May 9, 2018

How to Keep Your Kitchen Clean Most of the Time

A common question I hear from readers is, “When do you clean or deep clean your kitchen?”. In reality, our kitchen is clean most of the time and how I do this is really simple.

I’m always cleaning it.

Cleaning the kitchen fits into my daily and weekly cleaning tasks and is so much easier to maintain with a couple habits instead of deep cleaning it when it’s a disaster. Here’s how I maintain a clean kitchen most of the time.

Let’s start first thing in the morning and go through the day…

I get up pretty early and start by making coffee and unloading the dishwasher while I wait for the coffee to brew.

This works well because the dishwasher is ready for the breakfast dishes and we can just keep filling it up all day long.

After breakfast everyone clears their own plates and puts them in the dishwasher or on the counter. The kids and I get their lunches packed if it’s a school day and then I do a quick table and counter wipe down once any remaining dishes get washed or put in the dishwasher.

If it’s just me during the day I put my lunch dishes in the dishwasher and if anyone else is home we do another table and counter wipe down once lunch dishes are cleared and in the dishwasher. If I’ve done cooking, prepping for dinner, or baking and the dishwasher is full I run it after lunch so it can be unloaded when the kids come home from school (my big kids take on this responsibility). If it’s not full, I wait and run it after dinner.

Let’s talk about daily tasks that are done, well, daily.

I guarantee that if you aren’t currently taking care of these little tasks during the day it will take you much longer than if you just keep up with them at meal times, during the day, or before/after you leave or get home from work. It’s the simple maintenance that is key to keeping your kitchen (and whole home) clean most of the time!

Daily tasks in the kitchen:

  • wipe counters – after each meal as needed
  • check floors – quick sweep if necessary
  • clutter – put anything away that needs to be put away  (mail or school papers on counters, etc.)
  • nightly sink scrub – this is one of my favorite cleaning rituals. After dinner is cleaned up, the dishwasher is loaded, and the table and counters are clear and clean, I make a simple scrub: sprinkle it in the sink and scrub it clean.

Staying on top of the daily tasks is simple when you get into the habit of it. Once you have a rhythm with the dailies, start adding in the weekly cleaning tasks. Here’s my nightly quick clean routine if you want more specifics.

A quick wipe down of the counters and stove every day is key to keeping the kitchen clean most of the time. I use bar mop towels to wipe down counters (in lieu of paper towels) and spot clean/wipe the stove top down nightly as needed as well.

Weekly cleaning tasks in the kitchen:

  • Monday – Bathrooms Day
  • Tuesday – Dusting Day — I have a couple shelves in the kitchen that need to dusted so I do a quick swipe of them
  • Wednesday – Vacuuming Day — I thoroughly vacuum the kitchen floors along with the rest of the house
  • Thursday – Floor Washing Day — I wash the kitchen floors along with the rest of the house
  • Friday – Catch-All Day — Friday is my day to catch up on any uncompleted tasks from the week. I also do some menu planning for the coming week, wipe out the refrigerator, and head to the grocery store to stock up before the weekend. If I have extra time I do a rotating cleaning task or two – every month I wipe all the appliances down and will usually wipe cabinet and drawer knobs and pulls along with wiping down door fronts if needed.
  • Saturday – Sheets + Towels Day — I launder kitchen towels and cleaning cloths on Saturdays in a separate load after sheets and towels.

If you feel like you need a little help getting things done, you might be interested in my Homekeeping Society subscription. Homekeeping Society has a month dedicated to deep cleaning the kitchen but you’ll find that the consistency you establish when you clean a little bit every day will do wonders for your home.

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in the kitchen