messes, crumbs, and splatters, simply by using plain, warm water. Since there’s no product or soap involved, you also won’t have to do another pass to get rid of any leftover residue.
Sometimes only a little warm water or a soap sponge is necessary for tougher messes. Allow it time to soak.
Using heavy products like cleaning sprays or foams may result in more unnecessary cleanup, giving you more work to do.

When using store-bought products to clean your microwave, make sure to read the instructions.

Psst… Want more cleaning hacks using the grease-fighting power of Dawn? Check out our post on Top 10 Helpful Tricks for Using Dawn Dish Soap next (new tab).

4. Get Into the Habit of Maintenance Cleaning

Even though doing microwave maintenance cleaning on a daily or more regular basis may sound like a tedious commitment to some people, it’s a good habit to get into anyway.

Over time, cleaning the microwave will become so habitual or second nature that you’ll likely do it automatically and without realizing it. And it shouldn’t be such a big deal since it only takes a couple of seconds.

It Makes Things Faster & Easier

Maintenance cleaning can significantly speed up the cleaning process while making cleaning your microwave easier to do.
Cleaning consistently through this method can make cleaning your microwave significantly faster.

5. Stack Other Chores Around Cleaning Your Microwave

Stacking other cleaning chores around microwave cleaning upkeep is one way to get more cleaning chores done simultaneously, helping you to save on time, effort, and steps.

stack-cleaning-the-microwave-oven-with-other-household-chores

For this reason, we often recommend cleaning the microwave around some of the following tasks.

Stackable Chores for the Microwave

Doing the dishes by hand.

Tidying up the kitchen for the day.
Unloading the sink.
Working it around unloading the dishwasher.

Adding it to a dishwasher cycle before you run the machine.
Incorporating it into a daily, evening, or morning routine.

6. Try to Clean the Microwave During a Morning or Evening Cleaning Routine

Evening cleaning routines and morning cleaning routines are great for adding flexible structure to train yourself and possibly others to stay on top of household chores, typically through prevention and consistency.

Mix and Match with Daily or Weekly Routines

Morning or evening routines can also be ideal for staying consistent with cleaning the microwave. This is more so when adding it to your weekly cleaning schedule or making it a point to clean it daily.

While this can be done in the morning, it’s generally preferable by many people to do it at night after meals are done with, so that food and other messes won’t sit for too long or overnight.

7. Use the Dishwasher for Tough Messes and Motivation

You can use the dishwasher to clean the microwave components with little to no effort—especially when they’re excessively dirty or littered with tough, stuck-on messes.

This method can be particularly handy if you dislike washing things by hand or find yourself procrastinating on cleaning the microwave.

wash-microwave-parts-in-the-dishwasher-to-save-time-and-effort-or-for-motivation-neatish

Stack It

Consider tossing in microwave parts after emptying the dishwasher or with a load that’s about to be run.

Microwave components can typically be washed once a week if you prefer not to wash or wipe them down by hand.
You can even try to clean microwave parts alongside other dishwasher-safe items, such as stovetop components, sink grates, dish dispenser tray, and other washable items that might get neglected, otherwise.

Psst… Get more dishwasher emptying and loading tips and routine how-tos next, with our post on 16 Easy Tips for Creating a Loading and Unloading Dishwasher Routine.

8. Cover Splatter-Prone Food

One way to keep a microwave clean is to prevent messes before they have a chance to happen.

Our favorite method is by making sure that any foods that might be likely to splatter are properly covered, often using a paper towel or something like a microwave plate cover.

Put a Lid On It

Try to make sure foods are covered by using a paper towel or microwave plate cover.

Collapsible plate and bowl microwave covers can be particularly handy for those who are tight on space, and there are also non-collapsible magnetic microwave covers that stick to the inside of a microwave.
Make sure to clean or rinse off whatever reusable cover you might prefer after each use, or at least once a week, to prevent extra cleanup and bad food odors.

9. Clean Your Microwave Consistently

Regardless if you use a microwave-cleaning schedule, prefer to add it to a morning or evening routine, or just want to go with the flow and clean the microwave as you feel like it, try to stay consistent.

Cleaning your microwave consistently will inevitably save you a tremendous amount of time and effort, and will even speed up your overall cleaning.

10. Train Your Eyes to Spot the Mess

Regardless if you plan to clean your microwave daily or every week, it’s generally a good idea to train yourself to spot messes automatically until it’s a habit to tackle things straight away.

Use the Mess as a Visual Cue

As we grow accustomed to seeing messes, it can be harder to spot them as they crop up. Then we sort of learn to turn a blind eye and the mess just becomes part of the new norm.

Because of this, it can be helpful to schedule a time of day or days throughout the week to spot those messes, such as crumbs or splatters, in the microwave to see if it needs to be cleaned.

Some people find it useful to walk into the room and purposefully scan it visually before cleaning.

11. Clean What’s Already Clean

As cleaning guru, FlyLady, often reiterates: it’s easier to clean what’s already clean rather than having to put more effort into a big mess later, which is essentially the very essence of maintenance cleaning. The same goes for cleaning the microwave and keeping it that way.

Cleaning Tips

Try to get into the habit of wiping down the microwave at least once a week, if not daily, even if you don’t think it needs to be cleaned.
When cleaning the microwave is made into a daily or weekly habit, you’ll typically always have a clean-looking microwave.
When a microwave gets cleaned before it’s really dirty, it only takes a few seconds to wipe down and with little to no scrubbing.

Think of the positives of keeping a clean microwave on a daily basis, such as never having to scrub, food potentially tasting better, reduced kitchen odors, less time involved with cleaning it, and cooked-on messes never being an issue of embarrassment if guests see the inside of your microwave.

12. Get Others Onboard

Half the battle with keeping a cleaning microwave more regularly is getting others to keep it clean with you. Therefore, we recommend politely asking others to help you out, making sure to avoid “you” or accusatory statements and to explain your reason why.

get-others-on-board-with-cleaning-the-microwave-or-your-morning-or-nighttime-routine

Team Effort

Be patient and give people time to get used to the idea of cleaning the microwave if they make a mess, especially if it’s only your idea and they’re not used to it.

Be empathetic. Not everyone may agree with you at first when it comes to cleaning the microwave more routine, especially if it’s every day or when encouraged to clean things up as messes occur. Make sure to explain your ‘why’ and the benefits of keeping the microwave clean routinely
Help others out by leaving easy-to-grab microfiber cleaning cloths near the sink.
If you find that other individuals won’t help out, or perhaps don’t want to clean up their own messes, you can civilly negotiate to have them clean the microwave while you tackle other chores around the house, or pass on a different chore to them that they might agree to.

Conclusion

In the end, knowing how to keep your microwave clean consistently generally means developing a habit or schedule that encourages consistency, practices prevention, and implements microwave maintenance upkeep methods into your day-to-day life.

Microwave Cleaning Routine Summary

Consider cleaning your microwave on a routine cleaning schedule.
Tackle messes in the microwave as they occur.

Aim to use minimal microwave cleaning products for faster cleanup.
Stack other cleaning chores around cleaning your microwave for more cleaning efficiency and motivation.
Consider using morning and evening cleaning routines.

Use the dishwasher for tough messes and motivation.
Cover splatter-prone foods whenever possible.
Clean your microwave consistently.

Clean what’s already clean or neat-ish.
Get others on board.

Psst… Looking for quick and easy microwave cleaning methods? Check out some of the more popular methods here, with our post on 7 Best Microwave Cleaning Methods.

Happy Cleaning 🙂