The kitchen is arguably one of the most used rooms in your home. We do meals here, family time here, grab late night snacks and more. After your favorite meal is cooked, cleaning this space can feel like a daunting task. Dishes, While I can’t come clean for you or throw in that personal housekeeper, I do have some tips on how I use my favorite products to make that kitchen smell better and leave it a whole lot cleaner. To make every day kitchen maintenance easier, an occasional deep clean is oh so necessary! Trust me on this guys.
Cabinets
Kitchen cabinets are one of the first things you notice when you enter the kitchen. When the light hits a certain way, grease and sticky fingerprints can appear out of nowhere *yikes*. If you have any detail to your cabinet like Shaker style doors, this means extra grooves for dust and gunk to hid. This is even more so when your kitchen cabinets are white or light colored. White or light colored cabinets are not harder to maintain per se, but may need a little extra love. For daily quick cleans and deep cleans, I love to use this cabinet cleaner. It literally smells like what almond dreams are made of (no sterile cleaning smell here) and leaves the cabinets sparkling like that grape jelly hand print never happened. For quick cleans I just do the doors and drawer fronts. For deep cleans, I like to remove all of the dishes and utensils and use my hand vacuum’s brush attachment or a lint roller to grab those crumbs. During deep cleans, I will spray the cabinet cleaner on the inside of my cabinets too. It can be hard finding cleaners that won’t affect paint finishes on cabinets, so this one is the real deal! If it’s been a while (no judgement) and the grime persists, I’ll let the cabinet cleaner sit on it for a while before wiping it off.
Appliances
After you clean your cabinets, appliances are next on the list! One of the biggest projects to tackle during your kitchen deep clean is the refrigerator. I know I know ugh. As a home to perishable foods, it’s often prone to spills, leaks, and mysterious stains left behind from containers. For a serious clean, I’d recommend removing everything inside (yes everything) and giving the bins a good soak with dish soap and water. I’d recommend deep cleaning your fridge every two to four weeks or right before that grocery run. For a stainless-steel exterior, I use this cleaner, I’m talking fridge, outside of the dishwasher, stove, even the toaster. The key is to buff with a microfiber cloth. Do not skip this step! It’s the game changer, trust me mkay. Do not forget the vent hood, it often collects all the grease and grime from cooking up top and then dust finds a happy home there, gross right?
Counters and Backsplash
Counter tops oh counter tops. These are the most touched surface in your kitchen next to your cabinets and they always need some love. Whether it is a quick clean or a deep clean I love to use Clorox wipes. We want to be sure our counters are clean and also germ free. For a quick clean even my kids can do, we grab the wipes. When I’m feeling inspired or for those deep cleans I make sure to grab this spray and take everything off the counter to get those nooks and crannies. When you want to disinfect, check the label first to ensure it’s okay for your surface.
For deep cleaning days to clean those pesky grout lines. I love to use a tried and true home mixture of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda to get things sparkling clean, see below:
Ingredients: 1/2 cup of baking soda, 1/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide, 1 tsp dish soap. Directions: Mix together the baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and dish soap. Spoon mixture onto grout, wait 5-10 minutes, scrub and rinse.
Floors
Now that you have knocked those crumbs on to the floor J j/k you guys wouldn’t do that! There’s one more spot to tackle: the kitchen floor.
I know there are different flooring types but hardwood floors are common and since that’s what I have let’s dive in. Grab a broom, or if you are lazy like me (working smarter, not harder) grab that stick vac to get up any debris. Now that the floor is semi clean, grab your favorite mop, mine is the O’Cedar Spin Mop. I’m always shocked and a bit ashamed after I do this step and look at the water.
Sink
The last thing I like to do is empty the sink, whether this is wash by hand or throw in the dishwasher. The best feeling is giving the sink a scrub and tip dry your sink. Nothing feels more complete!
Kitchen Favs
Now of course you didn’t think I would leave you hanging and have to remember all of this or find those products? Here I have compiled all of my favorites mentioned and more.
Happy cleaning my friends.