A clean kitchen makes for a happy home. Since the kitchen is where we do most of our cooking, it can easily become one of the messiest parts of the house. If you want good health, it is vital to keep your kitchen clean. This can, however, be a difficult task. Here are 30 kitchen cleaning hacks you’ll wish you knew sooner.
Vent filters can get pretty dirty, especially if you go too long without washing them. Luckily, a little hot water and Borax will get them looking good as new. Make cleaning your filters a part of your routine with this
tutorial.
2. Make Burnt Pans Look New
It seems inevitable that our pans will look worse with time. Having a burnt pan bottom is so annoying. Use this
tip to get your pans looking great again.
Grates get greasy – it’s a part of life. They do, however, need to be cleaned.
Soak your grates in ammonia to remove the grease without too much trouble.
Maybe you haven’t thought of
cleaning the inside of your oven yet, but you should. It will get rid of all the gross stains and burnt food bits, and it really isn’t so hard. Mix together baking soda, water, and dish soap. Spread it around the inside of the oven, let it sit for 15 minutes, and voila.
The good news: you can wash your oven racks by soaking them. The less-good news: you need to leave them soaking overnight. Follow this
tutorial to get your racks looking shiny and clean.
Sometimes when we cook, a little of the food spills over onto the bottom of the oven. This can be a real hassle to clean. Consider getting an oven liner or placing a baking sheet under your food to make the stains much easier to clean.
7. Get Rid of Kitchen Dust
Sticky kitchen dust is just no fun. Dab a little coconut oil onto a paper towel and
wipe away the dust. Then rinse away the oil with dish soap and warm water.
Cooktops are like magnets for messes. Mix together hydrogen peroxide and baking soda to get rid of the stains. This
hack will tell you all you need to know.
9. Use Lemons on Cutting Boards
It’s easy to overlook how dirty cutting boards can become. Every food you cut leaves a little something behind.
Scrub your cutting board clean using a lemon and some salt.
If you have curtains in your kitchen, it is a good idea to clean them regularly. Curtains are great for trapping dust, which will make it more difficult for you to breathe. If your curtains are washer-friendly, toss them in every now and then.
11. Keep Kitchen Towels Clean
Kitchen towels will get dirty without you even knowing it. Even if you only use them to dry dishes, it is a good idea to wash them or switch them out at least once a week. Having a spare towel is never a bad idea.
12. Clean Blinds with Tongs
Cleaning blinds can be a real hassle – unless you know this amazing
hack. Bind a few microfiber cloths to your tongs to dust the blinds with ease. Who knows, it could even be kind of fun.
Dirty windows really bring down the vibe. It is much better to look out of a clear, clean window. Make your own cleaner using this
recipe.
Leaving dirty dishes in the sink is not a good habit. In fact, the kitchen sink can be the
most disgusting part of the whole house. Keep the clutter out of your sink, and rinse it out regularly.
Fill a plastic bag with de-scaler, then place it around your faucet. Keep the bag in place by tying a rubber band at the top. After a
little soak, those calcium stains will be all gone.
16. Brush Out Your Garbage Disposal
The garbage disposal is great at collecting old food.
Use an old toothbrush to reach in there and clear out space. Then keep the brush under the sink so you can use it again.
Wash out your sink just like you would wash a dish. Next, sprinkle flour over it for a polished look. Find the full tutorial
here.
18. Freshen The Garbage Disposal
Sometimes garbage disposals just smell weird. Of course, you should always clean the area first, but your next focus should be on getting rid of that smell.
Running ice and lemon rinds through the disposal will sharpen the blades and freshen the air.
There’s nothing good about holding onto
expired food. It will smell bad, it will make a mess, and it will take up valuable space in your kitchen. Once a food is past its expiration date, throw it out.
20. Know When Your Produce Will Go Bad
The fridge doesn’t keep food good forever. It is so helpful to know when your food will expire so your can plan accordingly. Find out how long your nutrients will stay good
here.
21. Wash Removable Fridge Parts
It might be annoying, but it will do wonders for the cleanliness of your fridge. Crisper drawers can get quite messy if left alone for too long. Whenever you do a big kitchen clean,
rinse out the removable parts of your fridge too.
