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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.