How to Clean a Kitchen
This is a tried and true cleaning process that I’ve used to clean thousands of homes over the 15 years of running my cleaning service.
While we all have a different perception of cleaning and the different surfaces that are important to each of us in our homes, I emphasize that the phrase ‘deep cleaning’ is not something to shy away from. It doesn’t have to be this once-every-year daunting task that maybe gets pushed under the rug as something to procrastinate, but rather, to befriend.
Deep cleaning a space can provide a big energetic shift and a reset at home.
To me, the definition of deep cleaning is to FULLY clean a surface with the right cleaning agent (and it doesn’t have to be with toxic cleaners…I mainly teach non-toxic cleaning) AND with the right tools. This means using soap, water, and agitation to scrub, lift, and remove dirt, debris, and bacteria. When you properly do this, it not only looks clean…it FEELS clean.
Below, I’ve broken the process down into 3 phases.
TIME TO SET ASIDE
Something I’d like to notate is that I typically keep certain things separate from a typical kitchen cleaning for the sake of actually completing the task at hand. For example, I save the interiors of the cupboards, the oven, and the fridge for another day (unless you have an entire day to dedicate to the kitchen). The kitchen itself can take many hours to clean, depending on how long its been since the last deep clean took place.
If you maintain your kitchen and follow this deep clean process every 1-4 weeks, it can take anywhere from 30min - 2 hours depending on the size of your kitchen and other specifics.
If you deep clean your kitchen every 6+ weeks, it can take anywhere from 1-6 hours depending on level of usage and how much you maintain it in between deep cleans.
SUPPLIES YOU’LL NEED
🧼 dish soap
🧺 a stack of terry cloth towels
✨ The Tidy People Glass Cleaner
⭐️ The Tidy People All Purpose Spray
⚡️ The Tidy People Floor Cleaner
PHASE 1: Gather & Prep
In this phase, it’s really about setting the stage to make room to clean.
(1) Gather any dishes and load/unload the dishwasher or hand wash dishes. Any movable pieces in the kitchen (such as a microwave plate or stovetop drip pans) can be washed in this step.
(2) Pre-treat surfaces with The Tidy People All Purpose Spray, as needed. This might be a super dirty stovetop or the interior of the microwave.
(3) Clear away any other items that might make cleaning the kitchen more easy. This might be taking out trash and recycling, tidying up, etc.
PHASE 2: Scrub
The majority of kitchen cleaning is the scrubbing phase, so you might be here for a while. Essentially, you’ll want to start in one spot and work your way around the entire kitchen in a circle until you’ve made it back to the spot you’ve started. Don’t leave any surface, appliance exterior, product, or knick knack unturned.
However you want to cover all surfaces is up to you. The strategy I typically use, is I scrub the top cupboard faces first, backsplash and counter, then bottom cupboard faces and then move onto the next section. The only area you’ll skip scrubbing is any glass, the sink, and floors (we’ll get to those in the next steps).
(1) Make a soapy towel with dish soap and water and scrub the entire perimeter of the kitchen. Follow up with a dry towel to polish and remove soap, water, dirt, and debris off of a surface immediately after scrubbing.
(2) Replenish your soapy towel by wringing it out under running water and add more soap or replace it with a new one. Replace polishing towel with a dry one as it gets too damp, too.
(3) Once the entire perimeter of the kitchen is scrubbed and polished, finish the scrubbing process by pouring dish soap onto dish brush and scrub the sink with the soap, water, and brush.
PHASE 3: Polish & Finish
This final phase is a breeze after all that scrubbing!
(1) Polish any stainless steel.
(2) Glass clean the fronts of appliances and any glass.
(3) Hand mop the floor! For step-by-step instructions, I recommend investing in the hand mopping guide.
MAINTENANCE
Finally, here’s some daily maintenance cleaning tips to keep your kitchen clean for the in-between times:
🧽 Wash dishes within 30 minutes after meals and meal prep
⚡️ Spray and wipe counters and stovetop with The Tidy People All Purpose Spray
✨ Polish off the stovetop and remove remaining grease film with The Tidy People Glass Cleaner
🧺 Tidy up any clutter and have a home for all items you own
🧹 Sweep or run your Dyson over your floors
