The kitchen is the most popular room in the house. It’s the hub that parties revolve around, the command centre for backyard barbeques and the birthplace of a million holiday mince pies and sausage rolls. It’s also the room that requires the most cleaning. There are countertops to clean, appliances, the hob, the oven, the vent hood, the sink, the floor and on and on. The most daunting part of bringing the kitchen to heel is knowing where to start. Below our kitchen cleaning pros provide a 10 part framework for deep cleaning your kitchen.

 

1) Do a Pre-Clean

Before you really get down and dirty with the kitchen do a preliminary surface cleaning. This will clear away unnecessary clutter and make your job a lot easier. A kitchen pre-clean typically consists of:

  • Washing, drying and putting away any dirty dishes.
  • Clearing the countertops and wiping them down.
  • Removing everything that does not belong in the kitchen.

 

2) Organise in a Way That Makes Sense for You

Just as you would when deep cleaning the house organise the kitchen in a way that makes sense to you, not to some third party expert you’ve never met. You might want to organise things vertically with snacks and cereals on the lowest shelves, canned goods on the middle shelves and seasonal items that you only rarely use on the highest shelves. Or you may have an alternative system already in place that you’re comfortable with. If that’s the case then that’s the system you should use.

 

3) Clean and Organise the Cupboards

Once the pantry is in order it’s time to face the cupboards.

  • Just as you did with the pantry remove everything from the cupboards and place it on the kitchen table.
  • Toss or donate to charity all items that are damaged, unwanted or unnecessary.
  • Separate all seasonal items and place them in boxes for storage.
  • Check the expiration date on any food items and tossed expired ones.
  • Clean all shelves as you did in the pantry.
  • Make sure baking and cooking ingredients like flour and sugar are placed into airtight mason jars or plastic containers with sealable lids.
  • Return all items to the cupboards making sure to group similar items together.

 

4) Be Ruthless With the Drawers

More often than not kitchen drawers wind up as places to hide. As in, hide the tape measure and other tools, hide the old earphones, the old iPod, the old liquid paper, holiday photos, work gloves, movie tickets, foreign currency, apartment keys from when you were at university and more. As such:

  • Remove everything from the drawers and (you guessed it) place it on the kitchen table.
  • Toss anything that’s broken, unwanted, unusable or long-forgotten.
  • Take things that belong elsewhere, like that tape measure, and put them elsewhere.
  • Once you’ve purged the drawer of all the things that had been hiding there, organise the remaining items by purpose.
  • Clean all the drawers using the same soapy water you used on the cupboard shelves.
  • When the drawers are clean and dry return the remaining items.

 

5) Clean the Face of the Cabinets

There are a number of kitchen cleaning products on the market designed for different types of cabinet faces. Some for natural wood. Others for painted surfaces. And still others for veneers. Make sure yours is an appropriate match for the type of cabinet faces you’re dealing with. Should you have stubborn stains on your natural wood cabinets, house cleaning services London recommends mixing 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 5 tablespoons of vinegar and 2 cups of water into a spray bottle and shaking the bottle vigorously. Spray this onto the stained surface and then wipe with a clean soft rag.

 

6) Don’t Cut Corners When Cleaning the Fridge

Clean the entire fridge top to bottom, front to back.

  • Remove all items and place them on the countertop.
  • Toss all obviously spoiled items.
  • That includes milk or fruit juices in bottles or boxes.
  • If the shelves can be removed take them out and clean them in the sink.
  • Remove all drawers and clean them in the sink as well.
  • Clean the exterior thoroughly.
  • Pull the fridge away from the wall and clean under it.
  • When the floor is dry return the fridge to its proper place.
  • When shelves and drawers are dry return them to the fridge.
  • Return all useable food to the fridge.

 

7) Clean the appliances

  • Clean the exterior of the oven and dishwasher.
  • Move on to clean the stand mixer and microwave inside and out.
  • Next tackle the inside of the oven.
  • Clean the toaster oven – inside and out.
  • Address the vent hood over the hob.
  • Clean and polish copper cookware.

Remember, don’t just clean the appliances, clean under and around them too.

 

8) Make the Countertops Sparkle

  • Remove everything from the countertops and clean them.
  • If they are granite or quartz and need resealing now is the time.
  • If they are tile use a grout cleaner to remove any mould or mildew.

 

9) Always Clean the Floor Last

House deep cleaning services in London will always tell you to clean the floors last. And that certainly applies to the kitchen.

  • Remove any furniture.
  • Sweep the floor thoroughly.
  • Spot clean any stains.
  • Mop with a heavy duty cleanser.
  • Wash any throw rugs.

See also: The Ultimate Cleaning Guide

10) Enjoy the Fruits of Your Kitchen Cleaning Labour

Chances are this part of deep cleaning the house took you the better part of a whole day. Now is the time to sit back with a nice glass of wine and enjoy the fruits of your labour. And to maintain your newly sparkling kitchen, consider regular professional domestic cleaning for your home – here’s how it could benefit you. 

See also: How to Deep Clean Your House