Tip Tuesday--I love Borax & Cleaning the Microwave

I don't think my latest favoritest cleaning product has gotten enough attention lately.  I've talked about it before and how it can magically clean your acrylic bathtub with the greatest of ease.  Today's tip takes us into the kitchen.

Our microwave is above our stove top and because of the steam, it gets a dusty build up on the front that is really hard to get off.  The same thing has probably happened to your stove hood if you have that over your stove instead.  It's annoying and difficult to get off.  You can clean it, but it doesn't actually go anywhere.  It's just cleaner build up that it was before.

I read recently somewhere (Facebook? Pinterest? Random tip?  I don't really know...) that suggested making a paste out of Borax and water and use that to clean the stove hood.  But making a paste just seemed like a little too much effort.  So instead I just sprayed some homemade cleaner (Have I told you about that?  I probably should...) on the front of my microwave and sprinkled a little Borax directly on to a wet sponge and scrubbed.  A little bit.  And POOF!  It came right off, easy as can be.  I love Borax.  Really.

And because I'm feeling generous, I'm sharing my latest cleaning short cut.  I'm sure we've all heard the tip about putting a bowl of water with lemon juice in your microwave and running it for two minutes to make it easier to clean out.  It definitely works, but sometimes I just don't want to find a microwave safe bowl, fill it with water, cook it for two minutes and then have to clean it after I'm done.  So I sprayed my homemade cleaner in my microwave and ran it for 30 seconds.  My microwave wiped clean even easier this way and I was done in the two minutes it would have taken to cook the bowl of water.  Yay!

**Disclaimer: I've only done this with my homemade cleaner and did not have any problems with it.  I'm not sure how safe it would be with a commercial/chemical cleaner.  I would think just spraying water in would work as well.  

And now for my favorite homemade cleaner recipe.  I use a glass bottle (I actually re-use an old probiotic bottle) that is about 16 ounces.  I put about a teaspoon of baking soda in the bottom and ssslllloooowwwwllly fill the bottle with vinegar until it's about half full.  Then I fill the rest of the way with water.  I add a citrus essential oil (right now it's tangerine) and shake before each use.  I use it everywhere!  Counter tops, microwave, stove top, cupboards, appliances, seriously everywhere.  Not only do I not have to worry about chemicals getting into our food but it's completely safe for my kids to use.  Which means they can clean more.  Bonus.  I have another bottle of cleaner I use in the bathroom.  It smells like grapefruit. 

You may not be able to look in any room of my house because it's so messy, but you're totally welcome to come view my microwave.  It sparkles. For now.

**Another Disclaimer: Please don't just show up at my house to see my microwave.  I'll have an anxiety attack.  And that would be awkward.