Spring Clean Your Kitchen

Laurel Johnson I use a damp squeegie on the drawer fronts and walls. A little vinegar in the water cuts the grease - wipe dry with a clean cloth.

Denise Vilim We use Barkeeper's Friend on all of our Cephalon pots and pans and in our stainless sinks. It looks like an abrasive, but it doesn't scratch at all and it also polishes, leaving everything bright and shiny.

olldbobbi Here's a tip for the best, cheapest and most eco-friendly way to clean grout - any citrus fruit. Simply roll an orange or lemon to release as much juice as possible, cut in half, run the cut side on top of the grout. Let sit for half a minute, lightly scrub with a nylon scrub brush and rinse.

blueyesrsmiling If your refrigator has glass shelves bring them to room temperature before putting them in water if the glass has a tiny flaw this will keep them from shattering. Make the water Luke warm.
When cleaning a granite counter top use water and dish soap. And buff dry with a soft cloth. Cleaning tile floors and the grout is dirty use a soft brush and brush it. Anything with acid will eat the grout and make it weak. If it is really really dirty you can rent a steam cleaner. It has a skinny hose that you can direct on the grout lines and it will melt dirt off. In fact if you have really dirty tile it will clean this also. This are easy to use but they need to be used with care. Because it will burn your skin. If it doesn't come clean you need a professional.
Teen throughi use bleach if you have a granite or marble sink use a soft cloth and dish soap not shiny use a small drop of olive oil. Stainless steel sink use furniture polish and buff dry. If you want your kitchen shiny just dry everything. You can clean green without chemicals just by using dawn dish soap and warm water. And drying. You can use dawn and water on floors to just about everything. Even through everyone is using vinegar on floors to counter tops this etches and wears down the finish. Vinegar has its place but dish soap like Dawn is much easier. It is also PH Balanced. And dry everything. This makes everything shiny.

kakki The best way I've found to clean a stainless steel sink is to scrub it with gel-type dishwasher soap. It will sparkle like new!

gusleonard Don't forget to clean the coils on your fridge!

mimi1054 Barkeeper's Friend is an outstanding product for removing marks from porcelain sinks.

Sharon Harris We paint our walls in semigloss and our trim in gloss. This makes washing walls easy. I spritz a couple of spritzes of degreaser in some warm water and soak a towel in it. Then I wring out the towel, loop it around a Swiffer mop and wash the walls down. I also make sure to wash any doo dads on the walls and shelves in the kitchen.

Gary Porter No one's mentioned the bane of my existence: the space beneath the kitchen sink, which tends to fill with arcane, unused (when did I buy Brasso?) cleaning supplies, grocery bags, compost-bound garbage and anything else that doesn't have its own home. The pipes are a difficult work-around for any sort of storage solution. I'm thinking of emptying it completely and nailing the doors shut to avoid the temptation of clutterizing.

TWO trashcans: genius.

ragsangle I find this a tad bit disgusting: who in thier right mind wouldn't do all these things on a regular basis? Your list is weekly routine...I can't imagine how dirty[not to mention all the germs] a kitchen would get without doing this once a week! The pantry should be rotatated each time you buy groceries so there will be no expired dates! [ it only takes 15 minutes to do this]That's just common sense...pots and pans should be throughly cleaned after each use so there should be no need to do this! The fridge takes 10 minutes to clean if you do it weekly plus you never have unwanted science projects growing in there...it doesn't take long to wipe down shelves and pull out the drawers to clean ...once a month I pull out the fridge and oven to clean behide so there are no risk of fires. As far as under the sink goes invest in a couple good organizers to keep things neat and useable...and never store cleaning products near food! If you clean kitchen properly it won't ever need spring cleaning...although once a year I do go threw and donate everything I have not used in the last year.
So my tip ...clean as you go!

Pangaea Interior Design, Portland, OR First of all a word about Martha Stewart -- that woman has a STAFF!! Lots of people to do all the chores. I recommend a housekeeper weekly! LOL!!

