Top Kitchen Cleaning Hacks in 2024 – Keep Your New Kitchen New | KBS Refresh

Top Kitchen Cleaning Hacks in 2024 – Keep Your New Kitchen New | KBS Refresh

Do you want an Instagram worthy kitchen? You know those kitchens that look perfect, without an item out of place, and of course not one crumb or finger print on any of the appliances. With our kitchen cleaning hacks, including all natural options, you can keep your kitchen looking Pinterest ready all days of the week.

Since your kitchen is often the busiest area of the house, knowing a few easy cleaning hacks can help your busy schedule and make it a breeze. So, here are some cleaning hacks to make sure that elbow grease is not the only thing you need to keep your kitchen spick and span. And by the time you are done reading this, you might just forget that baking soda and vinegar are used for cooking purposes too and not easy cleaners to keep your kitchen shining.

A cheap basket to get things started

Technically, not a cleaning hack but a good way to start when cleaning your kitchen. Before you get down to house cleaning, collect all the things that are necessary for the kitchen but are small in size and might get lost when you clean the kitchen. Just collect them in a basket (the simple, dollar store variant) and stash them in a corner or even outside the kitchen.

This trick also works if you have a few things scattered in the kitchen and expect company. Just keep all the knick-knacks in the basket, give your countertop a quick wipe and voila! One less thing to worry about.

Sponges in the Microwave

How do you clean the thing that cleans everything else? Sponges can be super versatile and also, the “germiest” thing in the kitchen. Soaking it in water will be of little use to get rid of the germs, but you can put the sponges in the microwave for two minutes and you will have a clean one in no time.

Making wooden cabinets feel like wood again

Kitchen cabinets can last years if you keep them well. And to do that, you must periodically remove oil and grease which love sticking on to wood! A combination of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda can work wonders in removing the grime of the wood. Depending on how much oil you use in your food, do this every second week or a month. This will ensure that too much grime never settles on the surface.

No more grimy floors

Grease does not not only stick to your kitchen cabinets, it can also find its way to the floor. However, this too is easy to remove provided you do it regularly. Mix 1/4 cup white vinegar with a tablespoon of dish cleaning soap, one-fourth cup of washing soda and two gallons of warm water. Mop the floor with this and be amazed at how it works! One other option is to steam the floors, which kills germs and keeps your floors looking flawless.

Oven and ammonia: A match made in heaven

It can easily be the most daunting kitchen appliance to clean, to a point where elbow grease has become synonymous with oven cleaning. But, with an easy cleaning hack, you don’t need to stress about getting this done. For this, you need Ammonia, some water, dish soap, a sponge or a scrubber and a baking dish. Heat your oven to 150 F. While this is being done, boil a pot of water. Once the oven is preheated, add a cup of ammonia to the baking dish and place it on the top rack. Then simply place the boiled water on the bottom rack and close the door. You can leave this anywhere between a few hours and overnight.

The ammonia will work its magic and ‘undo’ all the grime that has been inside your oven. Add some dish soap to the ammonia and get your cleaning gloves on.

Clean Silver with Aluminum Foil and Baking Soda

Line a glass baking dish with aluminum foil. Add baking soda, salt, and boiling water and your silverware. It will begin to show the effects immediately although heavily-tarnished pieces will take longer.

Steel to the rescue of garlic-y hands

Garlic. Great to taste, but makes everything stink. The chopping board, the mortar and pestle, and of course our hands. The easiest (and laziest) method to make sure your hands don’t give away what you are cooking is to rub your hands on anything that’s stainless steel.

No more water stains thanks to vinegar

If you live in an area with hard water, you will understand this: that ugly, white crust on everything shiny: from your sink and faucet to your family silverware and utensils. Vinegar, however, can undo all this hard water grime. Rub a little vinegar gently on all these surfaces to watch the water spots disappear.

Cleaning your fridge by disinfecting it

Hydrogen peroxide has many uses, but in the kitchen, it is the best thing to clean the inside of the refrigerator. Just make sure to empty all the food items and shelves. Spray Hydrogen Peroxide liberally inside your refrigerator and wipe it with a microfibre cloth. These two, when combined, can not only clean your fridge but ensure that no germs are left behind. Clean the shelves in hot water in your bathtub as your kitchen sink may be too small for the same.

Coffee for the soul, not for the stains

If your coffee mugs have stubborn stains that have been there forever, you need baking soda. Add some of it to the bottom of your stained cup, just enough water to form a paste and scrub.

