I Finally Took Apart My Microwave After 5 Years. I Wish I Had Sooner.

Here’s what happened.

A few days ago I tried to heat up some soup in my microwave. When I opened the door after it finished, a smell hit me—not burning, but that complex “stale grease plus steam plus who-knows-how-long” aroma.

I stared at the microwave for a while, then decided to take it apart and clean it. What I found was… motivating. I hadn’t cleaned the inside in five years. The plastic interior had vanished under a layer of yellowish-brown grease. I tried scraping it with my fingernail. It didn’t budge. This wasn’t splattered grease—this was years of steam-evaporated residue, basically varnish.

Microwave: The Vinegar Steam Method

The microwave is actually the easiest to clean, and the method is dead simple.

One bowl of water, about 50ml of white vinegar, nuked on high for 5 minutes. Don’t open the door immediately—let it sit with the steam trapped inside for 3 more minutes. The vinegar steam softens the grease the same way a sauna softens everything in your pores. Everything’s basically sweating out its grime.

Then just wipe it down with a damp cloth. I got about 80% off with minimal effort. The remaining stubborn spots take more pressure, but they come. Important: wring out the cloth thoroughly—don’t let water drip into the microwave’s vents.

The turntable and its axis need to be removed and cleaned separately. These are the real trap spots. I used a toothpick to clean the axis gap. What came out was…我不想描述。

Air Fryer: Clean It After Every Use

The air fryer is slightly harder because the heating element and fan are in awkward positions.

My rule now: clean it while it’s still warm, every single time. When the appliance is still warm, food residue is soft and wipes off easily with a damp cloth.

If you’ve developed a grease buildup, use baking soda. Mix it with a small amount of water to make a paste, coat the affected areas, let it sit for 30 minutes, then scrub gently with a soft brush. Baking soda is alkaline—it reacts with oils—but it needs contact time. You can’t just scrub immediately after applying.

The basket and crumb tray can go in the dishwasher. Most air fryers mark these as dishwasher-safe. If you have a big dishwasher, this is the easiest path.

One critical thing: never submerge the whole air fryer in water. The heating element and fan motor don’t play well with that. Wipe clean only.

Oven: The Hardest One

The oven is the hardest of the three. Mine is built-in, which means my arm doesn’t actually fit inside properly. FML.

For light oven dirt—say, after a couple weeks of light use—white vinegar mixed with water works fine. But for my five-year catastrophe, I needed the baking soda paste.

Apply the paste to all dirty interior surfaces, especially the bottom and the walls around the heating element. Leave it overnight. Wipe clean with a damp cloth the next day.

Warning: don’t paste the baking soda directly onto the heating element itself. Residue can smoke when heated. Apply it to adjacent surfaces only.

The oven door’s glass panel usually detaches—check your manual. Once off, soak it in dish soap water for 10 minutes, then scrub. Comes up like new.

A Confession

While writing this, I did a quick survey of my other kitchen appliances. My rice cooker—three years old, never cleaned internally—has a layer of brownish mineral deposits on the inner pot that won’t come off even with steel wool. The air fryer basket gets cleaned after every use, but I never touched the fan area.

Here’s the thing: small kitchen appliances need cleaning as often as your cookware. We just don’t think about them the same way.

New rule I’m setting for myself: weekly microwave wipe-down, monthly deep clean of the air fryer and oven. If I stick to this, these appliances will last significantly longer. Probably should’ve been doing this all along.

Anyway, I have 20% more microwave interior to finish scrubbing.