The kitchen is the heart of our home, and I bet it is for many of you as well. The kitchen is where we do homework, play board games, prepare meals, share meals and, oh yeah, do laundry. So, with a space that is getting this much use, naturally it needs some serious cleaning on a regular basis. Don’t get overwhelmed, we have created an easy checklist to take the guess work out of cleaning your kitchen.
Before implementing this new cleaning checklist, it’s worth it to do some de-cluttering (remember how much better you felt after de-cluttering the closet?). This will free up some space and potentially give you less to clean!
Kitchen De-Cluttering Checklist
- Clean out the fridge, pantry and discard any expired food (or rotting fruits and vegetables). If there are non-perishable items in your pantry that you don’t want, donate them to a local food bank.
- Clean out your spice cabinet and discard any that seem to have lost their flavor. Dried spices don’t technically expire but the general consensus is to discard them after 6months to a year.
- Go through every drawer, cabinet, shelf, etc and purge what you don’t need. Think about when you used the items last and if it is an essential item for your kitchen. Is it a superfluous item – do you need a blender, juicer and food processor? It depends on what kind of cooking you are doing most frequently. Are you keeping the item because it was a housewarming or wedding gift? You have my permission to get rid of it – the gift giver is not going to come to your home and search for said item – donate it and let someone else put it to good use.
- While you are in the process of purging the unnecessary items in the cabinets and drawers, take the time to wipe all the surfaces down.
- If there is an area in your kitchen that has a tendency to become a dumping ground for mail, purses, backpacks, newspapers etc, consider coming up with a new plan for the area and where those items can be stored. This is important especially if you have a small kitchen and don’t want to lose valuable counter space to stacks of paper.
Now that you have removed the clutter from your kitchen you are ready to implement your new Kitchen Cleaning Guide. And if you need some extra inspiration, here is a list of green cleaning products. Happy cleaning everyone!
Kitchen Cleaning Checklist
Daily
- Clean up any spills.
- Wipe down stovetop and stove vent.
- Clean all dirty dishes and put away.
- Scrub the sink and run some ice through the disposal.
- Clean appliances and clutter off of all counters.
- Wipe all counters down with disinfectant.
- Clean kitchen table and chairs (if you have kids, you need to do this daily).
- Sweep floors and mop if necessary.
- Empty the trash can.
Weekly
- Wipe down the inside and outside of the microwave.
- Wipe down all appliances.
- Wipe down cabinet doors.
- Clean out fridge and discard expired items and rotting fruit and vegetables (this helps you when making your grocery list and weekly meal plan also).
- If you don’t mop nightly, do it at least once a week.
Monthly
- Clean coffee maker (according to your model’s specifications).
- Clean the dishwasher. Ask Anna has a easy tutorial.
- Clean the garbage disposal (baking soda and vinegar work great).
- Clean the toaster crumb tray.
- Disinfect garbage can.
- Wash kitchen rugs (more often if needed).
- Dust the top of the fridge, cabinets and any light fixtures.
- Clean out the pantry.
- Wipe down the fridge shelves.
- Dust baseboards.
Every 3 Months
- Clean the oven (according to your oven’s specifications).
- Wipe down cabinet shelves.
- De-clutter the cabinets and drawers.
- Dust doors and door frames.
- Dust windowsills and blinds (or clean curtains).
Yearly
- Clean behind fridge.
- Clean behind oven.
- Clean windows and screens.
Download the free printable kitchen cleaning guide checklist!
Good tips. I recently cleaned out my spice cabinet and found that some of the spices were years old!
Thank you! And the pantry and spice cabinet are trouble spots for me too – I just forget stuff is in there sometimes, so I set calendar reminders to go through it all 😉
Great tips here! Regular cleaning and taking stock of supplies is the way to go to keep a clean and well-kept kitchen.