Loving Your Kitchen - DOing a Surface Clean
A clean kitchen is the start to a wonderful meal!
 When my kitchen is messy I don’t feel like cooking. I don’t feel like hunting through the cupboards, digging through the fridge, or planning a meal. I don’t know where to start and I just want to walk away from the mess. The result: fast food and wasted money! Been there, done that.
Time for a SMART change. Let's get rid of the excuses and reclaim the kitchen. Cleaning the kitchen is just one of those things you do to make your home pleasant for you and your family. And every time you do it, it gets faster and easier. And the older your kids get, the more they can do to help too (hee hee!) Print out our checklist, start at the top and work your way to the bottom. If you are getting pooped or are running out of time, just do what you can and finish the rest later. Once you get started, you usually find out that it doesn’t take as long as you thought it would.
Let’s get started: the Checklist for a Kitchen Surface Clean
Hint: print this page out before you start.
- Gather up the tools and cleaning chemicals that you are going to need. SHOP at home FIRST. Trust me, a bathroom cleaner will work just as well in the kitchen. Don’t think you have to go shopping before you can start cleaning. Use what you already have in your home. I bet you have a bunch of long forgotten cleaners, rags, sponges, and other treasures under your sink or in the laundry room! Read the instructions on the bottles so you know how to use them properly. The last thing we want is an accidental chlorine release in your kitchen sink!
The tools I use are: trash bag(s), a couple dishrags, all purpose cleaner (or floor cleaner, or bathroom cleaner, whatever you have), window cleaner (I use a generic brand), something to scrub with (like a plastic Chore Girl(TM), sponge, or old toothbrush), dish soap, and an old-fashioned broom and dustpan.
- Start with the trash: Use the trash bag and pick up all the trash on the counters, the table, and the floor. Scrape off the plates and empty any pots or pans that have been sitting there for a while. We all have forgotten about that pan that we left to soak the night before LOL. Also, empty out the kitchen garbage can. Tie all the bags up and take them outside to the trash right away. Get the trash out of the house.
- Gather the laundry: pick up the dirty dishrags, tea towels, napkins, and other laundry that is lying around the kitchen. Put them into the laundry bucket. If the rags are wet, spread them out so they will dry without mildewing the rest of your laundry. I like to clean my kitchen with clean dishrags and towels.
- Put away any food left over from the meal or from cooking: This would be the ketchup still on the table, the cooking oil beside the stove, and the leftovers. Put them away into the fridge and back into the pantry. Of course if the food has spoiled, put it into the trash.
- Make room for the dirty dishes: If you have a dishwasher and it is filled with clean dishes, quickly put them away. If you hand-wash your dishes ensure there are no clean ones on the drying rack. Put them away. Woo hoo! We're making room!
- Empty out the sinks: Remove any dishes, old rags, and other stuff that has accumulated in the kitchen sinks. If you have dirty dishes in the sink, start adding them to the dishwasher. If you have to hand-wash them, set them to the side of the sink. When the sinks are empty, wash them out with some dish soap and one of your clean dishrags. Then fill one sink with hot soapy water.
Whew! Now we are ready to start with the kitchen table!
A Hint from Cindy's Porch: When a meal is over, I announce, "Put away your dishes and five extra things!" Everyone is responsible for loading up their own plates, cups, and cutlery into the dishwasher. Then they have to find five extra things to put away. There is always a mad dash for the salad dressings and salt and pepper shakers. They are the easiest to put away. When they are done, most of the table is cleared off and my husband and I can finish off the kitchen in about 5 minutes. We've been doing this for years!
- Clear the kitchen table: Start with the kitchen table so it is always ready for the next meal or snack. Grab all the dirty dishes. Add them to the dishwasher or stack them beside the sink. Put away the placemats and the pot warmers. Get everything off the table.
- Wash the Table: Using your dish rag (cloth) and the hot soapy water, wipe off the table. If this morning's jam smudge is resisting the rag, use the scrubber or old toothbrush. Remember to wipe the stickies from around the edge of the table as well.
- Check the kitchen chairs: Ours are wooden and they seem to collect as many food drips as the table does.
- "Dress" the table: Tuck in all the chairs under the table, put the tablecloth back on the table and add a simple centerpiece. I use a table runner and our fruit bowl to "dress" our table. This makes it look nice and keeps unwanted clutter from piling up on our kitchen table. SHOP at home FIRST. I bet you already have a vase, basket, candle stand, or other thing that you can use in the center of your table. In the fall, I fill a vase with nuts from our local nut farm. It looks pretty.