@garymporter -- a pull out drawer under the sink is great for storage so it is easy to pull out and see everything you have all the way to the back. The drawer is built in a "U" shape to slide past plumbing. Or if it is low enough that it doesn't need to be built in that U shape, then you can block off the part of the drawer that will slide under the plumbing and garbage disposal so you don't place things there that will get knocked over when the drawer slides in.

marilynchristine I hope that most of these tasks are done routinely (microwave, frig, sink, etc); otherwise...UGH!

mrobel @ragsangle A little judgmental perhaps? Lots of people have other things to do besides deep cleaning their kitchen every week.

sweetpeainsummer It is so easy to give my cupboards a refresher of white paint. Takes no more time then washing them down. @ Denise Barkeeper's Friend is the only one to use.

skydot I work as a flight attendant and - sure it's a great idea to "clean as you go", as one commenter said....but not always possible when you get home late, cook, eat, pack and sleep.....but the other tips are great.

Melanie Marinucci @ragsangle I'm with you 100%. Yes I have a lot of other things to do in life and I'm often complaining that all I do on weekends is clean the house...that's why I budgeted for a cleaning lady. There are far less important things that I would give up than a clean house/kitchen.

shanelovesherkids I love to wash the cabinets down inside and out with Murphy's oil soap. Fresh smelling and leaves behind a beautiful, lasting shine.

alohasas06 I use vinegar to clean everything. It is non toxic and kills as much bacteria as bleach without the clorine gas.

lanastenhouse My cabinets don't go all the way to the ceiling. After wiping off the top, I line them with wax paper. Cleaning the next time is easy, just throw away the greasy dirty wax paper!

prairiedawnpam To clean the microwave, I put a damp dishcloth (not microfiber) inside and let it run on "high" for one minute. When the cloth is cool enough to handle, I use it to wipe the inside of the steamy microwave. Not only does this help remove splattered messes from inside the microwave, it also disinfects the cloth without using chemicals.

Bonnie Dugan Vinegar....natural and it works!

balfour_girl I got a new kitchen last summer and I find it a pleasure to keep clean since everything is new. The appliance technician did say that every spring we should take the vent covers off the bottom of the fridge, and the protector panel off the back and vacuum it out thoroughly. He said spring is the best time because it'll have to work harder in the heat of the summer and we want the fridge to be as efficient as possible.

scottysgal Step 1: put on bathing suit. Step 2: remove all food from refrigerator and freezer, put in cooler. Step 3: take all shelves from fridge and freezer out into the sunshine, get a hose and soft-scrub cleaning liquid and rags. Step 4: Use hose for water, spray and wash all shelves; allow to dry in the sun. Step 5: Wash interior of fridge while shelves are drying. Step 6: Put everything back in place, congratulate self for getting some sunshine vitamin D while doing household chore. ;-)

angela_flute52689 I found a great tip for cleaning gas stove burners with cooked-on gunk that won't scrub off on Pinterest: put burner in a gallon-size ziploc bag with 1/4 cup of ammonia. Let the ammonia fumes seep into the gunk overnight (12 hours) and then it wipes off like a charm. *WARNING*: When you empty the bag, open your windows and have a fan running to blow the fumes out the window - they're STRONG! I should have done this. Also, if you didn't get all the gunk off, soak it again. However, not all may come off, especially when burners have been dirty for years or are simply old and the centers have cracked from the constant temperature changes. Be sure to rinse thoroughly (scrub some more with soap if you're worried about ammonia in the cracks) before cooking with it. The metal isn't porous, so the ammonia won't seep into the metal, just the food (unless you've got a lot of cracks or didn't get all the food off - then rewash with regular soap and water). NEVER MIX BLEACH WITH AMMONIA. It creates toxic fumes.

janbhan wet garbage bins smell fresher if you slash the foil of a deo tablet (the kind you find hanging in bathrooms or cupboards) and place it in the bottom of the bin.under the bag. You will still have to wash the bin out periodically, but it will smell a lot sweeter! This particularly works for bins that have had ash-trays emptied into them. I'm a non-smoker, so I really hate the smell.

karvictho Some of the items suggested are ones that should be done more frequently than just once in Spring... which is what Spring cleaning means to me. Windows, etc. should be taken care of when they obviously need work and this depends on the amount of wear and tear.

