The kitchen is one of the most central and used rooms in any home. Food prep, dining, and entertaining are all regular occurrences within any kitchen. The issue with this is that it leads to overuse and lots of mess.
Keeping a kitchen clean can seem like an uphill struggle, but this doesn’t need to be the case. Let’s take a look at some of the key ways to keep your kitchen clean, how to do it effectively, and why it’s important to do so. If your kitchen requires some TLC, look no further.
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The Most Used Room in the House?
As mentioned, the kitchen tends to be one of the most used rooms in the home. Often, kitchens are combined with dining areas, meaning that not only will you prepare your food in the kitchen, but you’ll also likely eat there. Plus, if you have guests around, the kitchen is where you’ll find everyone enjoying some snacks or some drinks. Kitchen areas also tend to be spaces that you pass through regularly with trash, dirty shoes, and food waste, meaning that the likelihood of surfaces becoming dirty is higher than many other rooms in the house. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how to clean a kitchen properly.
How to Clean a Kitchen Properly
Cleaning a kitchen properly is often considered an arduous and stressful task. There’s no need to stress. With the use of multi-purpose cleaners, you don’t even need a cupboard filled with different types of cleaning products, as often there’s a simple product that can be used on every surface and area in the kitchen. Find yourself an awesome kitchen cleaning product. You might also decide to stock up on things like bulk kitchen paper towels that you know will come in use for cleaning and beyond when it comes to your kitchen. Once you have what you need, you can start the process of keeping the kitchen clean.
When cleaning any room – kitchen included – it’s best to start cleaning the highest surfaces first. Sure, these areas need cleaning less frequently, but if you’re doing a deep clean, get everything off of those top shelves and start with your cleaning product. Dust and clean the highest shelves and work your way down. Once these are done, you can move onto the kitchen workbench and associated appliances.
The workbench, sink, faucet, and worktop appliances are the things that gather the most dirt and grime. You must never leave food waste to dry or rot on any of these items. Though, even if you do, a great cleaning product can cut through that grime. Wipe down and disinfect the sink, stovetop, surfaces, and anything else used frequently or not kept in storage.
Once you’ve done everything above waist height, you can finish up by cleaning the floor. Ovens, toasters, grills, and other cooking appliances should be rinsed if any food waste is left on them. Other than that, make sure you do a deep clean of them around once a month to avoid the build-up of grime that will become harder and harder to cut through, even with an ace kitchen cleaning product.
Food Safety is Key
So, you know how to clean a kitchen, but why is it important? Firstly, food safety is super important. As you know, dirty surfaces – especially in areas where food is handled – can cause a build-up of dangerous bacteria. This makes preparing food in a dirty kitchen a very dangerous prospect. Bacteria like this can cause serious illness, food poisoning, vomiting, and other nasty conditions. Keeping surfaces, utensils, and appliances clean can all help prevent dangerous illnesses from hitting you.
Moreover, food safety is key to preventing incidents of food poisoning, which is why proper handling and storage practices are essential in every kitchen. When faced with a potential case of food poisoning, remember that activated charcoal for food poisoning can be a valuable medicine in aiding recovery and reducing discomfort.
This is especially important if you have children in the home. Little ones’ tummies are far more sensitive to these evil bacteria, meaning you could make your kids quite unwell if you aren’t careful with your food prep. When cleaning knives, appliances, and other food-related items, make sure you use an antibacterial cleaner.
Avoid Unnecessary Risks
Mess and dirt can lead to unnecessary risks. For example, if you don’t regularly clean your stovetop, leaving it covered in old food particles, oils, or other discarded items, you are seriously increasing the risk of fire. Oil especially is extremely flammable and can cause serious damage to yourself and your kitchen.
The same applies to clutter on other surfaces and the kitchen floor. If you have left glassware, plates, and cutlery stacked on the side, you’re creating a risk of things smashing and causing you harm. If you leave trash bags or other items on the floor unnecessarily, you could slip and fall when carrying hot food, knives, or other dangerous items. Keep it tidy, keep it clean, and minimize the risk of danger or injury.
Moreover, suppose there is a severe injury or accident in the kitchen due to clutter. In that case, hiring an injury attorney may be necessary to help you navigate the legal aftermath and to ensure you receive any compensation you may be entitled to cover medical bills and other related expenses. Keeping your kitchen clean and tidy is essential for both appearance and safety.
Looking After Appliances and Surfaces
Away from personal safety, you also want to look after the kitchen itself! Kitchen appliances have a limited shelf life while also costing a fair amount of money. For example, leaving a blender to sit when full of food can cause it to seize up and break, therefore costing you money to replace it! Don’t let appliances stay dirty as you want them to last as long as possible.
Even bigger appliances like stovetops and ovens themselves need to be kept clean to help increase their life. An oven caked in grime will become less effective over time. Plus, that grime is going to go into your food – gross!
Don’t Feel Embarrassed!
If the kitchen is the room for entertaining, making guests food, or showing off your cocktail skills, it’s not the room you want to be super dirty. The last thing you want is a group of friends leaving your home worried that your food would make them ill or simply thinking your kitchen is disgusting. Avoid embarrassment and shame by keeping your kitchen clean when entertaining guests! Think about it. You wouldn’t want to eat dinner in a restaurant where the chef never cleaned his kitchen!
For reasons mainly involving health, keeping the kitchen clean is one of the most important things you can do in your home. Plus, you can entertain any guests you have over with no embarrassment whatsoever. So, find your rubber gloves, buy a multi-purpose cleaner, and get stuck in cleaning your kitchen today!
Featured Photo by Becca Tapert on Unsplash
