A busy mum’s guide to a clean kitchen every day
Our kitchen’s go through a lot, between cooking meals, preparing school lunches, making snacks, and family members coming in and out, maintaining a clean kitchen can feel impossible.
Although it may feel impossible, keeping your kitchen clean is actually possible, with a few simple daily routines that are super easy to start.
Here are some things you can do to keep your kitchen clean, that are quick and effective, and don’t take a lot of time.
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Clean as you go
Cleaning as you go is my favourite way to keep my own kitchen clean.
Cleaning as you go means cleaning up as you use your kitchen. For example, wiping spills as soon as they happen, putting ingredients away as soon as you’ve used them, or washing dishes while dinner is cooking.
As well as being a great way to keep your kitchen clean, it’s also a great way to ensure you have enough countertop space whilst you’re cooking.
Soak heavily stained items
To avoid spending a lot of time scrubbing heavily stained pots and pans, soak them for at least 10 minutes before washing them, this way any built up food will come off much quicker and easier, saving you a lot of time at the sink.
Store cleaning items together
Storing cleaning items together makes it easy to access what you need, when you need it, and prevents your countertops from being cluttered by these household items.
One of the best places to store cleaning items is under the sink using under sink storage, which not only allows you to store cleaning items together, but allows you to easily access what you need.
Keep your sink dish free
Keeping your sink dish free is something I do every day for a clean kitchen, which I do by placing dirty dishes in a large dish tub next to my sink.
Once the tub is full, I place whatever I can in my dishwasher, and wash the rest by hand.
Having my dishes in a dish tub, instead of stacked up in my sink, means that I’m not washing small amounts of dishes many times throughout the day, and instead do a couple of larger loads throughout the day, saving time and water.
Keep countertops clutter free
The more things you have on your kitchen countertops, the harder it is to keep your kitchen clean, and your countertops clutter free.
To create clutter free countertops, you can store away small appliances you hardly use, store small items like salt and pepper, salad dressing, and cooking oil in a kitchen door storage container, and make sure paperwork doesn’t build up in corners of your kitchen.
Clean up after every meal
Before sitting down to relax after a meal, clean your kitchen.
This way you’ll be able to fully relax once cleaning the kitchen is done, and because you’ll wake up with a clean kitchen, you can dive straight into any morning routines you have as soon as you wake up the next day.
Implement an evening kitchen routine
There are many benefits of having routines, and luckily there are some routines that can help you to keep the kitchen clean.
Here’s an example of an evening routine that you can do to clean the kitchen, so you can end the day, and start the next day with a clean kitchen.
- Load and run the dishwasher
- Wipe down countertops
- File paperwork that’s entered your kitchen during the day
- Put anything away that doesn’t belong in your kitchen
- Vacuum, sweep, or mop the floors
- Set out any breakfast items that don’t need to be in the fridge
Regularly clean your fridge and freezer
Cleaning your fridge and freezer each week allows you to throw out any food that’s gone off, use up leftovers, and make space for new groceries, so new groceries can be put away as soon as they enter your home.
The one touch rule
I love using the one touch rule to clean my kitchen, and also to keep the rest of my home clean.
The one touch rule means you only touch something once before dealing with it, so once something is in your hand, put it away immediately.
Find time for micro cleans
If you find yourself with a few spare minutes, like when you’re waiting for toast, waiting for something in the microwave, or waiting for the kettle to boil, look around your kitchen to see if there’s a small task you can do to keep the kitchen clean.
An example of how I do micro cleans is to empty the dishwasher, or put away kid’s lunch supplies, when I’m waiting for the kettle to boil.
Tips for a clean kitchen – a recap
Having a clean kitchen every day isn’t about spending hours cleaning, it’s about setting up routines that you can fit into your busy mum life.
When you set up routines to help clean your kitchen, such as cleaning as you go, finding organisation solutions for kitchen items, keeping countertops clutter free, or using small pockets of time to clean, having a clean kitchen becomes easy.
Little efforts add up fast, and once you get into a kitchen cleaning groove, you’ll find that having a clean kitchen is a piece of cake.
What’s one thing you can do today to make cleaning your kitchen easier?
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