Spring Cleaning Challenge: The Kitchen #SpringCleaning12
This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Follow these 10 steps to get your kitchen clean enough for a food inspector’s seal of approval, just in time for spring cleaning!
photo credit: BHG
Today is the first day of Spring, everything outdoors is starting to look fresh and new again, which gets me in the mood to do the same indoors.
Last week I mentioned today would start the Spring Cleaning Challenge and I’m tackling the kitchen.
Spring cleaning is especially important in the kitchen. I stay on top of my kitchen on a daily basis, but a least once a year I follow these extra steps to get my kitchen clean enough for a food inspector’s seal of approval.
Table of Contents
10 Steps for Spring Cleaning in the Kitchen
Start by removing all clutter and disinfecting counter-tops and dishtowels and then crank up some music and follow these extra steps:
1. Dust and wipe down walls
use this time to clean the grease, grime, and spilled food from your walls. Check corners for cobwebs and dust down corners and trim.
2. Dust and clean items hanging on walls and on top of cabinets.
Wipe down frames and glass and anything hanging on the walls. Don’t forget air vents, doorknobs, doors, switch plates. If you have items on top of your kitchen cabinets, they may need a good scrubbing, as those items tend to get a grease and dust stuck to them. Fill a sink with hot water and dish washing soap to help cut thru grease.
3. Dust and clean light fixtures.
Take down any light fixtures and gently wash and dry them before replacing. If you have a light with exposed light bulb, turn the light off and when it’s cool, dust light bulbs too.
4. Clean windows and window treatments.
Vacuum and clean windowsills. Wash windows, inside and out. Be sure to take down and rinse off screens, before replacing. Remove window treatments and blinds/shades and clean according to manufacture’s instructions. How to clean blinds. My easy window cleaning tip.
5. Clean inside of cabinets and drawers.
Remove everything from inside cabinets , wipe down shelves, and replace and reorganize items. Do the same for drawers. This is a good time to go thru and clean out unused and expired items.
6. Clean appliances.
If you don’t have a self cleaning oven, spray oven cleaner and let it work while you clean other appliances. Don’t forget to open windows in the kitchen to avoid the overpowering smell.
- Refrigerator – Throw out expired food, and remove everything, placing the items to keep on the counter or table. Remove refrigerator shelves and drawers. Wash them down, being careful with glass shelves. Wipe down the entire interior of the refrigerator and freezer with the baking-soda solution, and wipe it dry before replacing shelves and food. Pull refrigerator out, if you can, and unplug and clean behind and underneath. See my favorite tool for this, my refrigerator coil brush.
- Microwave – Start with a damp rag and wipe out any lose crumbs from interior. Then, fill a microwave safe bowl or cup with 4-5 tablespoons baking soda or one-half cup lemon juice and water and heat mixture on high for two to three minutes. When time is up, let it sit for five minutes, then carefully remove cup or bowl and wipe down interior effortlessly with a damp cloth. If you still have stains, try damping your rag with vinegar or a little baking soda to gently scrub away stains. Don’t forget to remove and wash glass turntable. Once everything is sparkling again, leave the door open to air out for bit. Clean exterior and door with only warm, soapy water and soft cloth. Wipe control panels with a barely damp (not wet) cloth; moisture behind the panel could ruin the oven.
- Dishwasher – run empty dishwasher with vinegar. Read my full post on how to clean a dishwasher.
- Oven/Stove – Wipe down and clean out the oven according to the directions on the oven cleaner. Remove, knobs, burners, burner covers, and spill catchers off of the stove and wipe off food spills and splatters, for glass cook tops use a dab of commercial cooktop cleaner on a dry paper towel, and then wipe off the cleaner with another dry towel.
7. Wipe down and clean small appliances.
Unplug all appliances first.
- Mixer – Wash beaters by hand, wipe down base with a damp cloth. If the vent is clogged, loosen the dirt with a toothpick or toothbrush, then vacuum it out.