Leave no glass piece behind thanks to bread

Did you break a glass or dish today? Picking up the tiny shards of glass can be a pain, and often even dangerous for your loved ones to walk around the kitchen. Here’s a hack that can help clean up those pesky smaller pieces of glass:

Once you have removed the larger pieces by hand, use a slice of bread to pick the smallest grains of broken glass as they will stick on to the soft surface. If you do not have a slice of bread, use a damp, thick paper towel to cover the area where the pieces are. Toss in the trash and you’ve got a safe floor for you and your family.

Chalk off the stain!

Chalk should not be restricted just to classrooms. Given its super absorbent nature, it makes for an excellent stain stick. Make sure you remove excess oil from the garment you wish to clean using a clean paper towel and then cover it with chalk powder. Then, before you toss the garment in the laundry, rub the spot with stain remover and wash it in hot water. The oily spot will be gone.

Vinegar in the coffee machine

Even though steam passes at high temperatures through these machines, they can be full of germs. So, fill the water chamber with a solution of equal parts vinegar and water. Let the machine run until all the liquid has passed and repeated this once more. Then use plain water and repeat the process to make sure there are no aftertastes.

Make glass baking dishes shine with Aluminum Foil

Crumple it into a small ball, throw in some dish soap and use the foil to make your glassware shiny as new.

Sink with a dash of flour

If you have a stainless steel sink, we have already told you that using vinegar will remove any hard stains on it. However, if you wish to take it up a notch, sprinkle it will flour (when it is dry) and get to scrubbing. Every scrub will reveal extra sparkle in it. This trick works wonders!

The fresh smell of garbage disposal? You bet!

It is that part of the kitchen that few ever want to clean. Yet, all you need is some vinegar and lemon cubes. Freeze vinegar with some lemon juice and shove the cubes down the drain to ensure that the disposal does not stink. If you are in a hurry, then just add some lemon juice to cut the stink.

Clean the Dishwasher with Vinegar

It is extremely necessary albeit rather a simple process to ensure your dishwasher is clean and germ-free. Just fill two mugs with white vinegar and place one each on the top and the bottom rack, leaving the rest of the dishwasher empty. Then run a hot cycle and marvel at the results!

Use the dishwasher to dry hand-cleaned dishes

This is a lovely hack to make your dish rack redundant and free counter space. Simply use the dishwasher’s empty racks to dry your hand-washed dishes. Your dishwasher will hold more than a dish rack and this will make sure you clean a sink full of hand-wash-only dishes extremely quick.

Baking soda to the rescue for your range hood

Take out your range hood filter and boil a large pot of water. Make sure the pot is large enough to either completely immerse your filter or at least half of it. Then, slowly (half a spoon at a time) add baking soda and once all the baking soda has been added place your greasy range hood filter into the boiling water. The baking soda will eat away the grime slowly. In case there is some remaining, repeat the process.

Clean grill with onions

Take half a peeled onion and rub it back and forth over a mildly hot grill. This will deglaze the grill and also add an extra layer of flavour to your dinner. In case you do not have onions, beetroot or even turnips will do the trick for you.

All-natural ways to clean your kitchen

Most of the hacks mentioned above use some kind of synthetic material. But if you want to keep your kitchen clean without using any artificial material, try the following hacks.

Lemon, including its peel, is your new best friend!

As you might have observed from the previous cleaning hacks, lemon not only adds great flavor but is an extremely versatile tool in cleaning the kitchen. Lemon combined with salt can go a long distance in cleaning and deodorizing your chopping board along with removing any stains too.

Scrub cast iron pans with sea salt or potatoes!

It is well known that cast iron cookware and soap don’t go well. So what is the alternative for cleaning the pans if you have some grime and/or stains? Sea salt works like a treat due to its coarse nature and cuts through the grease. In case you do not have sea salt, use potatoes. Simply cut a potato in half, dip the cut end in baking soda, and rub it over the rusted area.

 Add shine to wood with Coconut Oil

Wood likes oil, especially when it is in moderation and spread well. Coconut oil can work like a charm on wooden surfaces and make them shine. It will also remove oil-soluble impurities and dust particles while its lauric acid content kills microbes.

Start with a few drops of oil and work it around with a good quality paper napkin. The key is to do it slowly and spread the oil evenly until there is a slight shine in the wood. Let the wood rest for a while. This will always keep your wood shiny and looking like new.

Coconut fibre to remove grime

In Asia, it is extremely common to see the outside of a coconut being used to clean everything from oily utensils to even algae/slippery zones because of water. It may not be very common in the US, but in case you get a raw, unpeeled coconut, use the outside coir as a scrub for effective cleaning.