Maintaining your kitchen can help you give an overall good appearance and vibe to your home. But, with our crazy schedules, things can definitely get hectic with cleaning, especially that of our kitchens, taking a backseat.
While most of us understand the importance of deep cleaning and scrubbing our kitchen once or twice, there are a few ways in which you can keep your kitchen spotless, or nearly spotless, and clean without having to put in too much effort and time. Yes, it is possible!
Read on as we list a couple of effective kitchen cleaning habits that can help you keep your kitchen space tidy and neat all day long.
Kitchen Cleaning Habit #1: Keep Your Dishwasher and Sink Empty Before Cooking
You must have noticed that whenever you start preparing a dish, you tend to dirty a lot of utensils. Now, cooking is an elaborate process and it is nothing short of an art. You use multiple ingredients as well as dishes and that’s completely alright!
In order to save time, it is better to merge different chores together. For example, before you start cooking, make sure that your dishwasher and sink are empty. As soon as you are done with your utensils, you can rinse the dirty dishes in the sink and then load them in your dishwasher right away. At the moment, you can buy dishwashers that can make your life easier due to the different facilities they offer as well. This way, your dishes, as well as cooking tools, wouldn’t have to be left dirty all night long.
Kitchen Cleaning Habit #2: Utilize Your Free Time in the Kitchen for Cleaning
Often, we get some free time while doing a few tasks such as boiling water, heating food, and so on. You have to make sure that you use this time wisely instead of wasting it by just standing around. For example, you can wipe the kitchen counter, unload the dishwasher, and organize the food containers to name a few activities. By doing this, you won’t have to specifically take out time from your schedule to do menial jobs like these. Talk about killing two birds with one stone!
Kitchen Cleaning Habit #3: Make A Point to Clean Up Spills Pronto
You have to admit that this is something that most of us tend to neglect. There are a lot of occasions when we often spill milk, water, or gravy. At times when we are in a hurry, we tend to ignore it thinking of doing it later but little do we know that cleaning up spills ASAP is much better and easier.
Dried up gravy, milk or other spills have to be soaked or scraped before they can come off easily without damaging our counters. Not only does this require more effort and time on our part, but it unnecessarily lengthens a process that could’ve been taken care of with a single swipe.
Kitchen Cleaning Habit #4: Instantly Wipe Your Sink After Doing the Dishes
Trust that instantly cleaning your sink will save you time. In fact, it will save you lots of time. Your dishes won’t get extra greasy sitting in your sink which by the way can leave a horrid smell and attract flies being left for longer periods. Also, your sink will look better and last longer with no watermarks forming on it.
Kitchen Cleaning Habit #5: Invest in Big Trash Cans and Recycling Containers
Opt for trash cans and recycling containers that are of sufficient capacity as per your needs. If you frequently find yourself storing your trash in paper bags due to your trash holder being full, you definitely need to buy a bigger container.
Overflowing trash can make your kitchen look extremely cluttered and unhygienic. This is not a sight to behold which can even put your mood off, extinguishing your enthusiasm to be in the kitchen. With your trash hidden, things would look and feel so much better.
Kitchen Cleaning Habit #6: Always Have A Kitchen Towel on You
In addition to an apron, it is smart to carry a kitchen towel as well. Kitchen towels can be really helpful for your kitchen chores as well as for cleaning. Between wiping up spills, drying your knife or dish, and grabbing hold of hot pans, a kitchen towel can do it all.
Also, take care that you have a stock of clean kitchen towels. As soon as you feel a towel needs washing, you should use another one.
So, these were a few cleaning habits that you should use to keep your kitchen in top-notch condition at all times. While it may look like extra effort initially, you will soon realize that it is better for you in the long run. Take care to be clever and manage your time when you do your cooking. Try to have a kitchen that is minimalistic and contains only essential things. Only when your kitchen is free from clutter, will you also get an atmosphere that boosts your overall productivity.
Resources — Kitchn, The Pioneer Woman