- Toaster/Toaster oven – clean out crumbs and wipe down the interior and exterior. Be sure to remove racks; wash them in warm, soapy water.
- Coffee Maker – Pour equal parts white vinegar and water into the tank, and run the machine. Empty out carafe and run two or three cycles with fresh water before brewing coffee. Wash carafe and any other removable parts in hot soapy water and wipe down exterior of machine. For any hard water build up on outside of machine, use a cloth soaked in vinegar to removed hard water crust.
8. Clean and shine sink and drain.
Clean your drain with baking soda and vinegar, If you have a garbage disposal, put ice cubes through the disposal to sharpen the blades. Read my post on how to clean/freshen or unclog a drain with vinegar and baking soda. Make you sink shine, by filling your sink to the rim with HOT water and 1 cup of bleach, let it sit for one hour, then remove plug (using tongs or wear gloves), rinse then scrub your sink and faucet with a mild abrasive, I LOVE Barkeepers Friend, rinse thoroughly and finish with a little window cleaner and a paper towel. How to make your sink shine with the Fly Lady.
9. Clean garbage cans.
Wash inside and out with a strong bleach solution (about 3/4 cup per gallon of water).
10. Sweep and mop the floors.
Although this is a step you already do on a regular basis, use spring cleaning to do an extra good job, move furniture to get underneath, get corners, baseboards and even get down on your hands and knees if you can for even a closer clean.
Distilled White Vinegar | Bar Keepers Friend | Bleach | Baking Soda
Count Down to Clean Series (with free Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Annual cleaning checklist to print)
Need other Spring Cleaning Tips
Spring Clean : The Why :: Home-EC 101
Spring Clean: Bathrooms :: i Dream of Clean
Spring Clean: Floors and Windows :: Amy’s Finer Things
Spring Clean: The Kitchen :: Tidy Mom
Spring Clean: Home Office :: Untrained Housewife
Spring Clean: Declutter Around the House :: Live Renewed
Spring Clean : Main Living Area :: Biblical Homemaking
Spring Clean: Conquering the Kids’ Room :: Living Well Spending Less
Spring Clean: Outdoor Living Spaces :: The Greenbacks Gal
Spring Clean: Garage and Cars :: Organize365
Now it’s YOUR turn! Let’s see what Spring Cleaning you’ve been up to!
EDITED: GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED
Disclaimer: Giveaway prizes are provided by GE Appliances, The Stow Company and Shark Clean. I was asked to join the Spring Cleaning Challenge by Christine of I Dream of Clean, and was not compensated for this post.
Tidymom is a participant in the amazon services llc associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Please respect my work, recipes and photographs. If you do use a recipe in your own writing, please give proper credit and link back to the original post.
My least fav place to clean is the closet!
Least favorite, windows. We have 33. The place I like cleaning the best is the bathroom. Really. We just re-did it and it is new so easy.
My least favorite is the kitchen…definitely the most overwhelming!!!
I HATE cleaning the bathroom, but after seeing how my husband cleans it, I’ve decided it has to be my job. So I do it and slowly starting to admire what it takes to really have a nice bathroom. He does dishes. 😉
Least favorite? The bathrooms, for sure.
Oh, I hate cleaning the refrigerator. But in reality, when it’s all done, the results make it worth it!
I think the worse for me would be the closets – getting rid of the old, organizing the new plus, the things you find in dark spaces! shudderssssss….
My favorite place to clean has to be the kitchen. I have it down to such a science I can do it in my sleep. My least favorite is the bathroom, for sure.
Least favorite place to clean? Outside windows for sure.
My favorite place to clean is anything glass. I just love when it’s clean and shines.
My least favorite place to clean is the bathroom, especially since I have 3 teenagers living in my house.
My least favorite place to clean is dusting my shelving up high and the decorations on them.
