Hey! I found the old post that I made in my drafts so I thought I would share it! I deleted the pictures that I had taken of the process because I thought that this post had been lost for good so, sorry, no visuals included.
Hi All!
Are you the type of person that does the whole Spring Cleaning thing? I always try and say that I am going to do it, but I seem to get distracted with flowers and, you know, spring things! I am more the type of Autumn Cleaning person. Something about the Fall has always made me more energetic and go-getter and well, happy. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I started dating and later married my husband in the fall? I don't know, but it's a good thing. Anyway, when I get into this cleaning frame of mind, I tend to clean the most obscure things. Those things that you really don't pay attention to until "OH MY GOD" stage? Like earlier this week it was the fan blades in my kitchen. Then, of course, I had to vacuum - can you say GROSS?
Well, today it was the bottom of my microwave that is above the stove. I cook. A lot. I cook things that are messy, things that splatter, things that get sticky over time. Unfortunately, this is a spot that I don't see unless I am bending at the waist and looking up at my microwave. And, I have twin boys that are two. Do I need to say more? Anyway, I declared war on this today. I wanted it clean and I didn't know where I was going to get the elbow grease to get it clean. I recently saw a post about cleaning the filter that goes in this type of microwave/rangehood kind of thing and I felt inspired (you can find this cleaning tip here). I closely examined the bottom of my range and the screws that held it in and thought, I could unscrew this entire thing and put it in the pot of boiling water and "Ta Da" it would be clean, right? Easy Peasy. I unscrewed it and it dropped down only to find that the light for above my stove was welded to it and then was attached to the microwave with wires. Well, getting electrocuted wasn't on my list of things to do today so I guess the boiling pot of water idea was out. Crap.
So, I made a paste of vinegar and baking soda and a tiny bit of water. I know, I know, measurements would be good but I am just not that kinda girl. If I was hard pressed to say how much, maybe a 1/4 cup of vinegar to a half cup of baking soda and a few drops of water. It was a THICK paste. I spread onto the hood and crossed my fingers. At this point, I walked away, called my Dad and had a nice long conversation, and came back. Then, I got out my little doo hickey from Pampered Chef, you know the one that they give you to scrap clean all of their stoneware pots and pans? And I went to work. I expected to put forth quite a bit of muscle to scrap away all that yuckiness of yellow caked on grease (yes, I am embarrassed to write that, but sadly, it is the truth). To my surprise, if I had the doo-hicky at the right angle, it came RIGHT OFF!!!!!! I couldn't believe it. I had to call my Dad back and share my utter amazement. Then, I grabbed my magic eraser and went over everything to get what little bit of excess that was left and *Ta Da* it is sparkling!!!!
I am going to go buy stock in baking soda and vinegar! This is my new best friend! I have read that in blogs before and I have never believed them.....how can something that simple work that well? IT DOES! Believe me! I am, right now, looking for neat new things to clean with it. I think the grout in my bathroom that my dog lays on constantly is next. I will be sure to take a before pic of that. Oh! And I have used this in my laundry too to freshen towels and it works great! For instance, if you do a load of wash and forget it and it gets that sour smell in it and you have to redo the load but it still has that lingering smell? Put a cup of vinegar and a half cup of baking soda and it takes the smell away. I am rather forgetful when it comes to laundry in the washer much to my husband's annoyance.
Let me know if you try this and if you have had the success I did! I would love to hear about your weird cleaning obsesses so that I don't feel so lonely.....or dirty :o) Have a great day!!!
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