My husband always tells me to “clean as you go.” This advice has proven to be very wise, but especially when it comes to the kitchen. We use our kitchen all-day-every-day to prepare and eat food. It gets dirty, greasy, and gross in a hurry. And when I think about it, the kitchen’s the place where we’re often consuming our food too, and the last place I want mess and germs to live.
And so, I keep ours clean. Super clean.
After looking around one day and saying, “there is literally not one spot in this kitchen that is clean right now,” I went on a mission to pick up some kitchen cleaning hacks. Here are my 15 favorite:
1. Always fill up the sink with soapy water anytime you start cooking.
Then wash the dishes as you cook, and by the time you’re done cooking, the majority of the dishes are done. You’ll also find yourself using the soapy water while the food is cooking to wipe off counters, cabinets, drawers, and the fridge.
2. Store your meat in the fridge on top of a cookie sheet…
so no drips or contamination stays in the fridge and migrates to other food.
3. Scrub your sink with Clorox ScrubSingles Kitchen Pads.
I once read that the germiest place in your kitchen is the kitchen sink. And I believe it! Think of all the stuff that ends up in there. Chicken juice, residue from dirty handwashing, dirty dishes, etc. Not to mention the drain part of the sink…ewwwwww. Keep it clean and sanitized by using one of these disposable pads. These little scrubbies are loaded up with Clorox cleaners to tackle messes. They’re strong and flexible and are able to get those tough jobs done even though they are disposable. It’s so nice just to toss the used scrubbing pad in the trash can! You can be sure your sink is clean and the germs from a rag or sponge won’t be getting elsewhere in your kitchen.
I love these pads for the stove and the microwave as well; just scrub and toss.
4. Use foil to line your pans before roasting vegetables.
Then when you’re done cooking, ball up the foil and throw it in the recycle bin. This will keep your pans looking nicer too.
5. If you buy oil in a big jug like I do, you’ll want to set it on an old ice cream bucket lid.
This prevents drips in the bottom of your cupboard or pantry.
6. Place your container of vanilla on top of a cupcake liner…
so that it doesn’t get the bottom of your cupboard dirty.
7. Put one of these oven liner mats in the bottom of your oven.
That way when food bubbles over you won’t be left with a baked-on mess. Just remove the mat after the oven has cooled, and rinse it off.
8. Before you put something in the fridge, quickly wipe the shelf space down.
This will do wonders for keeping your fridge clean and clear of drips from bottles of dressing, ketchup, salsa, etc.
9. Use a liner when using your slow cooker.
How many times have you thought, “I’m going to make my life easier and use the slow cooker?” Then at the end of the night you’re scrubbing that crock down forEVER. Use a slow cooker liner for quick and easy cleanup.
10. Store several garbage bags in the bottom of your garbage cans…
so there’s always one right there to swap in quickly and easily. No more searching for one while the kids throw their used banana peel in the bottom of an unlined trash can!
11. Use cover lids in your microwave.
That way when you warm up leftovers or melt butter it’s not splattering over the entire microwave.
12. Place your honey bear/jar in a plastic cup.
That way the sticky honey won’t get all over the bottom of your cupboard.
13. Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.
The cookies will cook more evenly, and you won’t be stuck with a mess to clean up.
14. Use removeable plastic containers (you can buy these at the dollar store) to store your silverware.
It makes cleaning the bottom of your drawer a lot easier. And when you have a crowd to serve, you can just grab your container of forks and have it handy on the counter.
15. Clean your blender by filling it half full of warm water and a drop of dish soap.
Put the lid on and blend for a few seconds. This is much easier (and safer) than trying to clean those blades at the bottom of the blender.
