The 10 Steps to a clean kitchen are; 1. Clear the Surfaces, 2. Soak the dishes, 3.Clean the fridge, 4. Clean the Cabinets, 5.Clean the appliances, 6. Wash the dishes, 7. Clean the countertops, 8. Clean the stove, 9. Put out the trash, 10. Mop The Floors
Whether your kitchen just needs a quick going over, or it’s time for a deep clean, cleaning the kitchen is one of the more daunting household tasks to get done and the most difficult room to keep clean. After all, this is where all of your food is prepared and often eaten.
Therefore, it’s vital to make sure that your kitchen is a hygienic environment. Without a clean kitchen, you could risk making yourself and your family sick. It can be easy to let things pile up, as cleaning the kitchen everyday may seem overwhelming. But this would be a mistake.
If you, like many of us, struggle with a task of both cleaning your kitchen and keeping it presentable, don’t worry. Here is a guide to deep cleaning your kitchen, as well as what to watch out for every day. If you need a printable checklist, look to the bottom of this article.
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Deep Clean or Everyday Tidy?
Even if you’re able to keep on top of the task of cleaning your kitchen, it will need a deep clean every now and then. This is because little things always get missed when you’re doing a regular clean, as the idea is to keep the kitchen presentable and halfway hygienic.
When trying to clean the kitchen, you’ll find that there are at least three levels of cleaning. There’s the everyday cleaning, which is really just keeping on top of immediate messes made as the day goes on and making sure things don’t build up.
There’s the weekly, or twice weekly cleaning. This would be a slightly more intense clean, but still wouldn’t take long to complete. Some of the less pleasant jobs would be done here, but don’t put them off.
Finally, there’s the deep clean. It’s best to do a deep clean every few months or so, as the longer it’s left, the worse it gets. This is where you’d go through the whole kitchen and make sure everything is as clean as it can be.
It can be daunting and threaten to take hours, but if you do things in an orderly fashion, things can go much more smoothly and quickly than you’d expect.
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Tips for Cleaning the Kitchen
Honestly, one of the hardest parts of cleaning any room, let alone the kitchen, is getting started. Most of us don’t really enjoy cleaning, so we might just put it off until it can’t be ignored anymore. This is the first pitfall to cleaning the kitchen.
The easiest way to get something done, and quickly, is to enjoy yourself while doing it. While the act of cleaning itself isn’t the most fun, there are things we can do to make it easier. Many people listen to music while cleaning, as it keeps our minds off what we’re actually doing, and you can even incorporate some dance moves while you clean.
While it’s simple, this is one of the best ways to help time fly. Other things you can listen to are audiobooks and podcast, so your mind is occupied somewhere else. This can be a great way to get into reading, especially if you never have the time or inclination to physically pick up a book and read it.
Another way to help us get motivated to clean the kitchen is to have a clear plan of what we want to achieve and to break it down to manageable chunks. Several small tasks seem a lot less daunting than the nebulous larger task of cleaning the kitchen. Especially when there’s a lot to do and we just don’t know where to start.
Fortunately, I have made up a checklist with steps for cleaning the kitchen. This should help to show you where to start and the easiest way to get through the task.
These are the ten steps that you’ll need to take to completely clean your kitchen. Some of these tasks will need to be done every day, or at least on a regular basis. These are indicated in the below list.
1: Clear the countertops
The first thing to do is to make sure everything is tidied away. Everything on the counter tops needs to be sorted out and put in the right place. So, store cupboard foods should be put away.
Any trash still on the countertop needs to be thrown out, and any dirty dishes should be stacked up and put either in or near the sink. Clean and dry dishes on the draining board are to be put out of the way.
This is an everyday task.
2: Fill the sink and start soaking
Now, you’ll want to fill the sink with hot, soapy water. This will be useful for soaking certain hard to clean things, such as the microwave turntable or large pans.
This can be combined with step six when not deep cleaning.
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3: Empty and clean the refrigerator.
Empty the refrigerator completely. Throw out anything that is out of date and clean all the shelves inside the refrigerator. You may need to take them out and wash them separately, but you should be able to wipe them down with a rag and an all-purpose cleaner.
Make sure to clean out the drain hole at the back of your refrigerator, to stop any water gathering at the bottom. Once the fridge is clean, put everything back in an orderly fashion.
I like this affordable fridge air filter to keep my fridge smelling fresh.
This is a deep cleaning step. For this reason, it can be easier to deep clean your kitchen when the refrigerator is relatively empty.
4: Dust the light fixtures and wipe cabinets
Start at the top of the kitchen and dust everything with a telescopic duster. This includes light fixtures and cabinet tops. When this is done, wipe down the cabinets with a damp cloth, making sure to work down from the top. This means that any falling debris can get cleaned up later.
This is a deep cleaning step, although you may want to at least dust the room fairly regularly. Also, if the cabinet doors get dirty outside of deep cleaning, you can wipe them down relatively quickly.
Download your free kitchen checklist here.
5: Clean appliances
First, clean the small appliances. This is anything that may sit on your countertop. You’ll want to wipe out your microwave and wipe down the surfaces of any other appliances. Next, you should wipe down the refrigerator and any other larger appliances in the same way that you wiped down the cabinet doors.
This is a deep cleaning step, but there may be disasters that require you to do this again.
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6: Wash the dishes and the sink
Wash the dishes. If you have a dishwasher, great. If not, wash the dishes that have been soaking first, then move on to anything else with fresh water. Be sure to dry these dishes and put them away. Once you’ve washed the dishes, empty the sink out and wipe it down.
This is an everyday task. If you have a dishwasher, it’s best to fill it as the day goes on. If you can get the family to rinse their own dishes and load them, that would be ideal and makes a big job much smaller.
7: Wipe down countertops
Use an all-purpose cleaner and a clean cloth to wipe down the countertops. Let any debris fall to the ground as you’ll be able to sweep them up later.
Wiping the countertop is an everyday task.
8: Clean the stovetop
The stovetop might need a little more elbow grease. If your stovetop has grates, remove them first. Otherwise, wipe the stovetop and resist the urge to use an abrasive cleaning agent. While it’s tempting, even stubborn stains will budge and without damaging the stovetop.
The stovetop needs to be cleaned regularly, but not every day.
Related: 10 Simple Steps to a Clean Bedroom
9: Empty Bin
Take out the trash. First, wipe down the outside of your bin and the lid with a disposable paper towel or wipe. Then remove the trash bag and put it in the garbage can outside. Once this is done, you can put another trash bag in the bin.
This is a regular task, to be done at least once a week. However, during your deep clean, you may want to clean the inside of the bin itself with a little bit of diluted bleach.
10: Clean the floor
Depending on the flooring in your kitchen, you’ll either sweep and mop the floor, or vacuum.
This is an everyday task, as there are always things falling on the floor in the kitchen. However, you may not need to mop the floor every day.
Hopefully, breaking down the task of cleaning the kitchen into smaller steps will make it easier for you to keep track on what needs doing. Once done, you can finally relax.
Download your free kitchen checklist here.