The kitchen in your apartment will without a doubt need to be cleaned frequently. No matter how well you clean after you cook, your kitchen is inevitably going to get dirty again. Luckily, your kitchen can be cleaned in fifteen minutes, allowing more time to do the things you enjoy while still being tidy. All it takes is ten simple steps!
Collect What You Need
Gathering all the necessary supplies at first will save you time later by not tracking down each item individually when you need it. Precious time is wasted when you are struggling to locate the broom, or where you left a specific cleaning spray. The materials necessary to clean your kitchen in fifteen minutes will be a trash can, basket or box for non-kitchen items, dish soap, surface cleaners, floor cleaners, sponge, scrubber, broom or vacuum, and a mop. Gloves are optional, but recommended for cleaning the kitchen to protect your hands from harsh cleaning chemicals.
Plug The Sink, Fill it with Hot-Soap Water
Let your water run to get nice and hot. Plug the drain, and then let it fill up with the hottest water possible, as it will cool down over the course of cleaning. If you are fortunate to have a double sink with a garbage disposal, plug the side of the sink without the disposal, allowing you to make use of your disposal for food leftovers.
Remove All Food From All Dishes
With a fork or knife, scrape any leftover food from your dishes. If you have a sink with a garbage disposal, feel free to use it. If not, make sure your trash can is close by.
Start with a Soak
After your dishes have been scraped clean of food, it’s time to start breaking down any food particles and stains on the dishes. To make this process faster, place each dish into the hot soapy water immediately after scraping it, that way you don’t have to touch your stack of dishes twice. Furthermore, this will allow your dishes to soak longer. All bowls, pots, and pans can be filled with soap and hot water and left on the counter to soak. All plates, silverware, glasses, and everything else should soak in the sink with the dirtiest dishes at the bottom.
Collect the Trash
While your dishes are soaking, make your way through the kitchen: cabinets, counters, floor, everything, and grab all the trash. This step is eliminating all trash from the kitchen.
Only Kitchen Items are Allowed in the Kitchen
Grab your basket or box for all of the non-kitchen items that made their way into your apartment’s kitchen. With the trash gone, now you can go through your whole kitchen again and place all the items that do not belong in your kitchen into the basket or box. Don’t get distracted, you aren’t putting these items away yet. Just place non-kitchen items in the basket or box and then leave it alone.
Put Kitchen Items Where They Belong
With both trash and non-kitchen items out of the way, now you can begin to put each kitchen item in its proper home. This is NOT the time to organize your cabinets or drawers, just put things where they belong, you can organize your kitchen later.
Clean the Dishes
Now that the dishes have been soaking, they’re ready to be washed. If you are fortunate to have a dishwasher, load it up and press start. If you don’t have a dishwasher, wash your dishes by hand. It’s much easier to wash dishes by hand after being immersed in hot-soap water for a few minutes.
Wipe Your Entire Kitchen Down
This is the tedious part. Every surface and appliance must get wiped down. It will be tempting to scrub the microwave and clean the crumbs out of the toaster, but that will have to be done later. Right now, focus on wiping down the surfaces of your counters, cabinets, and appliances. Don’t forget to wipe down the buttons on your microwave and oven as well as the handle on your refrigerator!
Sweep, Vacuum, Mop
Sweep all the large pieces of food and debris into a dustpan. Then use your vacuum for all the smaller crumbs and dirt on your kitchen floor. Keep in mind the side of the oven and front of the sink will collect the most dirt. Once your floor is free from debris, you can start mopping.
Throw the Trash Out
Now that you have finished cleaning the kitchen, enjoy some fresh air and take out the trash. It doesn’t matter if the garbage bag isn’t full, you have enough food waste to attract fruit flies and other pests, as well as rats.
Enjoy Your Clean Kitchen!
In fifteen minutes, your kitchen is clean with the help of this list. You can use this as an every-day kitchen cleaning procedure. The more frequent you clean, the less you will have to clean. Keep in mind this is only a quick, everyday kitchen clean; a deep-clean of your kitchen will need more time.
