For most families, the kitchen serves as the activity hub. It’s where everyone goes to get a drink or a snack, to stick a note on the fridge with a magnet, or even to make a phone call to a friend or family member. With all this traffic, keeping your kitchen clean may seem impossible – especially if you have kids. However, it certainly is possible if you follow the tips below.
Keep Your Sink Sanitary
Whether you wash your dishes by hand or load them into a dishwasher, you likely spend at least part of each day at the kitchen sink. It’s absolutely crucial that you keep this area sanitized to protect your family’s health, too. Get in the habit of cleaning the sink each time you wash or rinse your dishes, and this will no longer be a concern. You can use any number of kitchen cleaners with sanitizing or disinfectant ingredients built right in, or you can make your own with hydrogen peroxide or vinegar.
Clean While You Cook
When you’re in the kitchen brewing coffee or waiting for your meal to simmer on the stove, you can use that time to do some light cleaning that will save you more time later. Go ahead and wipe down the counters, unload the dishwasher, or sort through the day’s mail. You can even take a peek inside the fridge and look for things that are past their prime to keep that area clean, as well.
Ban Clutter
No matter how sanitary your kitchen space, if it’s cluttered, it will look messier and be harder to sanitize in the future. As such, if you want to keep a clean kitchen, you must first ban clutter. Look around at the things sitting on the counter and determine whether they would be better kept elsewhere. For example, small appliances that aren’t used often should be placed in cabinets, and stacks of papers should be tossed or filed away as appropriate.
Take Out the Trash
The larger your household, the more quickly your trash and recycling bins seem to fill. Rather than continuing to put new recyclables next to the trash, go ahead and take the time to move them to their appropriate location. It only takes a few seconds, and this simple act can go a long way toward making your kitchen look much, much better. While you’re at it, peek inside your trash can. If you see gunk, add some hot water and a disinfecting cleaner, then head outside to scrub and rinse with the hose.
Get Everyone to Help
Because people seem to spend so much of their time in the kitchen, this is a great place for you to assign chores to kids of all ages. Younger kids can help with things like sweeping; older kids can load or unload the dishwasher, handle the trash, or even organize cabinets and drawers. When everyone pitches in, there’s less work to do, and that means a cleaner kitchen and a happier family overall.
Keeping your kitchen clean isn’t impossible, and it won’t require hours of your day, either. It’s all about maximizing the time you have available, multitasking, and getting others in your household to pitch in where appropriate. Once you get in the routine, you’ll see that your kitchen stays clean with what seems like very little effort.
