A kitchen is like a newborn baby. It requires constant attention. The reason is
we are always using our kitchen. It's the heart of the home. We're cooking in it.
We're hanging out in it. I'm looking around my kitchen right now. There is like
so much going on. There's old food. There's frying pans. There's dirt. There's
dust. There's remnants from whatever I cooked. There's dishes that need to be
tended to. This kitchen gets messy no matter how much we clean it.
Many of you have asked me for my kitchen cleaning routine, something that I can
show you that I do, which helps manage my kitchen on a day-to-day basis. I am glad
to share it with you. And the frustrating thing about a kitchen routine is it feels
like if you let your kitchen go, even for one day, it can feel so overwhelming and
out of control. So I'm going to show you what I do to keep it simple, to keep it
quick, and of course to keep my kitchen looking in tip-top shape with minimal
effort.
Okay. Let's get to it. Every morning, while making coffee or tea, empty your
dishwasher. A dishwasher should be filled up with items from the night before, ran
overnight, and emptied in the morning for a new start to the day. If you don't have
a dishwasher, place all items in your drying rack away where they belong. It
takes me about four minutes to unload a dishwasher. You can certainly spare that
while you're waiting for your coffee.
Wipe your counters and table down after breakfast, and finish off by placing any
dishes in the dishwasher. Or hand-washing and placing them on a drying rack, and
rinsing and shining your sink before you go. When everyone gets home from work or
school, the rule needs to be that you empty all garbage and containers, and
place anything that's dishwasher-able into the dishwasher. Or you hand-wash your
containers right then and there. Don't leave anything out because it will pile
up.
I can't even begin to cook dinner unless my kitchen is clean, and that really does
require clean counters and a dishwasher that is ready to be loaded. So that being
said, once dinner has been prepared, place all your dishes into the dishwasher or
hand-wash them, as well as pots and pans. Now, if something needs to be soaked, like
a heavy-duty dirty casserole, soak it while you're eating so that it's got time,
and when you're done eating you can clean it easily.
Set your dishwasher to run overnight, because that'll help you save on energy
and water costs. If you don't have enough dishes, just leave it until you do have
enough to run a full cycle. Use a cloth and all-purpose disinfecting spray to
clean your counters down. You can also do a spot check for fingerprints on doorknobs
and cover fronts. This goes for appliances too, since they can easily get printed up.
Make sure you include your stove top in the wipe-down as well.
Empty your garbage, take out the recycling, and replace liners as required.
This will help manage odors. Keeping your counters clutter-free is really important
in maintaining your kitchen. So put everything back in its rightful place.
Make sure that your countertop has everything neatly organized. A little
trick I like to do is line everything up parallel and perpendicular to the edge of
the counter. That way it looks super-clean.
Spray your sink down with an all-purpose cleaner and sprinkle in an abrasive
cleaner like baking soda. Scrub it with a soft sponge, rinse it, and shine it.
Remove any debris at the bottom of the sink. To put the finishing touch on your
kitchen, all you need to do is straighten up any tea towels, refill paper towels,
and do a super-fast sweep of the floor if needed. Make sure your kitchen is ready to
greet you bright and early tomorrow morning.
What I reviewed was just a guideline. It's designed to sort of help you figure out
what you need to do in your kitchen each day. But if you skip a day, or you don't
do everything perfectly or exactly the way I showed you, that's okay. The important
part is that you just do something and if you forget to do it one day, don't beat
yourself up. Just pick up and start the next day.
The question I get asked in every routine video is, "How do I get my so and so to
help me clean as well?" They're certainly welcome to watch this video if they're a
willing participant. You can also have a conversation with them. We have a video
about that and I'll link it for you at the end of this video. But keep in mind, not
everybody thinks the way that you think and you are the one that values a clean
space, or you think you could benefit from that clean space.
So if no one is willing to help you, but you really want a clean kitchen, I would
just encourage you to do it anyway. It's going to benefit you in the long run,
because you're going to feel better about your kitchen, and you get the added
benefit of feeling good about yourself because you contributed to making a
beautiful space. That's got to be worth it. It might feel a little bit cumbersome
at first to get into the groove of this routine, but I promise if you put it to
the test, feel things out and adjust it based on what you need, it'll start to
feel very natural and you will actually be so happy that you're doing it because the
results are well worth it.
This week's comment question is, "What cleaning routine should we do next?" Let
me know in the coments down below. If you felt motivated by this video to clean your
kitchen, please take a picture and tag me on Instagram because I would love to see
your hard work paying off. I'm @melissamaker. The cameraman for today and
always is @thechadreynolds. He's also my husband, and we are @cleanmyspace. There's
a button down there that lets me know you care. So click it if you liked this video
and click this button right here to subscribe and begin your journey to a
cleaner life. Thanks so much for watching, and we'll see you next time.
It is that special time in the video where I get to throw your attention to two other
videos I think you're going to love. The first one, and I referenced it earlier, is
"How to Get Your Spouse to Clean, " or partner, or whoever. I know it's an
awkward conversation. I know it's a bone of contention, but we made a video about
it and I think you're going to like it. We also have another video that you might
want to check out, right over there. It's called something along the lines of "How
to Clean Your Sink." It's a very informative video and it will show you how
to get your sink crystal clean. Make sure to check out our blog,
CleanMySpace.com, which is filled with all kinds of cleaning information, articles,
product reviews, celebrity interviews and all kinds of other cool stuff. It's at
CleanMySpace.com. We've got a link for it down below for you as well. Thanks again,
and I'll see you next week.