13 Steps to Spring Clean Your Kitchen

I recently spent about 4 hours spring cleaning my kitchen.  Is that a long time?  I rarely spend that much time on one room in my house, but it had been about a year since I had cleaned it that thoroughly, so it really needed it!  I came up with some tips and tricks that I thought I would share today to help you Spring clean your own kitchen.  I cleaned almost my entire kitchen from top to bottom, using just one product- Palmolive® Multi-Surface Dish Soap.  Can you believe that, just one product! You can use it to clean your dishes and all other surfaces in your kitchen, and Palmolive® Multi Surface eliminates 99.9% of bacteria (*staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enterica and E. coli ((157:H7)) from dishes and hard non porous kitchen surfaces.

Bucket

2 Clean microfiber rags ( I prefer microfiber rags for both surfaces and glass, use two separate rags, one for each surface)

Stainless Steel Cleaning Rag ( This rag is made specifically to clean stainless steel, and I use it on all of my stainless appliances and the top of my island (which is stainless)

Palmolive® Multi Surface

Glass Cleaner of choice ( I make my own using white vinegar and water)
Cleaning powder ( I use Bar Keepers Friend)

Cleaning Sponge ( I prefer the kind that are soft on one side and rough on the other)

Old toothbrush to get in any nooks and crannies
Vacuum cleaner

1.  Add a generous squirt of Palmolive® Multi Surface to an empty bucket, then fill with very warm water.  I like to sit my bucket of soapy water in the sink, so that I don’t have to bend down       every time I rinse it and wring it out.  Remember to change the soapy water whenever it starts to look really dirty.

3.  Clean windows, doors, and things hanging on the walls.  I have been using vinegar and water to clean my glass for over a year now.  I just spray them and wipe them with a clean microfiber cloth. This works better to clean both mirrors and glass than anything else I have ever used.

4.  Use Vacuum cleaner to suck out dust, dirt, and dead bugs from area between windows and screens.  After giving that a good vacuuming, I wiped down those areas as well.

5.  Clean Light fixture.  My light fixture just happened to also be a pot rack, so I removed and wiped down everything that was hanging from it as well.

6.  Clean out and empty toaster.  All toasters have a removable tray at the bottom so that you can     get rid of those nasty crumbs.  I emptied and cleaned the tray, then wiped down the outside of the       toaster as well.

7.  Clean out your coffee maker.  I use white vinegar and a toothbrush to clean out my Keurig, and   my microfiber cloth to wipe it down.  I start by filling the reservoir about halfway with vinegar,         and run it through the Keurig until it is empty.  After that I fill it with water and run all of that             water through it.  Next I remove the tray that you sit your coffee cup on and wash it with warm           soapy water, and wipe down the outside with my microfiber cloth.

8.  Clean all items sitting out on your counters, and then clean counters.  I wipe down all items   on my counters with my warm soapy water and my microfiber rag.  As I clean each item I remove it from the counter.  Once the counter is empty, I wipe down the backsplash and the counters.  I work in section of my counter, so that I can remove all items and sit them on another section of the counter. After the counters are clean I replace all items.  I also clean my kitchen island and my bar cart at this time.  I remove everything from the open shelves and wipe them down, then I clean the top of my island with my stainless steel cleaning cloth.

9. Clean oven and stove.  My oven has a self cleaner, and about once per year, I use it.  I waited       until the rest of the kitchen was finished before setting it though, so that it would not make the kitchen hot while I was working in there.  After the self cleaner is finished, I just wipe down the inside with my microfiber cloth and warm soapy water.  My stove top is black, and it can be a             pain to clean because it streaks easily.  I remove my burners and clean them with a non scratch sponge and warm soapy water, and then I use the same sponge and soapy water to scrub the stove       top.  Next I take a dry dish towel and dry the top of it really well.  That keeps it from being streaky. After the top is clean I replace the burners and wipe down all the stainless steel areas with my stainless steel cleaning rag, and clean the glass with my vinegar/water solution and a different microfiber rag that is only for cleaning glass and mirrors.

10.  Wipe down bottom cabinets.  I use my microfiber cloth and warm soapy water.  

12.  Clean Kitchen sink.  I use my non scratch sponge and my cleaning powder to scrub out my sink.  I then rinse it with hot water, and wipe it down with my microfiber rag and warm soapy water to  remove any residue left from the powder.  I also like to slice a lemon and run  it through the garbage disposal.  That makes it smell nice and fresh.

12.  Wash any throw rugs.  I usually just throw them in the wash right before I start cleaning if they need washed.  I do not do this every time I clean the kitchen.

13.  Clean baseboards and floors.  I start by vacuuming both, and then I make up a fresh batch of warm soapy water and clean the baseboards and floors with my rag.

And you are finished!  Wow, that was a lot of work!  Now it is time to pour a nice glass of wine and sit back and relax.  I love having a spotless and freshly cleaned kitchen.  I probably don’t clean it that thoroughly often enough, but it does get Spring cleaned at least once a year.

I was very happy with how effective the Palmolive® Multi Surface Dish Soap worked to get my kitchen sparkling clean!  Be sure to pick some up in the dish soap aisle at your local Walmart.  I would definitely recommend it.