The ultimate kitchen deep clean guide
Cleaning the oven:
Starting off with one of the most used parts of the kitchen – especially during a Sunday roast! Grease and dirt can build up inside the oven, therefore it is important to clean this regularly. First, get some gloves on as oven cleaners may be more corrosive or irritating to the skin. Next, remove any loose debris from the oven with a dry cloth. Then select your oven cleaner, there are many available to choose from such as the Oven Pride cleaner. Spray the oven with this and use a sponge to lightly agitate the surface cleaned and let this sit for 5 minutes. After this, use a microfibre cloth to remove excess cleaner and dirt and finally go over this with a dry cloth to leave the oven dry and polished!
Sinks:
According to the NHS, the kitchen sink has 100000 times more germs than a bathroom. This statistic alone should motivate you to clean it much more often. But how can you clean your kitchen sink properly? Well, firstly, remove and bin any food parts etc. and then rinse the sink. You may use a sink cleaner, but baking soda and white vinegar are great DIY alternatives. Simply coat your sink with a little baking soda, add white vinegar onto a sponge and scrub the sink in circular motions – including the tap itself. (make sure you are wearing gloves!). Rinse the sink to remove remaining cleaner. To remove limescale from the tap head, simply cut a lemon and place a teaspoon of baking soda on it and place the lemon over the tap – leave this to sit for 10 minutes and rinse.
Fridge:
A fridge is like a treasure to some- especially those midnight snackers like myself! Therefore, it’s important to treat your fridge the proper way. Keep it clean and organised, and in return you will get delicious, fresh food. But how? First, Take everything out, bin items that are out of date and sort items into the basic food groups. Following this, clean your fridge with a good, food safe cleaner to get rid of any harmful microbes. Invest in clear, storage separators of baskets for your fridge, this may help prevent cross contamination between food groups such as raw meats and vegetables, and helps make your fridge look more organised and tidy.
Keep ready to eat foods on top shelves, and ensure items that are closest to the expiration date are nearest to you when you open the door to avoid food waste, raw meats should go on the bottom, away from any other foods. If you have a fruit and veg container in your fridge, make sure only fruit and vegetables are in it and check the container frequently as fruits and vegetables tend to have short shelf life and may attract pests if out in the open.
Stovetop:
The stovetop is simple to clean, but often forgotten. It should be cleaned around 3 times a week – more if you use it more often. For us, the Pink Stuff paste is perfect for this however, any stovetop cleaner will be suitable (although we do recommend checking reviews and spot testing on your stovetop). Again, remove loose debris, apply and agitate your cleaner, and wipe! It is really that simple!
Floors and countertops:
Finally, you are ready to clean your floors! These should be cleaned on a daily basis through a quick sweep and mop. For a more thorough clean use a vacuum to remove all debris and crumbs collecting on your floor and a more thorough cleaner in your floor washing solution when mopping. In terms of countertops, again a daily wipe is best to prevent build up of food parts and germs. Sanitise your surfaces regularly – remember your re using these to prepare the food you are going to be eating!