My Spring cleaning list does include those places which no one sees. The very top of the cabinets and shelves, lapshades, behind and under the refrigerator and various machines (dishwasher, etc.) tend to get a grimy sticky surface even if not used. Then there are the pots and pans which are seldom used but still seem to get a coating of greasy dirt. For this type of cleaning Ajax liquid and window washing fluid is the thing which cuts throught the grime and leaves it all smelling fresh.

ragsangle to @mrobel ...yes I to have much better things to do than be stuck in the kitchen cleaning and that is exactly why I do what I do it only takes about 15 or 10 minutes and I don't have to wait to spring clean to have my kitchen clean! I have a full time job, and I take care of my grandchildren at night while my daughter works, I like to sew,do crafts and garden so if I spend 15 minutes in the kitchen everyday doing one thing I have lots of extra time to do the things I want to! It 's not being judgmental it's being smart...it's only common sense and since I'm not lazy I don't mind the extra few minutes! And by the way you could say I have two full times since I work one full time and I take care of my grandchildren for 12 hours a night! So it works doing it my way for me!
PS I'm 57 years old so yes I am set in my ways!

shelbybella I deep clean my kitchen once a week, and do ' as I go ' cleaning every day..its much easier that try to tackle it all at once..even in the course of a day or two. The monthly thing is the oven / and total cleaning of my stove top . I have a Vintage Kenmore stove , so it takes a bit more time to get that done.lol.( soaking and cleaning the burners, etc,) It gets a good wipe off everyday though. I use mostly vinegar , and also use bleach. Bleach is my friend. lol. I use it on as many surfaces as I can. I also use Mr. Clean Scrubber sponges. they work wonders on your refrigerator, inside and out. Then a quick wipe with bleach water, and thats it. I have other cleaners I really like as well., which are Simple Green and Krud Kutter. Having used a ton of cleaning products( I was a professional / personal housekeeper, and also worked in an animal Hospital as the Clinic Housekeeper) I use what works and what will kill germs.

Helen Hart My arsenal for the house is white vinegar, lemons, kosher salt and borax. Keeping my coffee maker clean is an obsession, I run white vinegar through it, mix lemon juice, kosher salt and ice to clean the burner and carafe bottom and keep a fresh filter in it.

After wipin out my microwave with soapy water w/a little bleach. I microwave the leftover lemon half for one minute to freshen up after 2 months of holiday leftover warmups, football snacks, pizza reheats, etc. The ! I love that smell.

Borax in the wash water to soak dish cloths, dish towels and then add detergent to freshen them up after heavy duty during the holidays.

Borax in the tubs and sinks as non=abrasive scrubber. I mix a capful of tide in a buck with water, and scrub then rinse. I add bleach to the buck to clean bathroom floor.

Of course I do this on a regular basis, when you have dogs (2), cowboys in and out, family, grandkids, holiday visitors and visitors in general you have to keep up. I and everyone else in the fam are constantly on the move. Love a clean house! It's says "You are welcome here!"

yrunothere instead of contact paper in the cabinets, I purchased white 12" x 12" floor tiles with the peel off back. start at the front for a straight edge and finish off the back with a cut piece. When you need to clean , it is so easy. Just wipe with a sponge and you are done.

blueyesrsmiling I rent a Commercial steamer once a year to clean all my tile and grout. Then I re-seal it. The sealer I use I make sure it has a high rating and lasts at least a year.
Someone earlier commented on Ragsangle's post. I understand her. I am OCD when others come to my house and remark how clean it is, to me I see dirt. What is normal cleaning rituals to us is over kill for others, But mainly it's my home I obsess on. Not others homes.

Helen Hart @blueeyesmiling Thanks for the steam cleaning tip on tiles. I will be remodeling 2 bathrooms this spring and summer, good info!