Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Cleaning Shortcuts for the Kitchen


 
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!
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