You are doing great! Ready to tackle the rest of the kitchen?
A Hint from Cindy's Porch: if the kitchen looks like it was hit by a major storm (that would be mine whenever I try to bake LOL), give yourself a quick shot of energy. Load up some favorite upbeat music. Katrina and the Waves always gets me moving when I am faced with an ugly task (yes, I know I am dating myself!).
- Do you have a microwave? Stick a cup of water in the microwave and turn it on high for a couple minutes. The water will boil and steam up the insides of the microwave. The steam will loosen up all the little bits and chunks that have sprayed over the roof and walls. When the timer on the microwave goes off, just leave the water alone. Don't even open the door. Let the steam do its thing. Warning: sometimes water that is heated in the microwave gets "superheated". This means that the temperature of the water is actually ABOVE its boiling temperature. All it takes is a little jostling (like if you try and move the cup) and the water will start to boil over. Just let it sit, steam, and cool off before you open the door. If you have been BUYing the microwave cleaning kit in the past, you are going to be amazed at how well this "SHOP at home FIRST" trick works.
- Countertops - pick a spot to start: I always start in the same spot. Right where we walk into the kitchen and everyone seems to drop their papers, mail, phones, homework, and other stuff. It is also the spot where my mixer sits. If I can't get to my mixer, I don't use my mixer. Then it becomes a wasted purchase. All the papers quickly get sorted and put away. If the stuff belongs to my kids, I stack it on the bottom step so they can carry it upstairs the next time they go to their rooms. I just want it out of the kitchen! LOL.
- Load up the dirty dishes and put away the stuff that doesn't belong: work your way around the countertops in your kitchen.
- Use your dishrag and the hot soapy water to wipe off the counters as you clear them. Remember to wipe the edges as well. Also, take a quick peek at the kitchen cupboard doors just below the counters. Did they collect some drips and splashes while you were cooking? It is much easier to wipe them off right now, than it will be a couple weeks after the drips have hardened into some new form of concrete!
- Clean off a section of countertop next to the sink: By now you probably have a stack of dirty dishes piled up on one side of your sink. I am right handed, so the dirty stack is always piled up on the left hand side of the sink. I clear out a section of counter top on the right hand side of the sink so I have a place to put the clean dishes after I wash them. Yes, we have a dishwasher, but I have a few pots, sharp knives, and cooking tools that I hand wash. Plus, sometimes the dishwasher just doesn't have enough room. My husband says, "Cindy, when you cook, you cook big!"
 Start washing the dishes: Look for the really dirty ones first. The dutch oven with the tomato sauce cooked into the bottom. Scoop a couple cups of hot soapy water out of the sink and put it into the dirty pot. Let it soak while you deal with the other dishes. Remember those wise words from your home-ec teacher: "Glassware, cutlery, plates and saucers, the pans are saved for last".
- Before you wash those last really dirty pots and pans... use the dishrag to wipe off the stove. Remember to wipe off around the dials and the oven door. Drips and splashes are easier to clean now than later. We have a glass topped stove, so I also use the special stove cleaner to get those tough burnt in spots (this is one of the few "special" cleaners I have in our home).
- Remember the microwave? By now the water should be cool enough to move. Dump it out into the sink and use your hot soapy dishrag to clean out the insides of the microwave. Your old toothbrush will take care of those stubborn chunks! Wash the glass plate in the sink. Dry it out and put it back into the microwave. Looks good eh?
- Finish washing the pots and pans: then dry everything and put it away. Hopefully you have a helper that can take care of the drying while you wash. Don't turn down any offers to dry!
- Garbage can: Wipe off the tops and the side of the trashcan. Put a clean bag into the trashcan.
- Drain out the dirty water, rinse and wipe out the sink: Done! Whew!
OK, the kitchen is clean, ready for a bonus shine?
I don't do this everyday. But once in a while, I make my kitchen shine!
- Sweep the crumbs off the floor: this takes less than two minutes!
- Use your window cleaner and "sparkle" the kitchen: Shine the front of the stove, fridge, dishwasher, microwave, fume hood, and kitchen sink (including the taps and faucet!). If you have small appliances on the counters, give them a quick shine as well. We only keep the mixer, toaster, coffee maker, wooden spoons, and knife block on our counters. I like the space!
- Put away your cleaning tools. Congratulations. I promise, the next time you do this it will go much faster!
- Now, sit down and relax for a while! You deserve it.
A kitchen that is fun to cook in is going to save you money!
It costs nothing to shine it up.
SHOP at home FIRST so you can EAT at home FIRST!
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