New Construction Upgrades That Add Value: A Guide to Personalizing Your New Home
Posted by Bruce Borden in Home Maintenance
Crumbs, spills, grease, broken dishes, and so many other incidental hazards that come with cooking tend to lurk under appliances and in small nooks and crannies.
To both ensure a healthy environment for your household as well as keep your new kitchen looking its best, use these kitchen cleaning and organizing tips in your home kitchen!
If you’re a new homeowner, there are a few tools you’ll need to purchase to take care of your home, such as effective cleaning products. Having these on hand is the first step to get in a good cleaning routine in your home.
Once you’re stocked up on the right cleaning equipment for the surfaces, floors, furniture, and appliances in your home, the kitchen should be one of the most frequently cleaned rooms in your home!
How Often Should I Clean My Kitchen?
You should clean your kitchen daily by wiping surfaces, cleaning up major messes, and properly handling and storing food, and then carry out more thorough deep cleans every week, month, and season thereafter.
Why? Most importantly, to remove potentially harmful bacteria from some of the most commonly contaminated household areas.
Another benefit to a regularly maintained kitchen is the peace of mind you’ll have about your workspace. “When you keep your kitchen clean, it helps you to be in a great mood. You feel calm and refreshed after a day of work,” adds Bret Jackson, professional cleaning expert at Letti & Co.
To help you keep up with your kitchen’s regular usage, here are the daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal cleaning tasks you should complete.
Download our Kitchen Cleaning Checklist for an easy guide to keep your kitchen spick and span!
Daily Kitchen Cleaning Tips
At least once daily, complete these daily cleaning chores, according to Pulkit Damani, home improvement blogger.
- Wash the Dishes
- Wipe Down All Surfaces
- Clean the Sink
- Clean Any Used Cooking Equipment
While this fourfold list may seem a bit daunting at first if you’re not in a regular daily cleaning habit, you can do these types of cleaning tasks while catching up with a loved one at the end of the day, chatting with a friend on the phone, listening to a podcast, or even while your favorite show is on in the next room.
Cooking equipment includes your oven, stove, microwave, airy fryer, pressure cooker, and any other similar tools.
Ready for a great rule of thumb to follow? Always clean any existing dirty dishes before starting a new meal’s or snack’s prep. This not only lessens the amount of germs and bacteria that can travel across surfaces, but it also keeps cleanup to a minimum at any given time!
Weekly Kitchen Cleaning Tips
- Sweep and Mop the Floor
- Wipe Down the Appliances
- Clean the Stovetop
- Clean the Vent Hood
- Wipe Down the Backsplash
During the busyness of the school and/or work week, spending a lot of time cleaning after a long day might be the very last thing you feel like doing. As such, buildup like crumbs, leaks, or other debris can go unnoticed until pets—or worse, bugs—find them.
The grease buildup in your vent hood is another must on a weekly basis. Making sure air can flow properly here is crucial to the efficiency of your kitchen.
Cooking oil and other liquids can also pile up on your backsplash, so keep this material wiped down as well.
Add these crucial cleaning tips to your weekend to-do list to keep your kitchen fresh.
Monthly Kitchen Cleaning Tips
- De-Clutter
- Clean the Fridge
- Clean the Pantry
- Clean the Baseboards
- Organize and Clean Cooking Supplies and Utensils
Every month, you’ll want to check expiration dates, dispose of open packages of food, toss any damaged dishes or containers missing lids, and thoroughly remove dust and other crud from the various spaces that typically only hold storage.
Even though you’ve been cleaning your floors weekly, your baseboards often get overlooked in that process and could use a little TLC to stay the same shade as other areas in your home!
Seasonal Kitchen Cleaning Tips
- Clean Out Your Fridge Coils
- Clean Around Windows
- Empty Cabinets and Cupboards and Clean Thoroughly
- Clean Exteriors of Cabinets and Cupboards
- Pull Out Oven and Clean Behind
- Wipe Down Heavily Used Cookbooks
When the weather changes, open windows and outdoor footwear can both contribute to extra gunk.
Additionally, your stored food items and various cooking equipment have most likely seen significant use and need to be deeply cleaned and sanitized, as well as the areas around them.
You may also notice food that fell behind larger appliances or storage containers and needs to be thrown out.
If you’re an avid cookbook-user, these books probably have seen some mess, too. Make sure all of your surfaces are clean and sanitary for future use!
As a savvy homeowner, you’ll be very glad you’ve kept up with your kitchen. For other cleaning tips and upkeep throughout your home, check out these other easy organization tips.
Author
Bruce Borden
Author
Bruce has been with M/I Homes for over 20 years, has been the National Customer Experience Manager for over 10 years, and has been in the home building industry for over 30 years. Happily married and a proud father, Bruce enjoys outdoor activities and home improvement projects, and has never met someone he didn't like.
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Author
Bruce Borden
Author
Bruce has been with M/I Homes for over 20 years, has been the National Customer Experience Manager for over 10 years, and has been in the home building industry for over 30 years. Happily married and a proud father, Bruce enjoys outdoor activities and home improvement projects, and has never met someone he didn't like.