Is there a person who doesn’t like their kitchen to be in pristine condition at all times? Probably not, but the people who actually enjoy thoroughly scrubbing every surface to make it happen are very few. Because it’s so often used, the kitchen tends to get dirty in a blink of an eye, but it feels like it takes ages to get it nice and clean. This is the reason why we have prepared a list of useful tips and tricks you can implement in your daily routine to keep your kitchen and counters clean at all times.
Clean while you wait
You might not even have noticed at first, but you spend a lot of time in your kitchen waiting for something – waiting for the water to boil, for the oven to pre-heat, for the cake to bake at last… Why not use this time effectively and do a bit of light cleaning while you have a couple of minutes on your hands? You can unload your dishwasher, clean up the sink, move the plates and jars to their respective places, or wipe down the table. Not only will your time fly this way, but you’ll actually do a lot of menial tasks which will make it easier to clean thoroughly later on. You’ll be amazed at just much you can get done while simply waiting, and you’ll be much more productive in the kitchen.
Keep your garbage disposal smelling nice
Garbage disposals are making our lives easier, but they can make us miserable too as they tend to smell bad due to all the waste they’re processing on a daily basis. That’s because some of the food waste often gets stuck on the underside of garbage disposal guard, and it’s virtually impossible to notice it. What you can do is use an old toothbrush, dip it in an anti-grease solution, and simply turn the flap inside out. As you move the toothbrush around the guard, you’ll be able to clean up any food waste with ease. To keep the garbage disposal smelling fresh, you can use good old lemon ice cubes. Put water, lemon wedges, and rock salt into an ice cube tray, freeze, and throw them down the drain while running the disposal.
Give your sink some love
Because of all the grease, small food particles, and chemicals you’re using every day, drain clogging is common, and if you’re not careful, it’s easy to end up with a clogged sink. Every now and then, have professionals over to do a thorough drain cleaning so you can have a piece of mind. To lower the chances of this happening, you can let the water out after every usage, even if you’re not too happy to stick your hands into cold, greasy water to do it. Also, if you start wiping down your sink after you wash or rinse your dishes, it’s going to look so much better and you won’t have to deal with water stains either.
Wipe spills as they happen
Scrubbing old spills is a drag, especially as the spills are often oily and it gets harder to clean them over time. If you start cleaning them up as they happen, you will soon learn that it’s much easier and better for you. You can keep a stack of paper towels close, or simply use a cloth to clean up spills, and if you do it immediately, you’ll avoid sticky mess and hard-to-remove stains. Make sure that both paper towels and cloths are within reach – if you have to open several drawers or walk to the other end of the house to find them, you’ll soon lose motivation to clean up the spill immediately. Not only will this make your kitchen cleaner, but you’ll avoid ants and flies coming in too.
Embrace minimalism
When you look around, do you notice that your kitchen is overflowing with utensils, jars, and appliances? While this might seem perfectly normal, the room will look so much tidier without it. You don’t want your counters to be so full of things that you don’t have any room to cut up vegetables or place a bowl there. You might like to keep things within reach, but it’s not convenient to keep all of your things on display at all times. Have a cupboard dedicated just to jars and spices, and a drawer for utensils. It might be strange for you at first, but pretty soon you’ll begin to notice that you feel and function much better due to all the free space. Without all the junk cluttering your counters, you’ll prepare your meals easily and you’ll be able to wipe down the mess without having to move dozens of items first.
While some of these tips and tricks seem pointless and boring to do at first, if you stick to them, you will very soon notice the results. Once you resign yourself to doing some of these things on the regular basis, your kitchen hygiene is going to be like second nature, and you’ll stop noticing that you’re doing any extra work. As a result, all of your friends will beg you to share your secrets with them so that they can keep their own kitchens in order.
