My elderly half-senile mom put a slice of microwave pizza in her new microwave on the little tray, and left it in too long. It actually caught on fire. Now the microwave oven smells horrible every time she turns it on and she doesn’t want to use it any more.
She thinks there’s a place that will ‘fix’ it and ‘clean’ it for a few bucks. There is no such place. I was thinking maybe I could take the microwave home and try to deodorize it (telling her I took it to a place near me that will 'fix it" and ‘clean it’.)
I know about lemon juice/baking soda/white vinegar. I was thinking I could give this a try, run the shit out of it with a bowl of water with this stuff in it. The burning smell is really intense, inside of all those little holes.
Would this at-home cleaning take away the smell? Is there anything else I could try, like Nature’s Miracle from the pet store?
Should I just get her a new microwave? She’s only had the thing 6 months and she thinks it’s been ruined forever - unless I can get most of the burned smell out of it.
Try the lemon first. After that put a shallow pan full of baking sode in for a while and see what happens. If it’s bad enough, replacing it may be the only practical solution.
It’s worth trying. I suggest alternating lemon/baking soda/vinegar a few times, wiping thoroughly after each run.
Does she need it back right away? It might take a few days to get the smell out.
And of course, you’re right, you may have to buy a new one. The last time we burned something in the microwave, the smell lingered for a couple of months. I imagine smoke particles get into the vent, and that can be hard to clear out.
It is very easy to take the cover off and wipe everything down with alcohol, window cleaner or something. Do the inside as well. But the easiest way is to just keep using it and cooking smelly items. Cook stuff with some onion and garlic spice. Cook some bacon without burning it. Cook some apples and water. You get the picture. The smells will soon be driven away. I bet I could cure it in a day.
However, if the oven actually caught on fire, the problems could be greater. If it has a mechanical stirrer under a shield on top it might have gotten burned and become non-functional. Hot spots in the food could result. I think this is a low probability though.
I used a cup of lemon juice boiled for a long time on mine, no water, just make sure it doesn’t boil away. I’ve also used vinegar the same way. The lemon juice is a lot pleasanter to smell.
I don’t see any damage to the oven itself. The little coated paper box was sitting on the glass plate, spinning around, and the pizza slice just burned to charcoal. It’s the burning smell inside the oven that’s in there but good, whenever you turn it on. Well, I’ll see what I can do, either the smell dies down or we’ll just buy a new one. Thanks for the suggestions.
I had a takeout container catch fire in the microwave once, I forgot the item inside had foil around it before I popped it in there, and it superheated the cardboard. I used fresh squeezed lemons, halved and put in a bowl of water and boiled it in there for a while, and it helped a lot. I did that probably 8 years ago and the microwave is still fine, though the singed gray spots are still on the metal both inside and where the smoke came out on the back!
If you need to replace the thing after all, may I suggest a microwave like mine, if they still make them. It’s a Sharp Sensor Cook - you just press the button that corresponds to what you want to do and it sets the time on its own. You could cover up the buttons that would let your mom set the time herself which results in burning, and just leave the ones uncovered that say, “frozen dinner, frozen vegetables, fresh vegetables, muffins, popcorn, baked potatoes, etc, etc.” There’s even a big “reheat sensor” button at the top that is the generic one for throwing in anything (like a piece of pizza) and it will just heat it up. The display says “sensor reheat” for a while, and then depending on how fast the item is heating, it will start a timed countdown anywhere from 3 minutes to 30 seconds to finish. I think it senses steam levels or something. Anyway, it’s a thought. Mine’s about 12 years old and I still marvel at it. If they still make them, I imagine the technology is even better now.
(My fire happened when I manually set the time rather than letting the 'wave do it, which is why I’m thinking your mom may benefit from the numbered buttons being covered.)
Yeah, I burned my oatmeal to a cinder one day (forgot to put it on low power.) Yes, the burnt smell lingered for a long time. But, frequent wiping of the interior with cleaning agents did the job. Also another trick, filling a bowl with water and cleaning agent (this board seams to favor vinegar or lemon juice, I used Mr. Clean) and letting it boil vigorously will help. The trick mentioned above, using it for ordinary food to drive out the odor seems like a good idea. But in the end, using it for a while, in my case maybe 3 weeks, will remove the smell. More like 2 weeks for 90 % of the smell, another week for all but a whiff of smell, another couplea weeks before you couldn’t notice anything if you were really trying.
That Sharp sure sounds like a good machine, they may not still be sold now, though. The thing is Mom swore she set the time ‘same as I ALWAYS set it’ - but then said, 'well, it didn’t look done enough so I left it in for “a couple more minutes”. :rolleyes: That’s where it went wrong, ‘a couple more minutes’ is WAY too long for a wafer thin Celeste pizza!
They key with all the lemon juice and/or vinegar suggestions is to let the stuff boil (but not boil away!) so that the stream gets into all the “little holes.” That’s what helps the most.
Aquarium charcoal (NOT BBQ BRIQUETTES) can also help absorb odors. But it’s more expensive than the other suggestions, so start with those first.