22. Keep Your Fridge Organized
Know what your
organization method is so that you can easily find what you are looking for. Some foods have a specific place; for example, vegetables usually go in the crisper. For other foods, you are free to use your best judgment.
23. Make Pantry Grab-Bins
Does the thought of finding a specific spice give you a headache? Pantries can be big, disorganized places.
Use grab-bins to take the guessing out of finding your ingredients.
24. Dust The Top of The Fridge
This is an easy one to forget. Some people never even use the top of the fridge. But it can collect dust, so it should be dusted.
When it comes to
cleaning your grill, onions are your best friends. Peel half of an onion and rub it against the hot grates. The best part – the next time you grill, the food will pick up the onion flavors.
Making something yourself is just the best. You will know what chemicals are going into your air, and you will have a much more natural cleaner to work with. This
recipe even includes essential oil, so you can get your favorite scent all over your kitchen.
27. Clean Marble Counters
Mix dish soap and water to
make a cleaner for your countertops. You will want to use a nonabrasive soap so that it doesn’t cause any damage. And be sure to wipe it dry before walking away.
28. Line Drawers And Cabinets
Kitchen drawers can be hard to clean. Non-adhesive liners will make the task much easier. They will even stop your stuff from sliding around.
29. DIY Wood Floor Cleaner
If you are really going all-out on the cleaning, mop your floors. This
DIY cleaner is perfect for wooden floors. Your kitchen will look great from top to bottom.
30. Polish Stainless Steel Appliances
As surprising as it may be, Pledge actually works great at polishing stainless steel. Have your appliances looking new in no time. Simply follow this
tutorial.
The best way to remove oil and grease from your appliances or other surfaces in the kitchen is to melt it away. Use a microfiber rag and continue to dip it in very hot water and wipe away the grease. It will simply melt right off. Then, you can go back and wipe the surface completely clean.
Whether you find gunk stuck in your appliances, cracks on your counter, or gaps between your walls and floor, those tight places are hard to clean. The best way to do it is to use the tip of a wooden skewer to pick out the gunk. It can take a little time to do this, but your kitchen will look sparkling clean when you finish.
Have you ever cooked something and the smell has lingered in your home for days? You might try to spray something that smells better, but it just mixes with the kitchen scents and smells worse. Instead, try boiling a pot of white vinegar on the stovetop. It will absorb the smells in your kitchen, and you won’t even smell the vinegar.
Cooktops take a beating, and they have a lot of things spilled and dripped on them. As these things heat up, they can be almost impossible to remove. Easy-Off oven cleaner works great inside your oven, but it also works on cooktops.
Fruit flies seem to come out of nowhere. If you accidentally drop something in your sink or forget about those bananas on the counter, you can walk into a fruit fly infestation. The best way to get rid of them is to put a sliced lemon on the oven rack and leave the oven door open overnight. In the morning, the fruit flies will be gone, and you will get your kitchen back.
If you have a white sink, it may not be so white anymore. You can bring it back to its original color with lemon and baking soda. Simply sprinkle the baking soda in the sink and use the cut side of a lemon to scrub the sink. You will see all the stains and dirt are gone.
Grout looks good until it gets dirty. It can seem almost impossible to clean, but some baking soda and white vinegar can do wonders. If you are cleaning the grout on the floor, simply sprinkle the baking soda on and spray it with vinegar. If you are cleaning tiles on a wall, make a thick paste of the two and apply it to the grout with a toothbrush. Once the mixture finishes fizzing, simply mop or wipe it up to reveal sparkling clean tile.
Start by gathering some DIY natural cleaners for the kitchen. Some great natural cleaners include baking soda, salt, and lemons.
39. Cleaning a Dishwasher
To clean a dishwasher use baking soda and vinegar. Start by removing all of the racks. Then wipe down all interior surfaces using a clean rag saturated in a water and baking soda and solution. Finally, replace the racks, pour a cup of vinegar in the dishwasher, and run a short cycle.
Regularly cleaning a gas stove is the best way to maintain it. This article from Style at Home walks you through the gas stove-cleaning process while also giving some great tips.
