How to Deep Clean a Kitchen

Cleaning a kitchen is even harder then cleaning a bathroom. With all kitchen appliances, crockery and cutlery, oven and cooker, fridge and freezer - especially when full, and with all the food and spices in the cupboards, it is indeed a really time consuming task. When the kitchen has only been sporadically cleaned, it will take even longer but following a few simple steps will help you to concentrate and finish the cleaning faster.

First you will need to have proper Cleaning Detergents and Cleaning Equipment:

Kitchen cleaner, Oven cleaner, Dishwashing detergent - regular liquid and/or dishwasher tablets/liquid, Limescale remover, Fridge cleaner, Discaling powder
Sponges, Scrubbers, Microfiber and Cotton cloths, Kitchen paper towels
Rubber gloves - necessary as the kitchen, limescale remover and especially the oven cleaners are very strong detergents.

Vacuum cleaner, mop/bucket and floor washing detergent, step ladder or a chair

Once you have the cleaning materials and the cleaning equipment ready, you can start cleaning the kitchen.

Step 1

Collect all dirty cutlery and crockery, clean them from left-overs and soak them in the sink with hot water and washing liquid. Make sure to have cleared well the plates, bowls and pans from food and will not clog the sink. Wait until well soaked then wash them, either in the dishwasher or with hands.

If there are burnt pans, pots and baking tins, scour as much as you can with a scrubber then rinse and apply oven cleaner. Leave for a while and scrub with the scourer until clean and then wash the whole pan/pot/baking tray as normal. If the pots, pans and baking trays don’t fit in the sink, fill them with hot soapy water.

In the meantime, between soaking and washing, clean the kitchen worktops well enough to be able to place the clean items on a towel, once you have dried them with a kitchen cloth, if you don’t use a dishwasher.

Step 2

Take out all cutlery and crockery from the kitchen cupboards and drawers. One by one, spray inside the cupboards and drawers with the Kitchen cleaner, leave it to work for a minute or longer then wipe well with a damp cloth and dry. If necessary, scrub the marks with a sponge - kitchen grease is very sticky and hard to remove. Once the kitchen drawers and cupboards containing cutlery and crockery are clean, place them back to make room for the items from the fridge and the other cupboards. Repeat with all other cupboards, one by one, disposing of expired date food, spices and detergents.

In the meantime, apply the oven cleaner inside the oven, covering the door, the sides and the back and also the metal grilles. Disassemble the hobs, take off the cooker’s grills and place inside the oven, spray over with oven cleaner. All oven cleaners need time to work, leave for at least half an hour.

Step 3

Turn of the fridge and take out all food. Spray and scrub the inside and doors, wipe dry. Glass partitions and plastic baskets could be washed in the sink, dried and placed back in the fridge. The same procedure can be applied to the freezer, once it is defrosted. Make sure there is no food left out while you are cleaning the freezer as it will be spoiled if left for more than 20 minutes outside, especially meat.

Dispose of expired date food.

Step 4

Now that the inside of the kitchen cupboards, drawers and the fridge and freezer are clean and cutlery, crockery and food have been tidied, it is time to pay attention to the outside of the cupboards and the kitchen appliances.

Using a step ladder or a chair, spray well the top of the cupboards and the top of the cooker with kitchen cleaner. Allow it to work for a few minutes. This area of the kitchen is usually neglected and needs a lot of attention. Grease and dust stick together and form glue like cover which is difficult to clean. You will have to scrub hard, wipe with a damp cloth and spray with the kitchen cleaner and scrub again until spotless. Wipe well with damp cloth and dry. Polish the metal parts of the cooker’s top with window cleaner and dry microfiber cloth.

Spray the outside of the cupboards, drawers and tiles with kitchen cleaner and wipe with dry microfiber cloth. If necessary, scrub the difficult to clean deposits of grease with a sponge and wipe. Clean the cupboard doors ledges with a sponge moistened with kitchen cleaner and wipe clean. Repeat with the fridge and freezer doors.

Step 5

By now the oven cleaner must have helped to loosen the grease. Wearing rubber gloves and a face mask, scrub the grilles with metal scourer and rinse in the sink, dry and leave aside. Scrub well the inside of the oven and the door; be careful not to damage the glass on the door. If there are still grease deposits, spray again with the oven cleaner and leave for a while. Scrub again, wipe well with a damp cloth and dry. Place the grilles back.

The same procedure to be applied for the hobs, carefully as not to damage the cover.

The cooker has to be scrubbed with a non scratching sponge, wiped dry and polished to shine.

Assemble back the parts on the cooker.

Make sure no other people or pets are present at the time of cleaning of the oven as the detergents used release toxic fumes which could affect their health.

Step 6

Cleaning the kitchen appliances and kitchen worktops.

Microwave. Take out the rotating dish, wash and dry it, set aside. With a sponge moistened with kitchen cleaner or soapy water gently scrub all the stains from the inside and outside of the microwave, careful not to damage the finish and not to let the liquid go into the holes of the fan. Clean well with a damp cloth and polish with a dry cloth. Place back the parts.

Kettle. Follow the instructions on the discaling detergent. Clean the kettle with kitchen cleaner, wipe well with a damp cloth and finish by polishing it with a dry microfiber cloth.

Toaster. Remove crumbles collected at the bottom of the toaster, scrub it with a non scratching sponge to remove any stains, paying attention to all ledges, wipe and polish with a dry microfiber cloth.

Dishwasher. You can use any industrial cleaning detergent or sprinkle half a cup of baking soda at the bottom of the dishwasher and run a cycle when empty. Scrub and polish the machine from inside the door and outside.

Washing machine. Remove the washing machine drawer and soak it in a limescale removing detergent. Open the door and clean it from inside with a sponge and soapy water. Wipe and dry. Spray the outside of the washing machine with soapy water, scrub well, paying attention to the ledged and buttons, wipe with a damp cloth and dry. Scrub the drawer until free of limescale and rinse well, dry and put it back.

Clean the kitchen worktops with kitchen cleaner, using a non scratching sponge if necessary, wipe with a damp cloth and dry.

Step 7

With a damp cloth clean the table top and legs, removing all spillages, stains and drops, polish with a dry microfiber cloth. Apply the same procedure to the chairs.

Empty the bin. Spray inside and outside with kitchen cleaner, scrub well with a non scratching sponge, wipe with a damp cloth and dry/polish. Pay attention to the ledges where food is stuck. Refill with a new bin liner.

Step 8

Clean and polish windows and window sills and frames. You may need to scrub with a sponge moistened with soapy water to remove food particles from the surfaces.

The same applies to the skirting boards in the kitchen, sometime the spillages leave permanent marks, in this case you may consider repainting them.

Step 9

Cleaning the kitchen sink.

Mostly the kitchen sinks are made of light metal and you need to use limescale remover - spray the sink or apply the discaler with a sponge, leave it for a few minutes, scrub with a non scratching sponge, rinse well and dry.

For white plastic sinks you will have to use bleach, repeating the above procedure.

For vitreous china sinks simply wash with a sponge and soapy water, rinse and dry. Bleach or limescale remover could be used on certain areas as well but do not leave them for more than a minute before rinsing well.

Step 10

Vacuum or sweep the floor, depending on its type. Mop it with appropriate cleaning solution dissolved in very hot water.

At the end, don't forget that the regular cleaning of your kitchen will save you from having to spend hours in tackling the listed chores. A regular sized kitchen would take an average of 3 to 4 hours for a professional cleaner when the cupboards, drawers and fridge/freezer are full.

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