How To Keep A Clean Kitchen

Keeping a clean kitchen can feel like an impossible task. Between the grease, crumbs, and other culinary miscues, there are so many places to start your pursuit of spotlessness that it becomes impossible to begin.

Never fear. We’re here to give you the tips and tricks you need to keep your kitchen consistently clean all year round.

How to Keep a Clean Kitchen

The bigger a task is, the harder it is to get started. Conversely, the smaller a task is, the more likely you are to do it.

So, when it comes to keeping a clean kitchen, try not to let things devolve into a state of galley grief. Instead, do a few small things each day to set yourself up for success.

Perhaps the simplest way to get started is to keep a towel with you when you’re cooking. With the cleaning tool already in hand, you’ll find it easier to wipe up stray splatter.

 

Additionally, try to tackle these three daily duties:

• Wash the dishes
• Wipe down cooking prep surfaces
• Sweep the floor

If you have a dishwasher appliance, this job becomes even easier. You could be on your way to consistently clean kitchen in only a few minutes each day.

As soon as you get those habits down, then you can expand your cleaning repertoire with a few weekly or every-other-week tasks:

• Clean kitchen surfaces like your stovetop, appliances, cabinets, and counters
• Disinfect your sink and faucet
• Mop
• Remove old items from the fridge

That can already seem like a lot, but if you’ve been cleaning as you go throughout the week, you’ll find that these more significant chores take less time to complete.

If you’ve really got your cleaning engine revved and raring to go, it’s time to pick a day each month to take on these kitchen hygiene habits:

• Clean the interior of your dishwasher, microwave, fridge, and coffee maker
• Organize cabinets and drawers
• Replace sponges
• Sanitize your trash can

Again, if you continue to clean as you go, you’ll find that there may not be a whole lot to do here. And if there are still a few pesky problem areas, like mettlesome ants or smelly garbage disposals, try out some of these creative cleaning tips. 

How to Stay Organized with Mise en Place

We mentioned already how simply keeping a towel in hand can help you clean as you go. Another part of that clean-as-you-go mentality is keeping your meal prep areas organized.

That’s why if you were to ever enter a professional kitchen, you’d see the kitchen staff engaging in a practice called “mise en place.” Mise en place means, literally, “everything in its place.”

Once you start mise-en-place-ing yourself, you’ll find that not only is your kitchen cleaner at the end of the day, but you’ll feel less frazzled and overwhelmed during cooking. That’s a win-win in our cookbook.

Mise en place is really about preparing for cooking. It helps you know exactly where you’ll put down the ingredient or tool you just picked up.

To get started, read your recipe. Pull out any ingredients it calls for and place them near your sturdy cutting board.

While you’re doing this, identify any tools, utensils, or cooking instruments you might need. It’s better to grab that heavy Dutch oven ahead of time so you don’t have to struggle with it when the heat is literally on. 

Then, start chopping, mincing, and slicing your ingredients. Start with high-priority items that will be used first; a garnish can wait, but hearty root vegetables will likely need more time on the stove.

As you finish with one ingredient, put it in a small bowl or ramekin before moving on to prepping the next one. You might have a few extra things to clean at the end of the night, but popping a ramekin into your dishwasher will take less effort than trying to pull minced parsley off your counter.

So, by the time you start cooking, you should have all your ingredients organized and separated. When it comes time to use them, dump the ingredients into your cooking vessel and rinse out the container.

As your cooking is winding down, get out your serving plates and put them somewhere easily accessible. When the meal’s ready, it’ll be a quick transition from oven to plate.

By the time you finish cooking, serving, and eating, you’ll feel less stressed, and your kitchen will be less messy. 

So, with mise en place, you’re not just cleaning as you go; you’re keeping yourself organized and less cluttered, too.

How to Clean Kitchen Grease

If there’s one common kitchen foe, it’s grease. Stir fry splatter, battered butter, and lollygagging oils can leave surfaces slick and potentially dangerous. If you forgo cleaning kitchen grease for a long enough period, the only thing you’re cooking is a fire hazard.

Kitchen grease can also sometimes appear in the oddest places. On your stovetop or range hood, sure, but finding it on your kitchen cabinets or the surfaces of other appliances can leave you wondering if you’ve been receiving gifts from the grease wizard.

Even worse, because these surfaces are made from varied materials, you could find yourself wondering how to clean grease from kitchen cabinets made from wood, counters made from quartz, and sinks made from stainless steel. When you add on the need for disinfectants and sanitizers, it’s enough to think about whether you need to build an addition just to house all your sprays and solvents.

Before calling your contractor, though, consider a simpler option: Wet & Forget Indoor. It’s a multi-purpose cleaning spray that cuts through grease, inhibits mold and mildew growth, inhibits odor, and sanitizes.

Because it contains no bleach or harsh fumes, it’s safe to use on virtually any indoor surface:

• Exterior of Appliances
  
• Cabinets
• Countertops
• Fixtures
• Garbage cans
• Highchairs
• Tables
• Walls 

In most applications, simply spray the surface and wipe it dry or allow it to air dry. When using Wet & Forget Indoor on surfaces that will come in contact with food, such as countertops, stovetops, and tables, wipe the surface with potable water before using the surface again.

The bottle employs a unique sprayer nozzle that makes it easy to apply to hard-to-reach areas — like tall cabinet exteriors, deep cabinet interiors, and gaps between appliances and counters. That makes it an ideal tool to help keep your kitchen clean.

So, don’t let grease build-up turn what should be your favorite place in your home into one that’s potentially dangerous. Instead, use the right tools to keep your kitchen safe and sanitary.

Keep Your Kitchen Clean With Our Tips and Tricks

A clean kitchen is a wonderful thing. Instead of waiting to tackle a range of time-intensive tasks, clean as you go, stay organized, and keep grease build-up in check.