"Push the 2," I told her, then I went to the basement to switch the laundry loads.
When I emerged from the laundry room a few minutes later, I saw smoke coming from the kitchen. I suppose Maggie had figured that cooking the popcorn once was fine, but cooking it 2 or 3 times must be better. The bag of popcorn had caught on fire in the microwave. I could see flames inside and there was smoke pouring out of the cracks around the door. Awesome. I pulled out the fire extinguisher, opened the microwave, and doused the fire. Only problem was, the smoke and fire extinguisher dust went every. dang. where.
I had just finished cleaning the kitchen (something I don't do often because a. it's pointless, since I know the kids will destroy my work before I even know they are in there and b. I hate doing it).
So, I put Maggie into timeout ("We only push the buttons on the microwave when we are helping Mommy, we never do it by ourselves. Never ever ever."), barricaded the twins in the family room, and began scrubbing, sweeping, and vacuuming all over again.
Anybody know how to get rid of charred popcorn stench?
8 comments:
how to get rid of charred popcorn stench: Buy a new microwave
Seriously though -- once I had to get a charred stench out of my house and i left windows open for days and spray air-neutralizer approximately every 3-4 hours for a good 2 days.
If you plan to keep the microwave, I would sprinkle some baking soda all over and let it sit untouched for two days before scrubbing. To use baking soda on the sides and top of micrwave, take a full sized papertowel and make damp. then cover one side of damp paper towel with baking soda and stick soda side to interior walls and ceiling of microwave. Let sit as long as it will stay. After 2 days, if it is still all stenched up, repeat method using distilled vinegar instead of baking soda. plan b (or are we up to c now) would be to do as I mentioned earlier and get a new microwave :)
Gotta love it when kids learn the hard way. Natural consequences... she didn't get the popcorn, and seeing the flames and smoke probably {hopefully} scared her enough to never want to press buttons again! =D
Oh, oh, oh!!!! I am having "empathy pains"--I swear I can smell burnt popcorn. Oh, yuck! I'm so sorry!! :(
Poor Maggie. My son did this the day after he got home form his mission. The microwave we bought while he was on his mission was way more powerful than the one we had prior — and he had never used the "popcorn" button before. As for he stench: Try Emma P's suggestion and wipe it with vinegar. It was a LONG time before it didn't stink. But he's been home 5 1/2 years now and the microwave still works...
Whoa! I'd probably scrap the microwave too. :) Smart girl having a fire extinguuisher in the house!
Yeah, I don't have a fire extinguisher in my house so my HOUSE would have been on fire. I'm think I'm going to get one now.
That's so scary. I'm glad nobody was hurt.
Time is a great healer. Also, kitchens only partially cleaned will not kill anybody. Kitchens on fire? Another thing all together.
Once a guy in an apartment building we lived in burned a bag of popcorn and stuck it outside his door. Problem solved for him, stunk up the rest of the building for us. Blah :) Glad no one got hurt, and good luck with the stench!
Get a lemon or an orange and quarter it, put it in with a cup of water and microwave for 5 to 6 minutes.. then wipe out the microwave. This works for me when I have this same problem.
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