How To Make Sure Your Microwave Never Gets Dirty

I ran into a friend in my neighborhood late last year and spontaneously invited her to my place for coffee. Offering to help, she opened the microwave to warm up the day-old muffins I’d also put out. I immediately felt a pang of embarrassment, remembering the reheated chili still decorating the inside of my microwave.

In my hastiness earlier that morning, I’d warmed up some leftovers for my daughter’s school lunch, forgetting to cover them. Three minutes later, my microwave looked like a crime scene, with bits of chili speckled across every surface. The outcome wasn’t inevitable, though.

Had I remembered this super simple tip, my microwave might have looked brand, spanking new. Or, at the very least, it wouldn’t have caused me embarrassment. My friend said she didn’t care, but I certainly did! And that subtle humiliation was all the motivation I needed never to forget again—especially when the solution was (quite literally) always in my kitchen.

How To Make Sure Your Microwave Never Gets Dirty

The tip is almost too simple to consider calling it one: Before heating any food in your microwave, lay a paper towel loosely over your dish. Don’t press it down—you want to leave some room for steam to escape. The paper towel acts like a protective shield, catching any food debris that tries to escape during heating while still allowing steam to vent. It’s practically foolproof and proves particularly helpful for foods with a lot of moisture, like soups, sauces, and stews.

Of course, you can also buy silicone or plastic covers for this purpose, but many people have concerns about plastic leaching into foods, especially when the plastic is heated. And as my editor Meg Scott says, “Why buy another thing when you can just use a paper towel?” Touche!

Unlike dedicated microwave covers that are ultimately indestructible from an eco-perspective, take up space, and have to be washed, paper towels are already in most kitchens and (if not too soiled) can be composted after use. Plus, they’ll conform to any container shape, from your smallest ramekin to your largest mixing bowl.

Tips for Success

To keep foods like leftover rice or pasta from drying out, sprinkle a little water on top, toss in an ice cube, or dampen the paper towel before reheating, which helps to create a more pronounced steam effect. Always opt for plain paper towels for reheating. Paper towels with prints or dyes (though fun!) could release chemicals when they’re heated.

Recycled paper towels sometimes contain tiny metal particles that could spark, so it’s best to use those labeled “microwave-safe.” If you’re microwaving for long periods of time, remember to pause and re-wet your paper towel. While uncommon, excessively dry towels could potentially catch fire.

The Best Way To Clean Your Microwave If It Does Get Dirty

Even with the paper towel technique, sometimes messes happen. When they do, globally recognized cleaning expert and GoCleanCo CEO Sarah McAllister shares some tips for getting your microwave back into tip-top shape.

McAllister’s favorite method is refreshingly simple. “Grab a mug or microwaveable bowl and pour in 1 cup of water and 1 to 2 tablespoons of vinegar.” Then, “microwave on high for 5 minutes.” She explains that the steam loosens up all the dried-on food inside the microwave, making it effortless to wipe up with a damp cloth or paper towel.

For those inevitable mid-cooking splatters, she encourages dealing with it in the moment. While it might not always be easy, she emphasizes that “Wiping up messes as they happen is always the easiest way” to keep your microwave from collecting build-up. “If you wait for the food to dry or get cooked on,” she explains, “it becomes a much more time-consuming process to clean up.”

And for those tricky spots? It’s as easy as using “a small scrub brush dipped in soapy water” to get into the nooks and crannies. “If the food splatters are hardened on,” though, “it’s best to do the vinegar trick…first to soften them.”