Kitchen Cleaning Tips and Tricks

House Cleaning Tips, A woman with cleaning supplies after cleaning her kitchen.

Keeping your kitchen clean can be a chore, but it doesn't have to be. With these helpful tips and tricks learn to keep your kitchen neat, tidy and ready for your next kitchen adventure. This is a guide about kitchen cleaning tips and tricks.

Solutions: Kitchen Cleaning Tips and Tricks

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Clean Kitchen After Cooking

This tip is related to clean up after eating and cooking; it took me a lifetime to learn this lesson, and it's one of those things you have to experience to believe.

I recommend that you scrape, rinse, and wash your dishes immediately after eating, whether preparing for the dishwasher or to hand wash. This will take you 10 minutes tops once you have the routine down pat, especially if you have rinsed as you cooked.

For every half hour you let the food sit on the plates and dry and grow crusty, add more time to the clean up. By the time the dishes have sat overnight, plan on a minimum of 30 minutes. If you are really remiss due to inertia for any and all reasons (illness, absence, indolence, and what have you) you can count on an hour to get the crusties off the stove top, out of the pots, etc. It is so nice to just have the kitchen clean right away after dinner, it is really worth it. Then your family can do all kinds of things in the space.

In my sister in law's house, the one who cooks is off the hook for dishes and the first adult up from the table who didn't cook starts the process. The second eligible adult continues and in minutes the kitchen is clean. Kids know to scrape plates and put them in sink or on the drainboard. My house is a mixed bag of helpers and laggers. Helping is definitely the way to go.

By pikka from Westminster, CO

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Barkeeper's Towels

As I have gotten older, I have discovered the best dishrag for me is actually what is known as a barkeeper's towel. It's certainly bigger than a dishrag but more of a square shape than a tea towel, and is made of really absorbent cotton with a great nap to it.

I have large expanses of countertop in my kitchen and I found by throughly saturating a barkeeper's towel and using it as the dishrag to wipe off countertops, I could accomplish the task much quicker and easier. When I am cooking, I keep a bowl of warm water with a small amount of dishwashing product in it set in the bottom of the sink which makes it so easy to wipe up the mess I have made.

When I am done with it, I soak it overnight in the washer or run it through with a bleach load. I always start with a fresh one each morning and have never regretted doing away with the putzy sponges or thin dishrags I had.

By Sandie

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Clean or Dirty Dishwasher Indicator

Dishes would pile up in our house partially because nobody knew if the dishwasher was full of clean or dirty dishes. I was about to throw an old scratched CD away when this idea popped in my head, a recycled CD clean or dirty indicator! I quickly threw together this mock up of my idea. With a little extra time the finished product could look real nice.

Supplies:

scratched CD
paper
scissors
packing tape
strong magnet
pen

Instructions:

Trace around a CD onto a piece of paper, and cut out the circle.
Draw a line down the middle. On one side write "Load Me Please"
and on the other half write "Unload Me Please." On mine, I attempted to draw an overfull dishwasher on the unload me side and a hungry skinny dishwasher on the load me side.
For those of you who just want a quick clean or dirty indicator, I've also included a simple clean and dirty image that you could print out and decorate.
Place the paper on top of the CD and use packing tape to secure it to the CD.
Tape a strong magnet to the back and place on your dishwasher.

Now all you have to do is remember to turn the CD each time you load or unload the dishwasher. Clean Dirty Indicator

By StellaBella from Manchester, WA

By Stella Bui-Rivet

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Two Minute Kitchen Clean

I am a big believer in cleaning a little bit at a time. While my coffee is dripping in the morning, I either wipe out my microwave, wipe around the sink, or check the refrigerator. I also do spot cleaning while something is in the microwave, or cooking on the stove. It is easier to manage getting rid of outdated food and wiping up spills if you check often. I use the time to also check what leftovers I need to use right away. In two minutes, I've accomplished a lot!

By Theresa Curry

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Use a Towel to Catch Steam from Cooking

If you have a microwave or a fan above your stove, then this tip is for you. I put a towel in the door of my microwave to catch the steam. When you are done cooking, just wipe what steam is left. Most of the steam is absorbed into the dish towel.

By Louella N. from Billings, MT

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Use Dishwashing Liquid For Kitchen Clean Up

Wet a towel and wring it. Put a dab of dishwashing liquid soap in the centre. Rub to spread. Clean all your kitchen electrical appliances like steel, plastic toaster, kettle, or decoration pieces. Rub and shine with a dry towel. They will shine as new. Clean your counters too this way. Rehana

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Wake Up to a Clean Kitchen

Regardless of how tired you are, resist the urge to leave your dishes dirty in the kitchen overnight. There is nothing more depressing than waking up to a dirty kitchen.

