My microwave is starting to rust inside of it..why?

Question

hello all well i have a weird situation here my microwave is rusting on the inside of the door, and the corners of the back on the inside. what could be happening? is it safe to still use it or not?

I never use anything except wash, baking soda and vinegar sometimes to clean it out but never baking soda and vinegar. it is only about 2 yrs old.

Answer 1

Donna L is right about the amount of moisture. Most microwaves only run their exhaust fan while it is cooking. In light of this, my wife and I don't close the door after cooking, we let it air out for an hour or so.

Our last microwave was 35 years old, and had an intact painted interior, which I would attribute to this practice.

If the rusty is minor, CLR or perhaps vinegar might remove it. But then it needs a protective coating to keep the bare metal from rusting again. If this is a big expensive microwave, then you might be able to touch up those clean and dry spots with DuPont Krylon Appliance Epoxy based paint. This will take the cooking heat. (Once completely dry, will not release contaminants into the oven.)

But if it is an average one, just replace it. Try leaving the door ajar for an hour or so afterwards, a no cost approach!

Answer 2

Well you don't say how old it is, if its anything like my microwave, its not very old! The paint on new microwaves is not as good as used to be, and i know I'm not the only one and mine is less that a year. I don't think there should be any problems with using it unless the door is physically damaged, rust wont do you any harm, but it can absorb moisture and thus the metal will heat up every time you use it, this will increase the rust tenfold. arcing will eventually occur and the oven will fail. There are paints on the market that will replace the old paint, only you will have to prep the metalwork first otherwise it wont be long before its pealing again.

Answer 3

When you cook in your Microwave alot of moisture and steam builds up It might be that happened over time. I think it would be safe to use because usually if some thing is not right the micro will keep turning off. You might try cleaning it with a mixture of water, baking soda and a little lemon juice too.

Answer 4

The rust is probably caused by moisture from either simply cooking, or perhaps a spill that may have occured. Another possibility may be how you have cleaned it, i.e. did you dry it out or soak the cleaning solution out out?

Typically, that rust is not going to harm anything or effect any of your cooking for some time (especially if your microwave is newer). I would keep using it as you are, but keep in mind to wipe it out on occasion, and keep it dry.

Answer 5

You can either replace the microwave with a new one or de-rust with a scraper, detergent and wet and dry paper or green pad use disposable towel paper for dry wiping the loose rust it will start to look like a stubborn stain so don t worry about that never mind to much about stubborn stains they became artistic I like it