Daily Maintenance (at least once a day, preferably after each meal)
-
Empty the dishwasher/ dish-drainer
-
Wash the dishes that are in the sink/ or put them in the dishwasher
-
Throw away ALL trash that’s on the counters{*}
-
If you don’t have a dishwasher, handwash the dirty dishes
-
Wipe out the microwave
-
Using a spray-cleaner, wipe off the top of the stove and wipe down the counters
-
If you have kids, give the fridge and freezer doors a quick swipe with your dish-cloth
-
Use the spray cleaner to shine up your sink
-
Put the dish-cloth and dishtowel in the laundry and put fresh ones out for the next day
-
Sweep, spot clean dirty spots
-
Start the dishwasher
*If you are saving recyclables because you will “make it to the recycling center someday,” THROW THEM AWAY. You do NOT need the junk cluttering up your counter. If you plan to go to the recycling place TODAY, then you can put the stuff in your car. Then take it to recycling. If it’s still in your car tomorrow, throw it away. Do try to properly recycle everything from now on, but don’t allow it to make you live in filth.
Weekly Maintenance (What to do when Kitchen is the Lucky Room of the Day)
Set your timer for 15 minutes. Work steadily until the timer goes off, then take a 15 minute break (use your timer!) Work for about an hour. If you don’t have a lot of decluttering, you should be able to get this done in about an hour. If you do have a lot of clutter, just work your way through steadily. Perhaps add a 15-minute kitchen decluttering session to your daily list to make next week’s kitchen LROTD easier.
This is as comprehensive list as I can make it. It will change and grow. Pick and choose what you are capable of doing, but try hard to at least do the daily maintenance chores.
-
Empty the dishwasher/ dish-drainer
-
Wash the dishes that are in the sink/ or put them in the dishwasher
-
Fill the sink with hot soapy water. You’ll use this soapy water to wipe down appliances and to soak dirty dishes you find while cleaning.
-
Throw away ALL trash that’s on the counters{*}
-
Choose one cabinet a week to empty out, wipe out, and reorganize. Get rid of things you don’t use often. Take them to a storage area of your house, or donate them to someone. At least once a month, clean under the sink.
-
Remove everything from one countertop, wash the entire countertop, wipe down the items, and put back only what needs to be there. Put everything else away in its proper spot, if it has one, or find a proper spot, or put it in a storage box.
-
Repeat with each countertop section. While you’re decluttering, you can choose to do one countertop section a week. Once they’re decluttered, this part shouldn’t take very long.
-
Clean out the fridge and freezer, throw away left overs that are more than 4 days old. Put the containers in the dishwasher. Throw away condiments that are nearly empty. Add them to your shopping list. Wipe down fridge shelves. Wipe down the gaskets where things spill. Refill ice-cube trays
-
Soak the oven burner rings in ammonia OR a baking soda paste. Run your stove’s self-cleaning cycle (remove racks and aluminum foil first) OR wipe out the stove with ammonia OR baking soda paste. Replace aluminum foil and racks.
-
At least once a month, run vinegar through your coffeemaker. It will take many rinses to get it clean, but it will clean out hard water from your coffee maker.
-
The first week of the month, move your refrigerator and stove and clean underneath. Wash the sides of the cabinets next to the appliances. Wash the sides of the appliances. Remove cobwebs. Mop.
-
If you don’t have a dishwasher, handwash the dirty dishes
-
Wipe out the microwave, using a spray cleaner
-
Spray clean the fronts of the fridge, oven, and dishwasher, and spot clean the cabinets.
-
Use the spray cleaner to shine up your sink. Use a toothbrush to scrub around the faucet. Get rid of the stuff that gathers around the faucet when you’re not paying attention.
-
Put the dish-cloth and dishtowel in the laundry and put fresh ones out for the next day (if you’re doing this at the end of the day)
-
Sweep, spot clean dirty spots, mop the whole floor, paying special attention to where the floor meets the cabinet.
-
Start the dishwasher
Therese
December 15th, 2002 at 10:17 pmI have an electric stove with a smooth surface, what is the best way to clean the surface? Thanks
Cindy
February 15th, 2003 at 8:40 pmbaking soda works good
Jenne
May 5th, 2003 at 7:16 amA lot of the companies that make those recommend a cleaner called Bon Ami. I’m not sure where to find it, though.
suzanne
May 16th, 2003 at 10:32 pmPlaces like Sears and Bed, Bath and Beyond sell cleaners specially made for these types of stoves. They cost about $6.00 a bottle and will last for many months. It’s the only thing I use on mine and it actually makes long term cleanup easier as it coats the surface and makes gunk easier to get off. When I got my stove, I was told not to use soapy water as usual, because the soapy water could cause the burners to smoke. The special cleaner can be wiped all over the cooktop and then wiped off with a damp paper towel. I then use a dry paper towel to polish and my stove always looks just like new. If yours is really dirty, you can use a razor blade to scrape off the gunk. Just make sure the surface is very wet and that you hold the razor blade at a very low angle to avoid scratching. Be gentle. I have never had to do this on my stove as the cleaner used regularly helps that from happening. Even if it’s really dirty from a boil over, I may have to use a little more elbow grease, but it always comes completely off within a couple of minutes and looks like new.
