Weekly Kitchen Cleaning System

I know cleaning the kitchen every week sounds overwhelming and like complete drudgery, but it's really not. I promise, if you follow the weekly kitchen cleaning tips that I outline below, you'll get your kitchen sparkling in no time.

Kitchens tend to get dirty a lot quicker than any other room in our home due to the high traffic, junk that's dropped off, and steam that's generated from cooking. The steam that's generated in the kitchen turns dust into a greasy caked on mess on the cabinets and stove hood if you don't attend to it often.

That is why it is so important to not only do a daily kitchen cleaning, but a weekly kitchen cleaning too.

Caked on Grease

If you find you have a caked on grease mess in such places as the range hood and cabinets, then the best method to cut the grease is to simply use liquid dish washing soap and paper towels. This works better than any fancy cleaner!

Just grab a couple of paper towels and squeeze some dish washing soap on them, then rub into the caked on grease mess until it cuts through and is clean, then polish with a microfiber cloth. If it's really greasy, you may have to repeat this process until it comes clean, then polish with the microfiber cloth.

You can also use a cleaner like 409, Pledge Multi Surface, or Orange Glo wood cleaner (it's great for cutting grease). You will need to spray the cleaner on and let it sit and work for a few minutes. Then come back with paper towels and wipe down. If it's really dirty, you may have to repeat this process. Remember a daily kitchen cleaning will avoid this nasty, grimy build up.

If at the start of your weekly kitchen cleaning, the grimy grease mess is overwhelming, don't fret. Just follow the above cleaning method a couple of times, do a daily kitchen cleaning, and the grease will be gone within the next couple of cleanings!

Counter Tops

Move onto your counters and if they're dirty (they may not be due to your daily clean), then spray 409 or Pledge Multi Surface, wait and let it work, then wipe with a micro fiber cloth. If you have tile counter tops and need to clean the grout, use Clorox Clean Up. Just spray on Clorox Clean Up, wait and let it work, then come back with a grout brush and scrub. Wait a minute or two to let the cleaner work some more, then rinse off with a damp sponge. Wipe up and buff the counter top with a microfiber cloth and your tile counters will sparkle.

Refrigerator

I usually do a refrigerator clean out once a week prior to grocery shopping. See tip #1 on the page Grocery Shopping On a Budget for more information.

While I've got my head in the fridge, I grab my Clorox disinfecting wipes and wipe up any stains, spills, or crumbs. For the vegetable and fruit drawers, I replace the paper towels that I put down the week before to keep these drawers clean of any old dried up vegetable and fruit remnants that may accumulate in there. I hit the freezer for a quick clean up too. I never have to do a major clean up of the refrigerator/freezer since I do a quick weekly clean up.

Sink

My mom used this trick to clean out the sink and pipes on a weekly basis. Run the water until it's really hot. Place the stopper in the sink. Grab the bleach and quickly poor it around the fixtures. Then run really hot water in the sink adding an additional cup of bleach to the sink. Let the hot water and bleach sit in the sink for a few minutes. Rinse around the fixtures to remove the bleach and unplug your sink (wear gloves to save your hands from the hot water and bleach). Your sink will be sanitized and the pipes will also get a good cleaning from the water and bleach.

Another great way to clean the sink of marks from pots and pans and hard water is to use a product I love called Green Cream (it's similar to Soft Scrub only better). You can also use this in bathrooms. See the page on Bathroom Cleaning Tips for more information.

All you have to do is spread this stuff on, work it in with a yellow honeycomb scrubber (you can find these at a janitorial supply store). Let the product sit and work. Scrub it a little more and rinse. Your sink will sparkle like brand new!

Stove Top and Oven

Your stove top should already be clean from the daily clean up, but if its not, spray either 409 or Pledge Multi Surface and spray. Let the cleanser sit to work a minute, then wipe down and buff with a microfiber cloth.

The best method to clean the oven is to wipe up any spills as they happen, after you're oven has cooled of course. If you do have baked on stains, you can use the self cleaning mode on your oven. I don't like this as it heats up the house too much and it can smell bad. So, before I go to bed at night, I spray the bottom of the stove with water and sprinkle baking soda on the baked on stains. In the morning, I take my scrubbing sponge and the baked on stains come right up. I rinse with clean water, dry, and buff with a micro fiber cloth and I'm done.

Dining Table in Eat in Kitchen

Wipe up any crumbs from the table. Spray on Pledge furniture polish and let it sit. Come back with a micro fiber cloth and buff to a shine. Do the same for the chairs.

Floors

For once a week kitchen cleaning, I like to sweep or vacuum and scrub the floors. I use my Hoover FloorMate to scrub my floors really clean. You can also use a Microfiber Mop with an all purpose cleaner or Swiffer Wet Jet works good too.

You're done with your beautifully clean kitchen. The weekly kitchen cleaning may seem like a lot, but if you keep up with your quick daily clean, you eventually will not have to do a weekly clean.

With good preventative daily kitchen cleaning, your weekly kitchen cleaning will turn into a follow up clean where you will do an occasional deep clean of things such as the cabinets, sink, oven, stove, etc.

With this simple system of weekly kitchen cleaning, you'll spend less time cleaning and more time enjoying your kitchen.

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