MY least favorite cleaning is the windows. I can never do it without re-doing it because of streaks. But using newspaper instead of paper towels helps me.
I hate cleaning the shower and tub. Too much scrubbing for me.
My favorite place to clean is the bathroom well the only reason is
Because I am a germaphob. And I can’t stand the thought of my kids
Using the bathroom if it’s not clean.
So I clean the bathrooms constantly. And find myself
Checking behind people after they use the restroom.
(I desperately could use a new set cause my son wants me to get a new set
And give him mine. I go to his house daily and do his laundry
But his washer broke and so now I wait and take his to the laundrymat
Once a week!!
i hate shlepping laudry to the laundry mat ughh
I hate cleaning bathrooms!
My least favorite place to clean is the laundry room. Stuff just piles up in there.
My least fav is the cement room laundry room! yuck!
I hate cleaning the bathroom but Laundry is the worst. It takes for ever to dry then you have to fold and put away. I do like dusting though.
My least favorite place to clean has to be under and behind the major appliances. It is shocking how much gunk and goo accumulates!
My least favorite place to clean is the toilet!
My favorite place to clean is my stovetop! I finally have a glasstop stove (nothing fancy, but beats burner coils). A little barkeeper’s friend takes it from really greasy to sparkly in less than five minutes! That is a rewarding job. 🙂
I hate cleaning the bathroom!
My least favorite thing to clean is the window sills!
Bathroom for sure.
Cleaning our tiny old kitchen is a never ending nightmare, lol. Thanks for this & Happy Spring! 🙂
My least favorite thing to clean is mini blinds…
i hate cleaning the laundry room and doing laundry! my favorite thing to clean is the kitchen, because i love when it’s sparkly and decluttered! 🙂
My least favorite place to clean is a tie between toilets, showers and mini-blinds. Ugh…
My least favorite places to clean are bathrooms and baseboards!
My least favorite thing to clean are walls. We have huge Mastiffs and they like to sling slobber. Simple Green is one of my favorite things to clean with. It really breaks down all the dirt and slim.
My least favourite place to clean is the bathroom. It just seems sooo gross and germy. *sigh. Guess it’s about time to do it though….
Hate cleaning my hardwood floors.
I hate cleaning the bathroom! And the kitchen is next on my list…so many crevices!
My least favorite place to clean is the garage. Favorite would have to be the kitchen.
I love the break down for Spring Cleaning. I feel inspired. I sound like a broken record…but definitely the toilet is THE worst thing to clean.
I hate putting laundry away. Never ending!! My dryer just bit the dust, so I am hanging clothes to dry. I’ll keep my fingers crossed!!
My least favorite place to clean is the house. Ha! I manage to keep the kitchen pretty clean but the closets suffer in my house. I’m tackling all the closets in the house in the next month. Send wine.
My least favorite thing to clean are the Windows
I love cleaning and organizing the pantry. I love being able to see all my home canned goods on display and it makes dinner time easier.
Great post, Cheryl. I need these tips…life has gotten away on my and my house is out of control! My least favourite place to clean? Dusting our bedroom. My husband is a bit of a packrat and we have a lot of trinkets and picture frames. Makes me CRAZY!
I hate hate hate cleaning our kitchen.
The bathroom!
least favorite… doing the silver, it takes a ton of elbow grease to get it to shine properly, but i luuuuuuuuv it once its done!!!
My least favorite place would be my closet. I was just thinking the other day, we have lived in our house for 12 years, and I have yet to clean out my closet. I think this may be subtle reminder that it is time for a thorough closet clean!!
My least favorite room to clean is the bathroom.
My least favorite place to clean would have to be my closet. We have lived in our home for 12 years, and I have yet to clean my closet. I think this is a subtle reminder that it needs to be done!
I love cleaning closets because I usually find things I have been looking for but I can’t stand cleaning bathrooms. I have 3 boys/men in the house!
My least favorite places to clean are the bathroom and the garage