The kitchen is the heart of the home, so it’s often the place where the family congregates, in addition to meal prepping, cooking, and often eating. In theory, the kitchen should be the cleanest room in the house.
Unfortunately, at least in my house, the kitchen’s often the place where all our stuff (germs included) gathers, too.
Since I don’t want to spend all day cleaning the kitchen (and cleaning the kitchen again, since it always seems to get dirty the second I’m done cleaning it), I’ve been focusing on these areas to maintain a relatively clean kitchen.
“Fake it ’til you make it” is my motto. 😉
How to Quickly Clean Your Kitchen
I do these steps as part of my daily routine (normally at the end of the day) or really fast before company comes. Otherwise, I save my “deep kitchen cleaning” for my monthly routine, when I tackle things like cleaning the kitchen cabinets.
The point of this routine is to freshen your kitchen “just enough.”
1. Declutter the counters
Experts recommend having a maximum of three items on your kitchen counter. Especially if you have a small kitchen like me, this is good advice.
That said, keeping only three items is really difficult to achieve (and maintain). I have a Keurig, a knife block, a Kitchenaid mixer, bananas, a napkin holder, a diffuser, and a charging station on my counter. It looks as cluttered as it sounds.
If you have a lot of large items (like a mixer or coffee maker) that are difficult to move, feel free to leave them. But the smaller items? Try to clear as many as you can.
Another tip is to only keep items that you use frequently on your counters. If you need extra counter space (like when you’re baking cookies or hosting a party), put away anything that’s not necessary. For example, I use my diffuser daily, so I leave it on my counter, but I put it away for large gatherings.
Even if you don’t end up doing a full Marie Kondo-style decluttering in your kitchen, quickly clearing your counters will make a huge difference.
2. Clean the counters
Messy, dirty counters are an eyesore (and an easy way to breed germs). Once your counters are decluttered, spend a minute or two wiping them down.
Many times, especially if I’m washing dishes, I just use the dish cloth and soapy water to wipe the counters. However, if I need a quick pick me up, I love to use Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface spray in Honeysuckle. It’s an instant mood booster!
If you don’t have time to move every item on your counters, just a simple wipe down of the main areas will help your kitchen look better.
3. Empty the sink and/or dishwasher
Have you ever invited people over for dinner when your dishwasher and sink were overflowing? Yep, me, too.
An overflowing sink, even if the dishes are clean, is not pretty, nor is it practical. It not only makes preparing and serving the food more difficult as you’re trying to work around piles of dirty (or clean) dishes, but it’s also an eyesore. Also, after dinner, guests will often try to help clear the table and finish the dishes. But if the kitchen’s a mess….
At the end of every day, or right before guests arrive, try to empty your dishwasher and sink.
When I’m trying to deep clean or get my house ready for guests, I normally start in the “hidden” places, like the bedrooms, and then work my way to the first places guests will see – like the kitchen. These three steps are perfect to put the finishing touches on your kitchen at the end of a deep cleaning, but they’re also great to “whip your kitchen into shape.”
Clearing the counters, wiping the counters, and emptying the sink don’t take long, but they make such a difference. Your kitchen may not be perfectly clean, but these three steps will help to give it a clean appearance.