40. Cleaning Stove Burners Pans
An easy trick to use when cleaning electric stove burner pans is to place the burner pans, and other stove top parts, into a large plastic Ziploc bag. Fill the bag with a small splash of ammonia, seal the bag, and allow it to sit in your sink overnight. The next day, remove the parts and wipe them down with a sponge.
41. Cleaning an Oven Interior
An easy way to clean your oven is to mix water, soap, and baking soda. Take the paste you created and spread it on the interior of the oven using a sponge. Allow the paste to sit for 30 minutes and then wipe off using a clean sponge and warm water. Rinse sponge and continue to clean until residue is removed.
Oven glass collects the grease from items cooking in your oven making them a greasy, hard-to-clean mess. Mr. Clean Magic Erasers and a little work can have your oven glass looking good as new in as little as 10 minutes.
43. Polishing a Stainless Steel Sink
To get your stainless steel sink to really shine, rub isopropyl alcohol on it using a clean cloth after cleaning it. For best results, wait for your sink’s surface to dry completely before applying the rubbing alcohol.
44. Hacking a Built-in Soap Dispenser
This hack provides a great way to save money on hand soap for houses with built-in soap dispenser in the kitchen. Remove the old soap container and run rubber tubing, which you can find at any hardware store, from the pump into a large container of soap underneath the counter. Pump until the soap comes out.
45. Removing Burnt On Food
Removing burnt on food on pots and pans might seem like a chore. An easy way to remove burnt on food is to place a little vinegar in the bottom of the pan while placing it on medium heat, helps loosen the food. Mixing cream of tartar, baking soda, dish soap, and hot water removes more stubborn stains.
46. Cleaning a Slow Cooker
Easily clean baked-on food from the surface of a Crockpot using nothing more than water, dish soap, vinegar, and heat. Fill the Crockpot past the line of baked-on food, add dish soap and vinegar, and cook on high for a couple of hours. Turn off and allow the water to cool. Wash with a dishcloth and rinse.
Clean your Keurig often, making sure to descale it once every three to six months. Fill the reservoir with 10 ounces of white vinegar and run the machine through a cycle without using a K-cup. Repeat a cycle with 10 more ounces of vinegar. Finally, run another brewing cycle, except use 10 ounces of fresh water.
48. Cleaning Rusty Knives
Easily remove rust stains from your cutlery using a mixture of lemon juice and water. Place the mixture in a cup and insert your rusty knives. Allow to soak for 10 minutes and then wipe the knives clean with a cloth. You might also need to scrub tougher stains to remove them.
49. Cleaning a Cooking Sheet
Make your cooking sheets look like new using a mixture of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. Apply baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to sheets surface and allow to sit for a couple of hours. Wipe off the mixture using a clean cloth.
50. Cleaning Off Baked-on Grease
While you could soak and scrub a pan to remove baked-on grease, an easier way involves using baking soda and vinegar. Start by sprinkling baking soda onto the pan and then spraying the area with vinegar. Allow to sit before scrubbing with a sponge. Repeat if necessary.
51. Cleaning Grease From Cabinets
Easily clean grease spots off of cabinets using a variety of cleaners. Vinegar offers grease-cutting properties, while dish soap mixed with hot water is another method for wiping down and removing grease. Use baking soda mixed with vegetable oil to cut through even tougher grease build-up.
52. Cleaning the Microwave
Cleaning a dirty microwave is as easy as placing a chopped up lemon and one cup of water with vinegar inside a bowl. Turn on the power for several minutes, allowing the solution to boil and produce steam. Allow the microwave to cool for 15 minutes before removing the bowl and wiping the inside.
53. Cleaning Kitchen Floors
If you have scuffed linoleum, use toothpaste to remove them. For even more stubborn scuff marks, placing WD-40 on a towel and rubbing the area can help remove it. For a great shine add a few drops of baby oil to an apple cider vinegar and hot water solution. Apply with a damp mop.
54. How To Make Your Kitchen Cleaner Than It’s Ever Been
These amazing hacks will have you cleaning your kitchen like a pro. Check this list again on your next cleaning day to make sure you don’t forget anything. Please
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Source: BuzzFeed