Kitchen Cleaning Check List

“No matter where I serve my guests, it seems they like my kitchen best!”

What a nice thought about the heart of your home. Really, it all begins and ends with the kitchen. We have fond memories of good times, good food, the good old days, and a good loving family.

The fact is that most kitchens are the center of the house, mine’s no more special than yours, it just seems to happen that way.

This is the location that many people go in order to chat with their family, to pay the bills and to make meals. Yet, it’s also one of the most messy and disorganized areas in the entire house.

The most used room of the house demands respect! It also demands constant care and cleaning to keep it attractive, warm and inviting. A clean kitchen is a happy kitchen – so gather your supplies, and lets get down to the basics of kitchen cleaning!

Supplies for Getting your Kitchen sparkling clean Again

• Household sponges/cleaning rags/scrubbers
• Liquid dish detergent/degreaser
• Disinfectant cleaner/sanitizer
• Soft Scrub® / Comet® / Cinch®
• Window cleaner

Get your Stove Shining

Drip Pans

Keeping your stove or kitchen range shining clean is one of the biggest jobs in the kitchen. Most burner drip pans are removable. If they aren’t, move the elements out of the way, and spray the pans with a liquid detergent or degreaser.

If they are removable, take them out and put them into the kitchen sink. Cover with water as warm as you can touch, or hot water and allow it to cool until you can put your hand it in comfortably. Add a liquid dish detergent and allow the pans to soak to soften the burnt on grease and drips.

Surface Cleaning

• Turning your attention to the surface of the stove – remove the knobs and toss them into the sink with the drip pans. Then spray the stove top with a degreaser (Cinch® made by Spic & Span® does a very good job on this).
• Let sit a few minutes if necessary to moisten or soften any tough dirty areas.
• Use a sponge and clean those stubborn areas. Then re-spray with the window cleaner and buff to a shine with a clean soft cloth.
• For the drip pans that are not removable, wipe them down. If necessary, re-apply the liquid abrasive cleaner and scrub with a sponge.

Back to the stuff soaking in the sink.

If necessary, use a scrub brush on the knobs and drip pans. Rinse well, then dry and replace. If the drip pans need extra attention, let them soak a little longer.

Oven Cleaning

If you don’t have a self-cleaning oven, you’ll have to spray the inside of the oven with a heavy-duty degreaser/cleaner and apply some elbow grease.

Use a sponge with the cleaner for easy to clean areas and a scrubby for tougher areas to remove baked on food. Rinse well and dry with a clean cloth.

Range Hood

Use window spray for the hood of the stove. Don’t forget to remove the filter and put it in the sink. I cover the filter with warm water and a cup of household cleaning ammonia. Just a few moments, dash it up and down in the water, and it comes clean once again.

Clean & Disinfect the Dishwasher

Open the dishwasher and if it smells musty, first wipe around the seals, then sprinkle a cup of baking powder inside and run it through a short cycle.

Using an all purpose cleaner, spray the outside and wipe down. You can do the same thing to the trash compactor.

Wipe down the Microwave

If there’s a microwave, wipe it inside and out. Take out the turntable, wash and dry it before replacing. Clean the inside of the microwave as food often splatters when heated. Usually all it needs is a scrubbing with the kitchen sponge dipped in hot soapy water. Wipe with a cloth dipped in clean water and dry.

Hard to Clean Gunk

If your microwave hasn’t been given a good cleaning in a while and there is stuck on gunk, try the following:

• Fill a microwave safe bowl about half full of water.
• Pour in about 1 tablespoon white vinegar.
• Turn microwave on for one to two minutes. (This will depend on how high-powered your microwave is.) You want the water and vinegar to have a chance to steam the walls so it will loosen any gunk.
• Wipe down with a rag. It may be necessary to use a green scrubby for some of those tougher spots. Dry.

Kitchen Counter-tops

1. Take everything off of the kitchen counters.
2. Beginning at one end, wash, rinse and dry the entire counter.
3. If necessary, use a scrubby dipped in hot soapy water to remove grime, grease, and stubborn spots.
4. If your counter-tops look dull, try using a little furniture polish to make them shine.
5. Wipe down all appliances and return them to the counter. Window cleaner can be used to help make them shine.

Clean the Refrigerator

Outside Surface

If you have anything on top of the refrigerator, move it off while wiping it down. Using a cloth dipped in hot soapy water, wipe the outside and the top of the refrigerator. Follow with the window spray, then wipe with a clean, soft cloth to give a nice clean shine.

For stainless steel surfaces, wipe in the direction of the grain with a stainless steel cleaner.

Don’t forget to wipe around handles to remove sticky fingerprints.

Inside Surfaces

If necessary, clean the inside by removing everything and wiping down with a damp cloth dipped in a mixture of 2 tablespoons baking soda and 1 quart hot water.

Wipe down doors, edges, shelves, drawers, and bins. Wipe dry when done. Replace all food items that are still good. Toss out any expired or spoiled foods.

Miscellaneous Reminders

• Inspect around light switches and door knobs for smudges and fingerprints. Use a disinfectant cleaner or sanitizer on these areas and wipe clean.
• Make sure dishes are always washed and put away as soon as possible after using. If you don’t have time, give them a quick rinse and put them in the dishwasher.
• Don’t allow table scraps or vegetable trimmings to accumulate in the sink. Toss them into the trash and give the sink a quick wash and rinse itself. You can shine the faucet with a cleaner/degreaser or window spray.

Final Checklist

• Large appliances cleaned inside and out.
• Small appliances cleaned outside and underneath.
• Counter tops washed, dried and polished.
• Kitchen cabinets wiped with furniture polish.
• Dishes washed, dried and put away or stored in dishwasher.
• Kitchen sink cleaned out, wiped and polished with cleaner.
• Kitchen floor swept and damp mopped.
• Trash removed.