Kitchen Cleaning and Organizing Tips
Tips for Tidying Up the Kitchen
They say the kitchen is the heart of the home, and it’s true for most of us. It’s a busy place with people buzzing in and out all day long.
The kitchen is a hard working room and a room that seems to get messy real fast. If you’ve got kids, you know how a kitchen can be perfectly clean at 3:00 and at 3:15 when the kids get home from school, it looks like a bomb hit.
From cooking messes to paperwork, to mud tracked in from an early morning dog walk, the kitchen sees it all. And I’m guessing if you’re like me, you probably pick up and clean it often throughout the day.
Keeping the kitchen clean is not a losing battle, although I know it seems that way at times! With the following kitchen cleaning tips, you can streamline your efforts and enjoy a clean kitchen most of the time.
Get the Kitchen Organized and Clean!
Maybe the kitchen is not as dirty as you think? Maybe the problem is one of disorganization more than anything else?
The first step in organizing your kitchen is to purge. Take a hard look at what you have. If you have gadgets that haven’t been used in years, do you really need them? Keep only the things you use on a regular basis.
Go through all drawers and cupboards. Throw out all broken and useless items. In the pantry, toss out-dated items and organize by food types – breakfast cereals, snacks, canned foods, etc.
Instead of keeping every appliance on the countertops, create storage space in cupboards and the pantry. Only keep out the items that make sense and are really used on a daily basis, like cooking utensils, stand mixers, etc. I know this isn’t the kind of thing that will work for everyone but figure out what will work for you. You’ll be amazed how this alone can make the kitchen look clean, bright and roomy.
Plan to clean out the fridge the night before trash pick-up and the day before grocery shopping.
Mop the floor on Monday if you’ve got kids, so you can enjoy a clean floor while they are at school during the week. Making your cleaning schedule fit your life will make you more likely to clean and make it seem less like a chore.
Don’t Just Stand Around
If you’re in the kitchen preparing a meal and you’re waiting for the stove to heat up or water to boil, don’t just stand around and wait – clean counters, go through the refrigerator, empty the dishwasher, clean the sink and meal prep items.
I like playing music if I’m making a big meal, so I grab my wireless speaker and turn on my favorite tunes. Listening to mush and cleaning in between wait times can help the time you spend in the kitchen less mundane.
Cleaning with White Vinegar
The very best cleaner; that you may already have in your pantry, is vinegar. That’s right, white vinegar is good for cleaning most kitchen floors and countertops, the appliances and even clean the coffee pot.
You can clean windows and glass, the shelves in the refrigerator and more with this powerhouse cleaner. Just have a spray bottle at the ready with half and half water and vinegar and you will be ready to clean just about anything your kitchen can dish out.
Vinegar cleans wood, linoleum, tile, glass and sealed surfaces. Vinegar is not safe for use on stone floors such as marble or travertine.
Vinegar is mildly acidic and can cause surface damage to delicate types of stone. It can also remove the shine and make the stone look dull and spotty.
Articles of Interest
The following articles may be of further interest to you and the use of cleaning with white vinegar. These links will open in a new browser tab.
Cleaning Windows and Glass with Vinegar
Cleaning without too Much Effort
There are many ways to keep your kitchen clean without having to put forth a lot of effort or elbow grease.
- Wipe down messes as they happen.
- While making meals, clean as you go.
- Keep one side of the sink full of warm soapy water to soak utensils, cooking items and dishes. Makes rinsing and putting dishes in the dishwasher a breeze.
- Buying a Sh-Mop is well worth the investment. After meals, go over floors for quick cleanup.
- At least once a month run the dishwasher with a cup of white vinegar. Just set it upright on the top rack.
- To easily loosen splatters in the microwave, fill a microwave safe bowl with warm water and a couple of citrus fruit slices. Start with one minute and wipe down. If necessary, repeat.
Having a clean kitchen is essential and really does make cooking meals more relaxing and the time you spend cleaning is worth it.