By Nancy

Clean As You Cook

I also clean as I go and put dishes in the dishwasher as I cook. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner is challenging, but I manage to keep a spotless kitchen.

By Jennifer

Garbage Bowl

Keep a "garbage bowl" on the counter where you prep. I put a plastic grocery bag in it (but you don't have to). All the stuff you would normally go throw away, just toss in the bowl on your work surface. After dinner, scrape leftovers into it and make one trip to the trash can. The bag makes it convenient that all of the food that can go bad is now sealed up. I learned this from 30-Minute Meals.

By CarlaJS

A Gleaming Sink

I love waking up to a clean bench and sink. I even make sure that my sink is shiny as well, because when nothing else is done in the house (come on admit to it, we all have bad weeks/days sometimes), having a shiny sink and clean bench makes the morning that much easier to take.

Also, having the kitchen under control when the rest of the house needs attention, allows us to focus on other parts of the house that need some TLC. Unfortunately, there are times when I wake up to a sink with dishes from the "dish fairy" in the middle of the night. I used to rant and rave about how unfair it was and my family would take on a glazed look and get disgruntled.

However, now I just do them anyway, and forget about complaining as it really gets me nowhere. Besides, I think there's more to worry about than a few dishes in the sink. As a result of this attitude I've now found that my children and husband now think twice about just dumping things into the sink. I expect what I have been done has started to rub off on them.

We had a dishwasher in the house we sold a few years back and the house we bought was an ex-rental and devoid of "extras". In the last house I found it hard to get anyone to stack the dishwasher. No-one seemed to want to do it and things went into the sink instead. Now that we are living with no dishwasher I think the children appreciate how much extra work is involved and realize the work that goes into keeping the sink free of clutter.

I love waking up to my gleaming sink knowing that I can prepare breakfast without having to clean up first.

By Bev in Australia

I Agree

I agree with the clean kitchen crowd. It helps train the great big pink mice (or rats) that show up in the middle of the night. I long ago learned that it is easier to just "take care of it" rather than fuss about it. A good accessory for a clean-kitchen babe is a timed coffee pot. That way, the coffee is ready as well. After all, cleaning up takes just a few minutes (time yourself) and it's cheaper than a shrink!

By the Oracle

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Kitchen Cleaning Tips

The kitchen is a special challenge because of the variety of cleaning needs. Grease can be absorbed while still fresh by throwing a bit of cornstarch or baking soda right on the grease then wiping away when cleaning the rest of the kitchen. The stovetop can be treated every few months with car wax to keep the surface slick and easy to clean.

Oven and Microwave Cleaning

Microwaves can be cleaned easily by putting a sponge soaked in white vinegar or lemon juice in the microwave and cooking it for 1 or 2 minutes. Don't open the microwave for about 5 minutes. The stuck on food should slide right off.

The same procedure can work with ovens except use a shallow pan with a couple of cups of white vinegar and no sponge. Cook for 5-10 minutes and leave in the oven to cool for about 30 minutes. Food will slide right off.

Any left over vinegar or lemon juice can be squeezed onto the sponge to keep it fresh. To control germs you should bleach it or run it through the dishwasher or clothes washer on a regular basis.

Red Dye Stains

For red food dye stains on counters, like those left by drinks, use straight rubbing alcohol, enough to puddle on the stain. Leave it for several minutes and wipe away. Use a sudsy cleaner on counter after.

Stuck on Food

For food stuck on pots and pans, put a dryer sheet in the pan and leave overnight. In the morning the food will slide right out. The fabric softener will soften the food overnight.

Tarnished Silverware

For tarnished silverware, heat 2 cups of water and add 2 tablespoons of baking soda. Put silverware on a sheet of aluminum foil in a pan with the silverware making contact on the foil. The combination of metal and baking soda will cause the tarnish to disappear

Source: life and the web

By Randa from San Marcos TX

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Cleaning and Protecting Kitchen Tools

For cleaning, removing small bits of rust, and protecting kitchen tools and appliances, cooking spray works as well as the more expensive metal cleaners, plus you know it's edible! You just spray it on, let it set a minute, and wipe it off. It takes rust off the tip of the can opener, oils the egg beater, and even stops the squeak in the old oven door.

By Momma from Shenandoah, PA

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