It doesn’t matter whether you eat in your kitchen or not, it should always be clean and clutter free.
A clutter-free kitchen provokes some unique emotions in us that attracts us towards the kitchen and makes us want to spend more time in it.
Most people even prefer to do all of their work in their kitchen itself, because it is just how they do.
But to keep your kitchen clean and tidy, and clutter free, you will have to maintain it and clean it from time to time, which is a pain for most of us (I would say, all of us).
And that’s the main topic of this article.
There are so many things that we need to take care of our kitchen. From the walls behind our cooking range where we mostly spill our spices and oil while cooking (especially in Indian kitchens), to the platform on which we do most of our preparation.
We can just be overwhelmed and not do anything because there is so much to do
Here I will mention the easiest ways to clean and maintain your kitchen that will become a habit for you. And you won’t be needing any robots or anything extraordinary for that.
We will just be using the things that are available in the kitchen itself.
For a quick read, here’s that will help you:
Maintaining Your Kitchen Platform:
If you are having a platform that is made of some kind of granite, then all you will have to do is wipe it with a wet cloth and it will be all new.
And if you happen to spill some oil on this platform, then all you will have to do is use some dishwashing liquid to wipe off that oil.
If you find that there are some dried stains on the platform, or that there are some dried curry stains.
You can make use of something hard, scotchbrite to clean it.
And if you want to make it shine, then make sure that you wipe the platform with a dry cloth after wiping it with a wet cloth.
The best practice to reduce your work is to make sure that you are wiping off the stains as soon as they appear.
This will eventually reduce the work for you.
And the last scientific thing that I would like to mention is that if you don’t wipe is as soon as possible, then it will become a platform for breeding germs that might affect your diet.
Maintaining The Interior and The Surface of Your Kitchen Cabinets:
The cabinets in your kitchen are another thing that requires regular cleaning and maintenance.
Whether it is just dusting it, or completely wiping it.
Most of the time, the outer surface of these cabinets can almost always collect some amount of smoke, dust and oil.
Make sure that you wipe these off at least once every week with a cotton cloth and your dishwashing liquid.
Just make sure that you don’t use anything that contains ammonia or bleach.
Making use of shelf paper can reduce almost 100% of your work. Since this reduces the contact between the utensils and the actual surface of the cabinet, there will eventually be less dust and dirt inside the cabinet.
But then too, you should clean it every once in a while. You can get hold of shelf paper from any supermarket, or else you can just use newspapers as shelf papers.
Another thing to mention is that you will need to investigate the interior of the cabinet much closely, because this is the area where that naughty dust sneaks in and lives there for many days, and in some cases, years.
This could turn into a breeding ground for different types of germs, that would then fall into your utensils.
Avoid hard things such as Scotch-Brite or steel while cleaning your cabinets, because you will end up scratching the surfaces of your cabinets, which will not look good.
Also, make sure that you are not using any clothes to cover your cabinets because they will get in contact with the moisture that will be stored in the cloth.
Maintaining The Floor of Your Kitchen:
The best practice to keep your kitchen floor clean is to make sure that you are cleaning it with water that is mixed with a cleaning solution on a daily basis.
And if you happen to drop something, or spill something on the floor, just make sure that you are cleaning it immediately because if you become lazy and leave it there.
Then it will become hard and you might need to soft brush it to remove the stain.
When you are working with substances like vinegar, and lemon juice, try your best not to spill them because it will cause a permanent stain on your tiles.
Also, while cleaning your floor on a daily basis, make sure that you squeeze your mob tightly and make sure that it is clean before reusing it.
After cleaning your floor, allow it to dry for some minutes before getting back into the kitchen because you might end up making footmarks there. Also, you might already know that the wood laminate flooring is much more delicate and softer than a ceramic tile.
So make sure that you are not scratching it with something.
Also, too much moisture on a wooden laminate would cause it to swell, so make sure that you are wiping the floor with a dry cloth after wiping it with a wet cloth.
Maintaining Your Kitchen Appliances:
There is only one thing that will reduce your overall work. It is cleaning things immediately after use.
It will not only help you get done with the work easily but also make sure that the utensils and accessories that you use, are maintained well.
Accessories like blenders, food processors and mixers are really easy to clean if you are cleaning it immediately after use.
All you have to do is just take a bowl of water, add one drop of dishwashing liquid and let the blender blades be there for about 5 minutes.
The diluted water will remove most of the grease and everything, and if there are any food particles left, you can clean it yourself.
The cleaning process of the food processors and mixers are the same. They should be cleaned with a wet cloth from the outside, and with running water from the inside.
And in case you happen to notice some grease marks on it, you can clean it with a sponge, and then follow up with a wet cloth. Also, make sure that you are cleaning the area where the container fits.
Cleaning the Refrigerator: This should be cleaned once every week because this is the place where we keep most of our food.
All you have to do is remove all the shelves and clean the remaining part of the refrigerator with a damp cloth while cleaning the shelves under running water.
Just make sure that you let them dry before putting the shelves back in place.
And if you think that there is some bad odour in your refrigerator, then you can keep some coffee at the back.
Cleaning the Microwave: This is the appliance which we rarely happen to clean.
Just make sure that you clean this one too once every week to make sure that there are no unwanted things getting mixed with your food while heating them.
All you have to do is take a bowl of water and add a spoonful of baking soda in it.
Put it in the microwave, and let it heat up for five minutes. This will form a layer of moisture on the walls of the microwave that will loosen all the dry stains that it might have.
Now the only thing remaining is you to wipe off everything with a cloth, and make sure that you are leaving the microwave open for a few minutes so that everything dries up.
Maintaining Your Sink:
Just like your kitchen platform, it is best for you to clean your sink every day after use. If you didn’t know already, all you need is baking soda and lemon juice to bring back the old shine of your sink.
Just mix both of the things, and clean the sink with it. Also make sure that you are mixing baking soda and lemon juice along with a bowl of hot water to clear the drain, in case something might have clogged it.
Just make sure that there are no utensils in the sink while you are washing it (because of hygiene).
Also, you can always get rid of some stains with the help of dishwashing liquid, and then to give it a final shine, you can wipe everything up with the mixture of baking soda and lemon juice.
Maintaining Your Kitchen Walls:
Most of the modern paints are okay to wash, but make sure that you already know what kind of paint is there on your wall, because you don’t want to remove your paint.
If there are little spots on your wall, you can make use of the mixture of baking soda and water to clean those spots, and follow it up with a dry cloth.
Another great alternative to that is to apply toothpaste to the area of that spot and wiping it clean.
All the other types of wall stains can be removed by scrubbing them with warm water and a soft sponge.
Just make sure that you are not using something very hard that will scratch off the paint because it will leave a really bad mark on your wall.
Lastly, the only thing that I would advise you, is to make sure that you are cleaning your kitchen on a daily basis rather than cleaning it once every month.
This is will greatly reduce the amount of work that you will have to do in the long run.