Top 10 Professional Kitchen Cleaning Hacks

It can safely be said that no other room in a home needs cleaning quite as much and as often as the kitchen. A kitchen can get dirty very quickly if not properly maintained, and that can hazardous to health. However, cleaning your kitchen may seem like a daunting task – where to begin? Fortunately, with just a few kitchen cleaning hacks, you can easily get on top of your cleaning. 

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1. Cleaning Your Kitchen Quickly 

Rather than spending frantic hours cleaning your kitchen before guests arrive, it’s simpler to stay on top of cleaning your kitchen. You can do this by spending just thirty minutes (or less!) a day. 

Start by washing and drying all the dirty dishes, or loading up the dishwasher. 

Wipe down the sink and tap with a cleaning product of your choice. For an extra shine, buff up afterwards with a soft, dry cloth.

Clear your worktops as best you can. If you have a drawer or cupboard for pots and pans, put those away to give yourself more space. Put any in trash the bin or in the recycling.

Wipe down all the worktops and the hob, using the same product and a clean cloth. 

Vacuum the kitchen floor, I love this vacuum; which is just as great as a Dyson but a fraction of the price. You can also mop the floor if you have time afterwards. 

Depending on how messy your kitchen is, how much space you have available, and how many dishes need to be washed, the time this list takes may vary. Even so, completing these tasks takes surprisingly little time and makes a huge difference to your kitchen. 

A few extra tips to help you speed up include:

Rinse dishes immediately after you’ve finished. Even if you aren’t going to wash up right away, this prevents the food hardening on the dishes and saves you scrubbing later!

Wipe down your kitchen trash bin every day. It takes less than a minute, and it’s one less job to worry about.

Put large items of recycling in the outside recycling box immediately. This will free up extra work space in your kitchen. 

If you’re worried about missing out a crucial job, you could make a daily kitchen checklist, and tick off each job as it’s completed. 

Related: Living Room Cleaning Checklist

2. Organization is Key 

Cleaning your kitchen in thirty minutes or less will only work if you stick to a daily routine. Ideally, you could do your thirty-minute clean last thing at night, so your kitchen is sparkling clean when you make breakfast in the morning.

However, this is something you can fit into your daily routine – perhaps it’s more convenient for you to clean at another time during the day. 

The point is, you must do something. Kitchens get dirty very easily, and then cleaning it will take a long time and you may not even know where to start. Set aside thirty minutes a day to clean your kitchen, and stick to it. Keep cleaning and products and cloths on hand, perhaps under your sink. 

To be sure that you’re properly cleaning your kitchen, it’s best to follow a six-step cleaning procedure:

Inspect. Look at the area you’re about to clean, and clear away any items on the surface, if you can. 

Pre–clean. Wipe away any food debris or mess. 

Main clean. Use hot water and your cleaning product of choice. Spray liberally, and wipe or scrub with a damp cloth. 

Rinse. Some cleaning products can leave a residue. It’s best to use hot water. 

Sanitize. Using your cleaning product, focus on areas of touch, such as doorhandles, taps, and so on.

Dry. You might choose to use a clean, soft cloth to dry and buff the areas you’ve cleaned, or you may want to let it air dry. 

Related: Top 10 Professional House Cleaning Hacks

3. Homemade Cleaning Products 

If you don’t like using too many chemicals in your kitchen, you may want to consider making your own cleaning product. Vinegar is a popular ingredient in many DIY cleaning products, but you do need to be careful. It is acidic, and shouldn’t be used on grouting, stone tiles, hardwood floors, or metal surfaces, just to name a few. 

However, you can use a combination of vinegar, warm water, and dish soap for cleaning your kitchen. This is a popular DIY cleaning product, and since it contains ingredients that we likely already have in our kitchens, it’s easy to make. 

While vinegar can be effective at dissolving grease, due to its acidic nature, baked on or “hardened” grease may require a stronger cleaning product. If your vinegar solution isn’t working to begin with, try leaving it to sit on the grease for fifteen or twenty minutes, then try again.

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4. Commercial Cleaning Products 

If you decide that store-bought products will suit you better than homemade, there is plenty of choice. Basic antibacterial cleaners are available very cheaply from most stores. You can use a cleaning product designed especially for a kitchen, this is my favorite multi-purpose cleaner. Cleaners that contain bleach tend to be more effective, however they do contain toxic chemicals and care must be taken. 

