Week 3: Cleaning Pin!

Well, since I have been crafty and I have baked, I thought why not try a pin related to cleaning?

Before I get to the actual pin, let me tell you about the other project I had.  Last week, for Labor Day, I made meatballs and sauce.  I borrowed my dad's HUGE sauce pot to make the sauce.  I knew I had to return said pot to him in perfect condition, so that just added to pressure to make sure I didn't burn anything (besides the sauce needing to taste good).  Well, LONG story short, I did end up burning the bottom of the pot a little bit (not actually with the sauce itself, but what I had added, which was onions and spices).  Anywho, I tried to boil some water in the pot and that worked well enough, but I STILL had some burned crap in the bottom.

So using Google, I found a lovely link from eHow on "How to Treat Burned Pots and Pans."  http://www.ehow.com/how_114388_treat-burned-pots.html  Now, this whole process takes quite some time to do.  I figured, I have nothing to lose, so I went for it.  The reason why I'm telling you about this first, is because while I was on Step 2 (which is to let the water in your pot with water and soap, boil, simmer, and sit), and I had about 40 minutes total to kill, I figured I would clean the rest of the kitchen and do this week's pin :)

I knew I hadn't personally cleaned our microwave for at least the last 4 months (not sure if Scott had cleaned it or not), so it was definitely not that pretty (see before and after pics below).  To break it down, this pin basically says to fill a microwave save bowl with water and a little bit of vinegar, and put it in the microwave for five minutes.  The idea is that the water will create steam and the vinegar will absorb the smell.  The steam then loosens up whatever gunk and grime is in your microwave, so when you actually clean it, it won't take forever and a day.  I figured worst comes to worst, I spend forever and a day (or until the pot was done soaking) cleaning the microwave.  I put the water/vinegar mix in the microwave for the 5 minutes, and what do you know; it ACTUALLY WORKED!!!  (I had my doubts).  When I got my paper towels and my 409 and started cleaning the microwave, there was no heavy elbow grease needed!  My microwave was nice and sparkly and clean!

You may be asking, well, what about the pot?  After some elbow grease was applied for Step 3 (scraping the rest of the burnt parts with a wooden spoon and then rising), I did not have to move onto steps 4-6!  It was a very successful cleaning day!!!

My verdict for the pin and the link; DO IT!!!  Well I guess, to prevent the whole gunky microwave, I guess you should just cover everything you make and clean frequently, but assuming you don't, this pin is extremely useful.  And as for the pots and pans; we're all bound to burn something REAL bad, this is a great way to save yourself from throwing out pots and pans (especially if they're not non-stick).

Thanks Pinterest!

Microwave Cleaning Pin- http://pinterest.com/pin/149397761/
Original website: Crafty Little Gnome- http://craftylittlegnome.blogspot.com/2011/05/easiest-way-to-clean-your-microwave.html

Before Pics:

After Pics: