Today I’ll be sharing my once-a-month kitchen cleaning routine for keeping my kitchen feeling like it’s had a good deep clean without having to invest too much of my time into it.
I think my kitchen is actually the cleanest and tidiest it’s ever been right now. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that we’re in the middle of a lockdown where we live and so we’re home all day, every day without anything to get in the way of our routines. I do also think though, that it might have something to do with the fact that I’ve tweaked my kitchen cleaning policies a little bit to reflect our current lifestyle and they’re really working. So I thought this would be a great time to partner up with my friends at e-cloth and share the once-a-month kitchen cleaning routine that I’ve been using for the last few months.
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My Once a Month Kitchen Cleaning Routine
I’ve never been a big fan of the idea of spring cleaning, or any kind of big deep clean that takes multiple days and leaves you feeling exhausted and like you never want to do it again. I always prefer smaller tasks incorporated sustainably into everyday routines so you see results without traumatizing yourself and feel motivated to continue. This mini once-a-month deep clean is kind of a hybrid of the two methods. You do tackle a lot all at once, but it doesn’t take much more than an hour or two and you give yourself a good boost of cleanliness that makes it easier to maintain on a daily basis. Here are some of the policies that I follow with lists like this to make sure that they feel rewarding and motivating, not draining.
- Don’t stack big difficult tasks all together in a row so you feel like progress is slow and want to quit. Stack small tasks together so you feel like you’re making progress quickly. Space out the difficult tasks a bit.
- It feels like a lot all at once the first time, but the next time you do it, it will feel like your kitchen barely had a chance to get dirty. Well, no. You will think your kitchen is super dirty and really needs it, but you’ll find it miraculously easy to complete the tasks compared to the first time you did it. Oftentimes with “deep clean” tasks, we swear that we just did them a few weeks ago, when it’s really been six months to a year and that’s why they always seem so hard to tackle. The key is to do it every month and teach yourself over time, just how simple it is to keep your kitchen super clean.
What’s on my Kitchen Cleaning List
Do these tasks as they’re listed, in this order for maximum impact.
- Clean vent hood filters – boil water to soak and vacuum while waiting for water to boil.
- Soak the vent hood filters in baking soda and boiling water in the sink.
- Wipe counters, kitchen table, and utensil drawer organizer.
- Dust open shelves and light fixtures, wipe light fixtures with polishing cloth.
- Wipe cabinets, appliance fronts, and vent hood.
- Clean stove.
- Wipe out dishwasher.
- Wipe out fridge and microwave.
- Clean garbage can.
- Wipe out freezer.
- Hand wash any dishes with water spots or stains. (our plates always have little brown spots on them because my kids love sliced bananas)
- Soak pet food dishes, wipe kitchen chairs and baseboards.
- Clean windows and blinds.
- Organize any drawers or cupboards that need it (usually 3-4 per month), refill baking supply jars if needed.
- Mop floors
This list obviously doesn’t tackle absolutely everything in a kitchen that could possibly be dirty, but it sure gives a good boost to cleanliness levels in there. You may even find yourself feeling motivated to do things like wipe that splatter on your ceiling that you’ve been ignoring for the past three months once you’ve finished this list. And if not, that’s OK! You’ve still accomplished a whole lot. 🙂
What I Use to Get it Done
I’m a big fan of using simple, high-quality tools without a lot of bells and whistles. In my opinion, the thing that makes cleaning a kitchen difficult is our tendency to procrastinate and the fact that we tell ourselves that it’s going to be hard and take a long time. The actual tasks are simple if we can get ourselves to just do them. When you use simple tools that actually work, you take away some of your unwillingness to actually get cleaning because you quickly learn that wiping a counter is just as simple as wiping a counter. The part of the tasks that makes you think it’s hard is your past experience of chasing little bits of crumbs with a cloth that wouldn’t pick them up, or trying to polish a fridge that just won’t unstreak.
A good feather duster. A good feather duster will pick the dust up and hold onto it until you shake it outside. Dusting countertops, light fixtures, and appliances first will make them so much easier and quicker to clean.
E-cloth mop and mop cloths. Pro-tip: If you just want to give your floors a quick touch-up, you don’t even need to sweep or vacuum first. These mops are so easy to use and the mop pads clean floors really well, but also pick up small bits of dust, dirt, crumbs, etc. at the same time! I stock up on these mop cloths so I can just switch them out and throw them in the wash as they dirty.
E-cloth polishing cloths. My forever favourite for just about anything that needs polishing.
E-cloth glassware polishing towel. My new favourites for my glassware specifically. I’m super picky about wine glasses and water spots.
E-cloth kitchen dynamo. A great little helper to keep next to the sink. Tidier and more effective at wiping up spills and messes while cooking than a cloth, but also appropriate for using for hand washing dishes. I love that it looks tidy sitting next to the sink so I can leave it out, but it’s machine washable, so it’s more eco-friendly and less gross that having a sponge or a scouring pad sitting there for that purpose.
Miele bagged vacuum cleaner. Honestly, I know that bagless vacuum cleaners are touted as being simpler to operate and more efficient, but a bagged vacuum cleaner just does a better job and lasts much longer without malfunctioning. We love ours.
E-cloth kitchen cloth. Just the best all-around wiping cloth. Picks up all kinds of scumminess in one swipe, and (like all e-cloths) removes 99% of germs and bacteria with just water. I love the little built-in scrubby corner on this cloth too. Who thinks of these things? So smart!
E-cloth classic check dishtowels. I’m always on the hunt for the world’s most perfect dish towel and I just recently finally tried the e-cloth dish towels. I love that they’re soft and absorbent like a hand towel, but don’t leave lint behind and also have a polishing quality to them like a regular cotton tea towel. These make a great all-around paper towel replacer too if that’s something you’re trying to work towards this year!
If you’ve been wanting to try the e-cloths out, make sure you use the code CREEKLINEHOUSE15 to get 15% off your next order!
MORE IDEAS LIKE THIS
- How to Deep Clean Your Home in 6 Minutes a Day
- Simple Things I do so that my Home Always Stays Clean
- What to Clean in January
- Five Reasons Why Your Home Never Stays Clean
- The Creek Line House Cleaning Archives
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Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.