Many popular cleaning products are scented, with lemon/citrus, lavender, and apple being very popular scents. This can add an extra sense of cleanliness to your kitchen. 

Related: 10 Steps to a Sparkling Kitchen

5. De-greasing 

Cleaning any kitchen involves a constant battle with grease. Cooking and everyday wear and tear on a kitchen produces grease, and this can be an obstacle to your smooth thirty-minute cleaning routine. 

The number-one way to degrease a kitchen is to wipe away grease and oil spills as soon as they happen. Of course, this isn’t always helpful! 

To begin with, try removing the grease with a simple mixture of warm water, dish soap, and a sponge. If this doesn’t work to shift the grease, try a mixture of white vinegar and warm water. Spray over the greasy area and allow to sit for at least five minutes, then scrub again with the sponge. 

In some places in the kitchen, such as the top or front of the cabinets, grease can build up unnoticed and becomes dusty. This can be exceptionally difficult to clean off, and creates a sticky and unpleasant surface. If dish soap and warm water doesn’t help, you can also use your white vinegar and water mixture to clean sticky dust, or try a combination of baking soda and water to make a paste. 

If you’re dealing with hardened grease, you could use isopropyl alcohol or WD-40. Spray whichever product you’re using onto the grease, and allow to stand for ten to fifteen minutes. Then wipe away the product, and the grease should come with it. 

6. Deep Cleaning

A deep clean, or seasonal clean, means the big cleaning jobs. A few important items on your deep cleaning list should include:

Cleaning out the refrigerator. This means taking all of the food out of the refrigerator, checking the expiry dates, then thoroughly cleaning the refrigerator before replacing the food. Once you’ve cleaned in the inside of your refrigerator, don’t forget the outside. Wipe down the outside and top of your refrigerator.

Cleaning the food cupboards or pantry. Take out all of the food, again checking for expired or empty items. Wipe down the inside of the cupboards with hot, soapy water. Be sure it’s thoroughly dried before you replace the food. 

Organize any storage cupboards, and clean down the insides with hot, soapy water. 

Wash the front of all cabinets. If there’s a gap between the top of your cabinets and the kitchen ceiling, do your best to clean this too. 

Thoroughly clean the worktops, including the stove top. 

Clean the insides of all appliances, including the oven and microwave. 

Thoroughly clean the floor, moving any furniture. 

Related: Best Bathroom Cleaning Hacks

7. Kitchen Cabinets

Kitchen cabinets attract dust and grease in a kitchen, and if you leave the cabinet fronts out of your cleaning routine, you may regret it later. Giving your kitchen cabinets a quick wipe once a day with hot, soapy water can save you the trouble of scrubbing at sticky dust later on. 

For a more thorough clean, try using a combination of baking soda and warm water. 

Another area that can attract grime is the cabinet handles and knobs themselves. These can be easily overlooked. Depending on what your cabinet handles are made of, you can clean them using a mixture of dish soap and warm water, a soft cloth, and a toothbrush. 

8. Cleaning Kitchen Sinks

A bad smell in the kitchen, even after you’ve finished cleaning, could be because of the kitchen sink drain. While this could be a plumbing issue, you may also be able to fix it by pouring boiling water slowly and carefully down the drain.

This can wash away any trapped fats and oils. You can also use a mixture of vinegar and baking soda (baking soda first, then vinegar). Let it sit, and don’t use the sink in that time. 

Never put food debris down the kitchen drain, as this can lead to problems later on. 

9. Tips and Tricks to Remember 

• Whether you’re using a DIY product or a commercial cleaning product, always read the label and rinse away any residue. 
• Be careful when mixing DIY products – some ingredients don’t go well together. 
• To prevent staining in your sink, be careful when pouring tea, coffee, or similar beverages down the drain. Rinse the sink immediately afterwards, and beverages such as tea and coffee tend to stain. 
• When you’re cleaning cabinet knobs and handles, you may be able to unscrew the handle itself and take it off, for a much more thorough clean. 

 10. My Cleaning Hacks 

Often the best solutions to a problem are the simplest ones. The easiest way to keep your kitchen clean is to spend a little time on it every day – perhaps just thirty minutes. One of the most effective cleaning products can be dish soap and water. Cleaning your kitchen doesn’t need to be complicated!