Limpiamos la varilla de vapor y retiramos el residuo de leche.

In Spanish, especially in instructions, manuals, recipes, and demonstrations, the 1st person plural is often used to sound inclusive and natural: we clean, we remove.

So Limpiamos la varilla de vapor y retiramos el residuo de leche can function like an instruction, similar to:

• We clean the steam wand and remove the milk residue
• or more naturally in English, Clean the steam wand and remove the milk residue

This is very common in Spanish. Instead of giving a direct command, the speaker includes the listener in the action.

Yes. Limpiamos can mean either:

• we clean / we are cleaning (present)
• we cleaned (preterite)

The form is identical for -ar verbs in those two tenses.

You know which one it is from the context. In an instructional sentence like this one, it is normally understood as the present used for instructions, not the past.

The same applies to retiramos.

Varilla is a feminine singular noun, so it takes the feminine singular article la.

• la varilla
• not el varilla

The part de vapor means of steam or for steam, and it describes what kind of wand it is: a steam wand.

So the structure is:

• la = the
• varilla = wand/rod
• de vapor = of steam / steam

Because residuo is a masculine singular noun.

So it takes:

• el residuo

not:

• la residuo

This is something learners often have to memorize, because grammatical gender in Spanish does not always match what feels logical in English.

Here, de leche describes the type or source of the residue: milk residue.

In Spanish, when de + noun describes material, type, or content, the article is often omitted:

• residuo de leche = milk residue
• taza de café = cup of coffee
• mancha de vino = wine stain

If you said de la leche, it would sound more like you are referring to a specific milk already known in the conversation, rather than milk in general.

So el residuo de leche is the most natural choice here.

Because Spanish often uses a singular noun for an uncountable substance or general material, just like English can say residue rather than residues.

So:

• el residuo de leche = the milk residue

This refers to residue as a substance left behind, not to several separate countable items.

You could sometimes see a plural in other contexts, but the singular is the normal and natural choice here.

They are similar, and in many contexts both can mean remove. But retirar often sounds a little more formal or technical than quitar.

So in cleaning or machine instructions, retirar is very natural:

• retirar el residuo
• retirar la tapa
• retirar el filtro

Quitar is also common, but it can sound a bit more everyday.

Usually, yes, more or less. In this sentence, y is the word and, and it is pronounced like a Spanish i sound, similar to the vowel sound in English see, but shorter and purer.

One important spelling point: Spanish changes y to e before words beginning with an i sound.

For example:

• padre e hijo
• not padre y hijo

But here the next word is retiramos, so y stays y.

In most of Spain, ll is usually pronounced the same as y. This is called yeísmo.

So varilla is usually pronounced approximately like:

• ba-REE-ya

A few speakers in some regions may distinguish ll from y, but for most learners of Spanish from Spain, pronouncing ll like y is completely normal.

Also note that v in Spanish is not pronounced like a strong English v. In most Spanish accents, b and v sound very similar.

So varilla starts with a sound closer to a soft b than an English v.

Spanish often omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

• limpiamos already tells you the subject is we
• retiramos also tells you the subject is we

So Nosotros limpiamos... is grammatically possible, but it is usually unnecessary unless you want emphasis or contrast.

Spanish prefers the shorter version:

• Limpiamos la varilla de vapor...

Yes. If you want a more direct instruction, you could use the imperative:

• Limpia la varilla de vapor y retira el residuo de leche if speaking to tú
• Limpie la varilla de vapor y retire el residuo de leche if speaking formally to usted
• Limpiad la varilla de vapor y retirad el residuo de leche if speaking to vosotros in Spain

But the original limpiamos... y retiramos... is very natural in explanatory or instructional Spanish, especially in demonstrations and manuals.

Yes, but the original order is the most neutral and natural.

The standard structure here is:

• verb + object + y
  • verb + object

So:

• Limpiamos la varilla de vapor y retiramos el residuo de leche

You could rearrange parts in special contexts for emphasis, but that would usually sound less neutral. For a learner, the original order is the best model to follow.