The kitchen is the heart of the home; the centermost room of the house. You need to keep it clean for your sanity. You may instantly feel stressed out if the kitchen is messy. These are the little things that you can do every day that won’t take up a lot of your time and are going to prevent the mess from accumulating.
Clear off Countertop Clutter
A lot of people tend to keep every kitchen appliance they own on their countertops even if they are not using them very often. If this is you, then you should avoid doing this because this takes up a lot of counter space.
Not only that, but it also looks visually very cluttered. It is an easier and a more convenient option to keep only the appliances that you use daily on the countertop, for instance, the blender, microwave, sandwich maker, etc. while the rest of them can be stored down in the cabinets.
Decluttering your countertops is going to instantly make your kitchen look a lot cleaner by making more space.
Start Every Morning With an Empty Dishwasher
Unload your dishwasher the night before, but you can do it first thing in the morning. That way you will have a place to keep all your dirty dishes throughout the day.
Since you are starting the day with an empty dishwasher, have everyone in the family put all the dishes throughout the day in the dishwasher. This prevents your habit of keeping dishes in the sink or on your countertop.
In Case You Don’t Have a Dishwasher
Simply wash the dishes after each meal. Put a plastic bin under your sink and have everyone put their dirty dishes in there and then wash them all after dinner.
Clean as You Cook
Get into the habit of cleaning while you cook. Here are some ways in which you can do that;
- To contain your mess while you are cooking keep a container lined with a plastic bag on your countertop to use as mini garbage can collect scraps.
- Keep your trash and recycling in a drawer right off the island so that you can do your food prep right next to it with the drawer open. This lets you put the mess right into the trash to make cleanups much faster.
- Put away each food item right after you use it and anything else in the cabinets or fridge.
- Keep little wipes in some drawers which is next to your stove to quickly wipe away before it has the chance to dry up and get harder to clean any mess.
- Keep cloth to clean up crumbs or spills after meals .
- For baking, you can try doing all your measuring over the sink so that flour, sugar, etc. doesn’t get all over the place.
- If anything drops to the ground pick it up right away to avoid attracting bugs or your pets to those food crumbs.
Cleaning Materials
Let us look at some materials you can use for cleaning;
- Dish soap or liquid dish soap
- Scrubbers for general clean up, preferably the ones that come with a scrubby side for getting up the stuck-on on your pans and dishes
- Cleaning sprays for countertops or nearly anything
- Vinegar and water in case you want a DIY cleaning spray
Organize Your Pantry
Organize your pantry if you haven’t done so yet. Keeping this organized will let you work faster and save you a lot of time. This not only helps to clear out the clutter but also helps to keep your kitchen in order.
Clean After Dinner
Develop a nighttime or after dinner kitchen cleanup routine. It doesn’t take long and isn’t much of a work to do so. Most days it will only take you a few minutes to clean up.
Make sure to wipe down the counter, and any necessary places you feel requires some cleaning, such as stovetops. Sweep the floor or vacuum the floor every night. If that gets too much for you, try to do it every alternate night.
Some Frugal and Effective Tips
- Clean the spillage on the stove top as soon as you can. If you let it dry and wipe it off immediately, it will save you time from unnecessary scrubbing
- An easy way to keep the countertop clean is by placing cloths or simply newspapers on it before you start cooking
- When you have a lot to deep fry, especially when you are cooking for guests, cover your stovetop with aluminum foil. This will save your stove from the oil spillage
- Always wipe and clean the containers or boxes before keeping them back in the refrigerator or the cabinets. By making this a habit, you can save a lot of time
- Keep your sink always clean and empty and don’t keep used dishes on it
- Have two or more bins around and try keeping smaller ones around your sink for your easy access
- To keep the windows which are near the stove off grease is to clean them at least once a day. This way your windows will never catch grease
- Clean the sink with lemon and baking soda once in a day
- At the end of the day, soak the dish sponge, scrubber and cloth in hot water mixed with baking soda and vinegar. This DIY mixture is very handy and will disinfect all your sponges and wipes to be ready for using the following day
- Wash your dustbins daily
Clutter Creates Clutter
The more you keep things messy, the more you will get habituated with these, and as a result, you will be used to seeing clutter on your countertops or anywhere in the kitchen and eventually it won’t be a big deal to add some extra clutter to it.
When you clean up regularly, you will be used to seeing things clean and will notice the mess a lot easier.
Go Easy With Your Cooking
Slow down in general. The bigger the rush we are in, the bigger the mess we tend to make. Try to relax and get yourself a good amount of time to cook and take your time cooking and cleaning along the way.
And if there is anything you need to be done with early in the morning, try to finish it the night before and store it in the fridge. That way, you wouldn’t be running late for work or school in the process of preparing food and making a mess of your kitchen in the process.
Conclusion
By developing these habits, you can keep everything clean without spending all day to clean your kitchen. And a good, clean kitchen means lots of good meals cooked and enjoyed.
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