Kitchen Cleaning Checklist

It’s that time again- SPRING CLEANING! Grab this kitchen cleaning checklist and get started. Your kitchen will shine.

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It was a very strange weekend for us.  We didn’t have any practices or games, wrestling meets or plans.  I started my spring cleaning instead!  It was in the 20’s here in NC, but I’m hoping spring is on its way (and soon).  

House cleaning isn’t my favorite so I started with the place I like the least, the kitchen.  It always takes forever and I’m always getting sidetracked with other things since it’s right in the middle of our house.  Most people do the basics when spring cleaning, like matching up all the lids to their containers and throwing away old food in the pantry but this is a complete kitchen checklist.

This is a complete deep clean list, not your weekly kitchen cleaning tasks.

Kitchen Cleaning Checklist

First off, I want to tell you about a few cleaning supplies that I have and use that I can’t live without.

Dustbuster– I got this for Christmas one year and I use it WAY more than I thought I would. It’s perfect to get up quick spills (like when you drop the HUGE oatmeal container), but also great to clean out the silverware drawer or inside the cabinets.

Rags– You can use old ones laying around the house or get some special cleaning ones. I love these microfiber cloths.

Old toothbrush- This is great to get in tiny cracks and perfect for sticky spills on the baseboards.

Pinesol- This is my new favorite cleaner. It’s multi-purpose cleaner so you can mop with it and clean the counters. I started using it during the pandemic because I couldn’t find my regular cleaner. It’s inexpensive and you can find it almost everywhere you shop.

Wipe down the legs, base, and chairs of your kitchen table.  

If you have kids then you know that food ends up in the strangest places.  My youngest is 5 and I still find milk drops on the base of my table.  How does that happen?  I usually do this with a bowl of hot soapy water and a washcloth to speed up the process.

Silverware Drawer

Even though you are only putting clean things in your silverware drawer there always seems to be little bits of food and junk in it.  This is a good time to empty it and clean your utensil holder.  If it’s bad, just buy a new one.  They’re pretty inexpensive.

Pantry  

Go through your pantry and get rid of old, stale and expired food. Even the cleanest people will find some stale chips squashed in the back.

Don’t forget to clean the floor of your pantry when you’re in there throwing away all the bad food.  Take everything out and give it a good mop.  You’ll find pretzels and all kinds of crumbs.

Clean Refrigerator

•  I wipe down my shelves all the time, but taking the drawers out and cleaning under them is a chore.  I do this during spring cleaning.  You don’t realize all the stuff that gets under there.

• Throw away old condiments, spoiled food and things you know you won’t eat.

• If you’re like me, then you have pictures, letters from teachers, artwork, and baseball schedules all over the refrigerator. It’s time to bring the trashcan over and throw away all the old stuff. If you’ve accumulated pictures, then put some away to make room for the new ones.
  
• Wipe down the outside and don’t forget the handles and top. It’s sure to be dusty.

Wipe down baseboards  

This doesn’t take long, but your kitchen is probably the most used room in the house.  There is a ton of traffic and the baseboards start to look grungy.  I use a Magic Eraser and sometimes I put my kids on this task.

Clean out the coffee pot  

If you drink coffee, then this is the perfect time to run some vinegar through your coffee pot and give it a good cleaning.  I usually run it 2 to 3 times with water to rinse out the vinegar.

Clean out your dishwasher

I always get down and clean out all the gunk that’s inside and wipe down around the sides.  We’ve had ours flood before because some plastic got stuck in the drain so I like to make sure everything’s out that’s not supposed to be in there.

Spruce up your ice maker

I like to use this time to pull out my ice maker and chisel away at all the ice that stuck to the sides.  I hate it when I’m needing ice, but it’s all clogged up.  This keeps it working well.

Don’t forget the trashcan

Take your trashcan outside and give it a squirt of soap and scrub it,  inside and out.   It gets out some of the bad smell and just makes it look a little nicer.

Oven

The worst and most awkward thing to clean I the kitchen. Grab some oven cleaner, spray the inside, let it sit, then wipe it clean. You may have to do it a few times to get it really clean. Don’t forget to clean the cooktop, the drawer at the bottom and under the oven too. I find so many Legos under there.

Cabinets

• Take some time to clean the outside of your cabinets where dust, fingerprints and grease build-up. A bowl of warm soapy water works great for this. You won’t believe how dirty these are.

• Clean the inside of your cabinets. Take your dishes out and wipe down the shelves, throw out broken dishes and Tupperware you don’t use and random lids. This is a good time to go through all your water bottles too.

Remember, if you’re on top of your daily cleaning routine then a deep clean won’t take as long!