Nikki
June 13th, 2003 at 8:06 amI was wondering if you had a way of putting this information into printer friendly versions?
Josie
July 21st, 2003 at 8:01 pmBon Ami is next to the Comet and Ajax in-a-can stuff on the cleaner aisle in the grocery store. Look for the gold can, it’s under a buck where I live and it’s very gentle, slightly abrasive, no bleach or scent. I used it when I was pregnant because it didn’t stink up the place.
Joy
September 15th, 2003 at 6:41 amOne place I often forget…because it’s above eye level: is the top of the refrigerator. I try to remember to straighten this on kitchen day.
Jenn
October 29th, 2003 at 7:49 amA good cleanser for counter tops and all around cleaning is Bar Keeper’s Friend- it is found near the other powder cleansers and may cost a little more but it works great for kitchen clean up
Jenn
October 29th, 2003 at 7:49 amA good cleanser for counter tops and all around cleaning is Bar Keeper’s Friend- it is found near the other powder cleansers and may cost a little more but it works great for kitchen clean up
Robin
February 12th, 2004 at 5:17 pmSomething to add to the weekly cleaning for kitchen and bathroom, is to pour a pot of boiling water down all drains to help keep them running freely.
Sally
March 13th, 2004 at 9:56 pmI agree with the comment about pouring boiling water down your kitchen drains. BUT, I was told by a plumber that if you FIRST pour about a 1/4 cup of a GOOD “grease-cutting” dish detergent (I use Dawn) and let it set for about 1/2 hr, THEN flood with boiling water, you should ALWAYS have a nice free flowing clean drain. It works for me! Do this about once every other week.
Yvonne Yavet
March 29th, 2004 at 11:37 amDo you have any good ideas about toasters? Everytime I move mine, I have crumbs everywhere. I try to clean it once a week, but it never seems to get really clean.
louisa
July 5th, 2004 at 2:05 amany suggestions on cleaning cig smoke off walls.
Mary
July 21st, 2004 at 6:37 pmAn idea for cleaning smoke and that slime that accumulates on high shelves, top of the fridge, etc is to use a small amount of automatic dishwashing powder in a sink. Use this on either a cloth or wash your ‘knick knacks’ in this water. The slime just falls off! Only one warning. Use rubber gloves! You could go without, but your hands will be so dried out it will take a couple of weeks to recover.
Marci
July 26th, 2004 at 11:25 amFor the toaster problem, make sure you are opening the bottom catcher thing on it and wiping it out. Then if it is still a problem, put a piece of waxed paper under it.
For removing cig smoke, I like the Amway See Spray in the aerosol can. I used it on my computer monitor once and the yellow nicotine stuff just wiped right off. I then tried it on walls, etc and the same affect happened. Since the Amway stuff is becoming harder for me to get a hold of, I have been using the Windex in the can and it also works, not quite as well, but it works. I am guessing it is the ammonia in it that makes it work.
Kandi
October 25th, 2004 at 2:30 pmA quick easy way to clean your microwave I have found…put equal amounts of water and lemon juice in a microwave safe dish and microwave it for 3-4 minutes. After it is finished leave it set in the microwave and “sweat” Dry it out with paper towels.
Ycswid
January 23rd, 2005 at 5:18 pmA good smoke remover is TSP. Mix according for packet directions. It’s suggested for pretreating walls prior to painting.
Holly
January 9th, 2006 at 10:22 pmA great way to keep your garbage disposre sharp put egg shells in and run till there all washed down.
Sara
January 11th, 2006 at 12:40 ami was also told to put ice in the garbage disposel to clean out the left over food.. Our Plumber told us that once when the garbage disposel was not functioning right.
Marci
March 6th, 2006 at 1:38 amSomething that I have found to remove smoke film, shine the sink, clean mirrors & windows better than Windex is alcohol. Plain Isopropyl Alcohol, found in the pharmacy section, with the bandaids & peroxide. I keep a spray bottle of it around for quick clean ups.