7 Spring Cleaning Kitchen Tips You Can't Live Without
It’s that time of the year you either love or hate. February is in full swing, and if you blink, you’ll miss it. Soon, we enter the part of the year that’s all about new beginnings and fresh starts; spring. As a result, many of you are probably already walking around your house and thinking about your big spring clean.
Some people love a good spring clean, some people hate one. I find myself sitting somewhere in between the two feelings. On the one hand, I do love the idea of a nice clean home, and this is the perfect excuse to give it a thorough clean. But, I also don’t appreciate the amount of effort and time that goes into spring cleaning!! The more I think about it, the more I realize there are certain parts of spring cleaning that I hate more than others; the problem areas. These are the areas of your home that require the most attention and the most intensive cleaning. As such, I’m not going to make a typical guide to cleaning your home, as I’ve already done something similar to that before. Instead, I thought I’d zero in on one of the main problem areas during spring cleaning; your kitchen.
That’s right, cleaning your kitchen is probably one of the hardest tasks you’ll face. There are so many surfaces that need a deep clean, along with appliances, and then general organization too. So, here are some of my spring cleaning tips for you to have a look over. Let me know if you enjoy this article, and I may well bring another one out for the other problem areas of your home too!
Before you start getting intense with your kitchen spring clean, you need to make life easier for yourself. To do this, you need to do a quick little kitchen cleanup, getting any dirty things out the way first. So, if you have dishes and other things that need washing, see to them before you do anything else. Wash and dry them too, so you can put everything away and keep it out of sight. If you have a dishwasher, then it makes sense to fill it up as much as you can, and turn it on while you clean. This gets all the dirty things out the way and sets you up for a deep spring clean.
Completely Clear Your Countertops
If you have things sitting on your kitchen countertops, then you need to clear them. Take them off the counters and put them on the floor or in another room. While this seems like a lot of effort, it’s the only way you’re guaranteed to achieve a thorough cleaning of your kitchen. If you leave things on the counters, then you’ll just wipe and clean around them. I mean, come on, we all do this. It’s part of the reason our kitchen needs a deep clean in spring; because we’ve not properly cleaned everything since last spring! Sure, we wipe down surfaces, but we never move our microwave, toaster, kettle, or anything else on the counter. By getting rid of it all, you have completely bare counters, ready to wipe clean.
Empty Your Cupboards And Fridge
Hands up, how many of you have old food in your cupboards/fridge that should have been thrown out months ago but still remains? It’s okay to admit it, you wouldn’t be human if you didn't do this. I don’t know what it is, but we all seem to forget about things from time to time. Whether it’s a jar of sauce that went out of date or some jam that’s been in the cupboard for a year - everyone has something that shouldn’t be there anymore. But, it’s not only food too, how many of you have cups and plates that you no longer use, but still keep in your cupboards? Again, I’ll hold my hands up and admit to this too!
Therefore, this is the perfect time to empty your cupboards/fridge and go through all your stuff. You’ll be amazed at how many things you no longer need. Throw out everything and anything that’s not essential or doesn’t get used anymore. Then, you can put everything back - after you’ve given your cupboards and fridge a thorough clean on the inside - and organize it all. Now, all your cupboards will be a lot neater, and you should also free up some extra space too. As a result, you can probably put some of the things that were on your counter, into your kitchen cupboards. Thus, you free up counter space, making your kitchen look way cleaner and less cluttered.
Arm Yourself With An All-Purpose Cleaner
Like I mentioned before; there are loads of surfaces that need cleaning in your kitchen. You’ll likely have your kitchen counter, the area around your sink, your stove, fridge door, etc. Now, the problem a lot of people have is that they buy loads of different cleaners for different surfaces. Some are designed to be used for stoves, others are meant for kitchen counters, and so on. It can be very annoying trying to find the right cleaner for the right job. Instead, there are all natural cleaners that are designed for all purposes. This means you can use them on loads of different surfaces, with the same results, and without damaging the surface. Now, you only have one bottle of cleaning product to look for, which makes it so much easier to clean your kitchen thoroughly.
Give Your Oven Some Extra Attention
Ovens are probably the worst thing to clean in the entire home. You’ll cook loads of things in them, and it can lead to a buildup of grease and grime that becomes encrusted in the oven. Consequently, it makes your oven incredibly difficult to clean. In fact, achieving great results can often take days. The problem is, your oven is normally something of a focal point in your kitchen. So, if it’s dirty, then you bet it makes the rest of your kitchen dirty too. My advice is to give your oven some extra attention. Take all the trays out and clean them individually, then clean the inside of your oven as well as you can. This is phase one of your oven cleaning program! There’s a phase two as well, which is basically repeating everything you just did. Essentially, you keep repeating everything until your oven is spotless. This is the only place where it makes sense to get an additional cleaner instead of your all-purpose one. Purely because oven dirt is so bad, you need a proper oven cleaner to handle it. Make sure you get a good brush/sponge/scrubber too, as this will make a lot of difference.
Clean Above Your Cupboards/Cabinets Too
Out of sight, out of mind - that’s the approach we tend to make with regards to kitchen cleaning. If we can’t see something, then there’s no point cleaning it, right? As a consequence, hardly any of us will bother to clean above our kitchen cabinets. So, we end up with surfaces that are incredibly dusty and utterly filthy. Just because you can’t see something, doesn't mean it’s not there. This makes your kitchen dirty, and you need to deal with it. Get on a stepladder and clean above all your kitchen cabinets/above your fridge. While you’re at it, clean under your fridge as well! If you’re lucky enough to not have any space above your cabinets, then you won’t have to worry about this thankless task!
Vacuum Your Floor Before Cleaning It
Have you ever tried washing your floor, only to find that you get loads of hair or dust caught up in the soapy water? This happens when you haven’t got rid of the debris on the surface of your kitchen floor. Some people choose to sweep this up, but I don’t think sweeping is ever truly effective. Sure, I’ll give my kitchen floor a quick sweep from time to time, but if I’m going to the effort of mopping it, then I’ll take my vacuum cleaner out. This is the best way to suck up all the debris and leave your floor with nothing lingering on the surface. Pet hair, dust, crumbs, human hair; you name it, it will no longer exist. Now, you can start cleaning your floor properly.
One side note for you here; I mentioned cleaning your floor with soapy water, but only do this if your flooring can take it. Some flooring types might not be suited to this method and may require different products to clean them. Just make sure you check online to see the best method for cleaning your particular type of flooring.
I think that just about covers everything I wanted to touch upon today! There are plenty of tips here to get your teeth into, and they’ll help you give your kitchen a deep clean. Want my advice? Clean your kitchen before any other room in your house when spring cleaning, it gets the worst job out of the way first!
