Keeping a clean kitchen can appear to be impossible, but don’t feel intimidated- there are simple, cheap, and fast ways to keep your kitchen clean.
Here is a complete list of the chores necessary to keep your kitchen looking perfect, accompanied by the time it takes to do them, any supplies you will need, how hard they are, and whether or not you could trust your kid to do them right so that you don’t have to. It’s not illegal employment of minors if you’re related, folks!
Things You Need to Clean Your Kitchen
You need fewer supplies to clean your kitchen than you think!
1. Fancy (optional) Rubber Gloves
Use these rubber gloves to protect your hands from harsh chemicals. Especially useful to protect from oven cleaner.
2. A Spray Bottle
You can use an old clean bottle from some cleaning solution, or you can buy a pretty spray bottle. You’re going to be putting a vinegar cleaning solution in it.
3. Microfiber Cleaning Clothes
These microfiber clothes can be used wet or dry, washed with the laundry, and are much more environmentally friendly than using a ton of paper towels.
4. A Good Broom
Get a broom with bristles that won’t scratch your floor when you sweep. A hook on the top of the broom handle will let you hang it in your basement stairway or on the back of a door.
5. Disinfecting Wipes
Use disinfecting wipes to quickly wipe down counters and surfaces after a spill or in between cleanings. They cut grease and remove germs.
6. Dish Detergent
Eco-friendly dish detergent makes a great cleaning solution for kitchens! Mix it with water and use it to clean stoves, sinks, and counters.
7. Scrubbing Cleaner
Mild scrubbing cleaners are just abrasive enough to remove dirt and grime from your surfaces, but not so abrasive that they’ll scratch surfaces.
How to Clean a Kitchen Sink
- To clean a stainless steel sink, use a wet microfiber cloth and some dish detergent to gently remove crud and discoloration. Take a clean towel and dry sink, removing excess water.
- To clean a stainless steel faucet, use a wet microfiber cloth and some dish detergent, as with the stainless steel sink. Dry after finishing with a clean towel. Do not abrade the surface with a sponge. After drying, if you want an extra shiny faucet, you can buff it to a shine with some steel polish. For that matter, you can polish the sink, too.
Fridge Cleaning
Cleaning my refrigerator is my least favorite chore.
To clean a refrigerator first, take all of the food out. Then, any part of the interior of your fridge that will come out, take out. If the parts are dishwasher safe, put them in the dishwasher. If not, fill your sink with dish soap and water and soak them until the crud comes off. Lay them on a towel to air dry while you clean the walls and shelves of the fridge. Mix up a mildly abrasive solution of two cups warm water and one tablespoon baking soda. Lightly scrub anything you couldn’t pry out of the fridge. Drywalls with a towel and put all the shelves and drawers back.
Clean Your Kitchen Stove
This is the kitchen cleaning chore with the biggest ROI- clean stoves look damn impressive.
For the easiest stove cleaning, make sure to wipe up spills as soon as they happen or as soon as they cool off enough to remove!
- To clean your stainless steel kitchen stove-top, use a warm wet microfiber cloth and dish detergent to wipe up spills. If this proves impossible, wring a bit of water onto the crud and let it sit for 5-7minutes to help it soften up. Then scrub lightly and wipe it away. Dry the steel stovetop, and if you’d like to be an overachiever, polish it with the same stuff you used on your sink and faucets.
- To clean the gas burners of your stove, yank knobs off of the stove and put them into the dishwasher. Place grates and metal mats into the sink full of hot soapy water. The more crud you have on them, the longer you should let them soak – up to 30 minutes. Scrub stove grates and mats gently with a scrub brush to remove all food. Rinse, dry, and replace the stove.
Cleaning Kitchen Counters
If you wipe your counters every day, you don’t have to spend much time on them.
- To clean laminate counters: Use a soft microfiber cloth and cleaning spray to wipe down counters. If crud is particularly stubborn, let cleaning spray sit for a minute and then gently rub the microfiber cloth back and forth over it. Don’t let the cleaner sit on the counter for too long- it will discolor the surface, and don’t use a scratchy pad to wipe them because it will leave tiny scratches on the countertop.
- To clean stone counters: Use a microfiber cloth soaked in soapy water and wrung out (so that it is just damp). Don’t use harsh cleaners or scratchy sponges and clothes; they will damage the stone. Wipe the counters with water after cleaning to remove the residual soap.
Clean Early and Often
Ten minutes of kitchen cleaning saves you hours of grief.
If you clean your kitchen frequently (twice a week, let’s say), you can get away with just giving it a quick rub down. Ten minutes a week will have your kitchen sparkling like new.
If you’re going through the remodeling of your kitchen area, you’ll have to handle a lot of construction waste out of used piping, worktops, and cupboards. Also, if you have planned out to replace the shelves and draws to renovate the overall layout, that’s too difficult to dump. In that case, you might also need mini skip hire services for clearing out garbage.
The trick is to clean things as soon as they spill. The enzymes in food will adhere to your precious kitchen surfaces over time, staining them and pitting them. Don’t let that happen! Do love your kitchen! Time to clean the kitchen!
