Cleaning Your Kitchen More Efficiently!

Last month we focused on Bathrooms and how to clean them in the most efficient way. This month we will turn our focus to Kitchens. Are you tired of seeing crumbs under your toaster or grime building up underneath your control knobs on your stove? Follow along below and I bet you will find at least one area you have been missing when you’ve cleaned your Kitchen in the past.

Let’s begin by taking a long handled duster around the ceiling and wall corners to knock down cobwebs, working clockwise until you have gone around the entire Kitchen.

Take a dry cloth and lightly mist it with all-purpose spray, dust all picture frames, blinds and tops of door jams.

Wipe down any light fixtures hanging in Kitchen, if there are can lights in the ceiling, run the duster in the can to get cob webs.

Remove any large items from the floor, (i.e. area rugs, pet food dishes, garbage cans/recycle cans, etc.)

Now we are going to start with the countertops, section your counters and remove all items from your first section (including small appliances, canisters, books, bottles, etc.). It is best to choose a section of countertop, say from the stove top to the refrigerator. You will take EVERYTHING off of the countertop in this section. You can place the items on another counter or on the floor.

Liberally spray this section of countertop with your cleaning product.

Wet a sponge/scour (ensure your chosen sponge/scour is of “no-scratch” variety so you don’t scratch your countertops) and scrub your countertops, be sure to pay special attention to the areas that have food/grease build up. Wipe countertop clean with a dry cleaning cloth. Next, crouch down so you are eye level with the countertop, and look across the area you just cleaned to ensure you got all the crumbs and grime off the countertop.

Now we are going to replace the items that you removed from the countertop in the beginning. Take your rag (should be dampened by now) and wipe all of your countertop items clean, paying attention to the bottom of all items, as you place them back on the counter you just cleaned. This is also a good time to wipe fingerprints, food and smudges off of any small appliances you have (toasters, microwave ovens, blenders, etc.)

Repeat the sectioning, removing and cleaning process until all counters have been cleaned.

Next, clean the inside of your microwave. It is best to do this every time you clean your Kitchen; since microwaves typically get a lot of use they won’t get as much build up if they are cleaned frequently. If you do have a lot of build up in your microwave, spray it liberally with all purpose spray and put a cup of water (in a microwave safe container) in the microwave and heat for 1 minute. This will help to loosen any build up. Once cooled enough to touch, wipe clean.

Clean and polish exterior appliances, pay special attention to the handles of appliances where food residue tends to build up. When cleaning your stove top be sure to pull the control knobs off so you can clean behind them. If you have stainless steel appliances and use a stainless steel polish/cleaner, make sure you apply the polish/cleaner liberally. Use one side of a clean microfiber cloth to spread the polish/cleaner across the surface, and then use another side to buff it out. This should reduce/eliminate streaking.

Using a wet cleaning cloth wipe your switch plate/outlet covers then cabinets and drawers, paying attention to knobs and corners for build up.

Now it is time to clean the floors. Sweep floor first to collect major debris. Take your vacuum hose and vacuum up pile of debris then take the hose around all edges to ensure all food, crumbs and dust is sucked up. If your baseboards don’t have much build up you can use the vacuum hose to clean them off. However if there is build up on them, take a damp cloth and wipe your baseboards clean. Vacuum any area rugs. Mop floor.

Spray your sink with cleaning product and scrub, paying attention to cracks and crevices around faucet and drain holes. Polish faucet and dry sink out, straighten any towels.

Once floor is dry replace all floor items you removed in the beginning. Be sure to clean the items before putting them back, wipe down garbage cans, put rugs in the dryer on air fluff to pull crumbs and dust off of them, etc.

All done! Enjoy your thoroughly cleaned Kitchen J