With the holidays coming around, keeping the house clean has taken top
priority here. We have guests drop in from time to time all year long, but the
most stop by at Christmas time. And with a toddler running around messing up
things as fast as I clean them, I have to clean two things at once sometimes
just to stay ahead. So, I am sharing today a few of my favorite cleaning
shortcuts. Well, I am not sure shortcut is the proper word, more like
multi-task cleaning.
We have a glass top stove and I have done my best to keep it looking
like new. When we purchased the stove it came with this little sample bottle of
cleaner. And at the time….it was $6 to get another bottle of it. Then I was
introduced to Soft Scrub at half the cost. It has been my stove’s best friend
since.
Everyone has their choice of cleaner for glass/cook top stoves and here
is my reason I use Soft Scrub: I clean my kitchen sink at the same time as my
stove. With Soft Scrub, you have to rinse your sponge a couple times to get the
cleaner and the grime off the stove. So, I figure while I have the sponge full
of the cleaner, might as well scrub the sink I am rinsing it in too!
And now I not only have a clean stove, but a clean sink too. No need to
drag out separate chemicals or make it two separate tasks. Two things clean;
one check mark!
I also apply the same logic to the microwave and our coffee maker. I use
the same cleaners for both: vinegar and dish soap. Now, I don’t put dish soap
through the coffee maker, but I do use the soap to clean the carafe and the
filter basket. After I pour my mixture of vinegar and water through the maker,
I take the hot vinegar-water over to the microwave and let it steam clean the
debris inside. Once the vinegar-water has cooled enough for me to handle, I
bring out the carafe and add a bit of dish soap and finish scrubbing out the
microwave. Then I wash the carafe and basket with the remaining soapy-vinegar
water. The microwave plate gets a good scrubbing with it too. Then I run plain
water back through the coffee maker and once that cools a bit, I give the
microwave a rinse with the new water. There may be some vinegar traces in the
water, but I am ok with using it to wipe off the soapy solution from the walls
of the microwave.
Well, there you have it….two of my favorite kitchen cleaning
multi-tasks, or “short-cuts.” Check out my previous cleaning posts for more
tips and short-cuts.
Do you have a favorite cleaning short-cut?
Happy Cleaning Y’all!