It’s after the holidays, the guests are gone, and your kitchen needs a little love. In this tutorial I will show you my favorite way to clean my kitchen using basic products you have in your kitchen.
Let’s start with the back splash:
You’ll need a clean washcloth, vinegar, and a spray bottle
Pour your vinegar in the spray bottle. You can dilute it if you want, but don’t need to. The acidity in the vinegar will cut the grease and what will be disinfecting your back splash. Spray your back splash with the vinegar and wipe it down with a clean wash cloth (it’s important that it is clean or you will get streaks).
2nd You’re Microwave
You’ll need a bowl, lemon juice, vinegar, and water
Pour 1 cup vinegar & 1 cup water in a bowl. Add 2 TBSP lemon juice. The acidity again is the cleaning agent in this mixture. Place the bowl in the microwave cook for approximately 7-10 minutes (depends on strength of microwave).
When the timer is done, your microwave should be all steamy inside. Use a clean wash cloth and wipe out the entire microwave.
3rd Cleaning Your Appliances
You have 2 options here – Vinegar or Dish Soap (like Castile or Dawn).
To use the Vinegar – spray onto the appliance, and wipe off with a clean cloth. Again the acidity is what is cleaning the greasy finger marks and gunk.
To use Dish Soap – make a sink of hot soapy water. Using a clean wash cloth wipe off your appliance. Dish soap is a base and cuts through grease and gunk.
Additional information for those who have stainless steel appliances.
*If you have stainless steel appliances – when cleaning with the vinegar or dish soap wipe with the grain.
Stainless Steel is dry and needs to be moisturized. Using olive oil on a clean microfiber cloth, wipe with the grain of the stainless steel on your appliances after you clean them.
4th Your Sink
Sprinkle with baking soda, scrub it clean, and rinse.
Baking soda is a base that cuts through grease & dirt.
You can also use baking soda to scrub your refrigerator handles clean, as well as your pantry door & handle clean.
*Baking soda is abrasive so do not use on anything you don’t want to scratch (like stainless steel)
5th Your Oven
If you have a vent be sure to cover it with painters tape to prevent things from falling in between your oven windows. Sprinkle your oven window with baking soda (this was a picture from my first time doing this and you do not need this much baking soda – lol).
Spray with a little water to dampen your baking soda (you want to make a paste)
Using a clean damp wash cloth – start scrubbing. You can do this on the entire oven and oven window. Once you are done scrubbing, use a shop vac or broom to clean up the dirty baking soda mixture, and rinse with clean water and a clean wash cloth until all the baking soda is gone and your oven is clean. You can see my full tutorial & video on oven window cleaning here (and you can clean the entire oven with this method).
*Extra tip – if your having a hard time cutting through the grease in your oven, make a paste of dish soap and baking soda and then scrub.
6th Your Oven Racks
Place a towel in the bottom of your bath tub to protect your tub. Lay your oven racks on top of the towel. Add 1/2 cup dish soap (like Castile or Dawn) and fill the tub with hot water just until it covers the oven racks. Let them soak for 8 hours. The dish soap is cutting through all that grease.
After they have soaked, scrub with a piece of tin foil, scrub pad, or toothbrush and the grease should just wipe right off. Rinse and put back in your oven. They’ll look like brand new!
7th Your Counters & Table
Wipe off your counters with a wash cloth and water. This first step is to get the worst up – crumbs, spills, grease pools, etc. After that is complete, make a sink of dish soap (like Castile or Dawn) and hot water. Use a clean and new wash cloth, dip in the clean soapy water, and wipe off all our counters and table. The key to streak free counters is the clean wash cloth with the clean soapy water – works every time! This is safe for granite counters.
8th – Your Refrigerator & Freezer
Go through your refrigerator & freezer and get rid of anything you don’t use, that’s expired, etc. Take the shelves and drawers out and wash them in a sink full of clean soapy (dish soap) water.
With a clean wash cloth wash all the walls and anything that cannot be removed to be washed inside the refrigerator and freezer.
Your kitchen is clean and you used natural products! Way to go!
To see my video click here…
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Learn more about “Why to Deep Clean and Organize Your Home” to save money, function better, and keep your sanity.
Here are some more cleaning posts of mine that you might be interested in seeing:
How To Clean Your Kitchen with Natural Products
Deep Clean Your Toilet From Top To Bottom
Deep Clean Your Bathroom with Natural Products
Deep Clean Your Washer & Dryer
Thanks Chas for putting a bunch of these in one place. I’m in purge mode right now so when I reach my kitchen I’ll have it all in one place. In the last year or so I’ve been switching to using more & more natural products, so your advice hit home with me. We do use vinegar water on our countertop in the kitchen, but it’s vinyl and the point is to keep it disinfected. I know it can’t be used on all countertops though. BTW, I love your backsplash! Very unique!
Thank you Linda, I’m so glad this might be helpful for you 🙂 Thanks on the back splash. We were thinking of bubbles and steam coming out of a pot when we designed it. We didn’t install it though, hired someone for that – too afraid I’d mess up something so important 🙂
I love your design and they did a great job! You are so creative. 🙂
Okay so how do you get over the vinegar smell — I know it’s a cheap and efficient way to clean (and natural) but ugh, the smell….
The smell doesn’t bother me, but you can add orange peels to your vinegar and let it soak a few days and that will make the smell better. 🙂
I love this! So motivated to go clean everything!
Thank you Michele and I love that you are motivated by my post! I’ll be here to cheer you on!
Great tips! For the microwave, though, I think that’s more acid, more total liquid, and more time than you really need. I use about 1/3 cup each water and vinegar, without lemon juice, and it works very well. After wiping out the microwave, you can use the leftover hot vinegar water to clean other things!
Thank you Becca, and thank you for sharing your tips.
Back to basics without the chemicals. I’m going to have to switch over. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Linda and I’m glad there are some things here you want to give a try 🙂
Wonderful ideas. I am a huge fan of natural cleaning products I have to try the microwave trick.
Thank you Elise, and I hope you like the microwave cleaning. It makes it so easy 🙂
Great tips! Thanks for sharing at Party in Your Pjs!
Thank you Donna 🙂
I always do my fridge like that, a big bowl of hot soapy water but I’ve always struggled with the oven window. I’m pinning so I can try this method out – thanks.
Thank you Julie, I love that you clean your fridge the same and I hope this oven window tutorial will help you as it has me. Thank you so much for the Pin 🙂
Love your cleaning tips, after 66 years I thought I knew them all !!
I am so bummed that Hometalk has discontinued their Live videos, i really looked forward to those. Had no idea they were discontinued and wondered why i wasn’t getting any, now I know thanks to you. I will subscribe so i can watch your videos. Thanks.
Thank you Diena and you can find most of my videos on my Facebook page. Once they are done I’m trying to post them on my website as well.
Thanks first of all for the motivation to start this much needed project. Second of all is my lack of mobility. I have just decided to break it up to a shelf at a time, then outsides,etc. I know it won’t be quick but it will get done. Thanks again.
PS I think you should mention about not getting viniger on granite countertops, which will itch it. 🙂
Thank you so much Cindy and I think that is fantastic to go a little bit a time and pace yourself. Great idea on the granite counter tip 🙂
For icky freezers, say sugary mess from berry juice, vinegar wasn’t working– the water content of vinegar froze. So, I got the bright idea to use something that wouldn’t freeze & also would sanitize…. Plain, cheap, clear vodka! Worked like a charm. I use cheap clear vodka where vinegar shouldn’t be used, including unsealed light colored wood; darker woods get cheap whiskey.
Thank you so much for sharing that tip!