4 Simple Secrets For Keeping Your Kitchen Under Control – Kitchen Cleaning Tips

Are you staring at another sink/counter full of dishes and wondering how on earth we got here again?! 

In this article, I will share my top 4 kitchen cleaning tips so that you spend less of your precious time with your hands in a sink of dirty water!

Food, dishes, more food, dishes, “Mom, can I have a snack?”, dishes….repeat. Is this the never-ending cycle of your kitchen too?

If you are like the majority of Americans surveyed below, dishes are tied for the most disliked chore.

graph showing least popular chores with laundry, dishes and bathroom indicated as the most disliked

today.yougov.com

That being said, a messy kitchen can be a sign of good things like family connection, well-fed kids, and delicious food. 

So instead of dreading the aftermath of these wonderful things, check out these 4 kitchen cleaning tips and tricks to help you keep your kitchen feeling and looking like “the heart of your home!” 

  1. Always start the day with an empty dishwasher.
  2. Only touch each dish once.
  3. Serve food in lid-friendly dishes.
  4. Clean one appliance daily.

Kitchen Cleaning Tip #1: Always Start The Day With An Empty Dishwasher/Dish Rack

There HAS to be a place for the breakfast dishes to go. Even just a few plates piled into the sink or on the counter after breakfast will create a domino effect throughout the day. 

empty open dishwasher

As much as we like sitting down to the soothing hum of the dishwasher at the end of the day – emptying the dishwasher before going to bed sets us up for the ability to be on top of the mess all day. 

They say habits take 21 days to really sink in (ok, more recent research says 18 to 254 days). Let’s start with 30. Try emptying the dishwasher before bed everyday for 30 days. Trust me when I say you will be motivated for the next 224 when you see the difference it makes!

My passion is to equip you with resources that help you and your kids thrive!

So I’ve put together a free guide for you called “30-Days To A Dish-Free Counter”. In this guide, you’ll find a Clean Appliance Planner (for Tip #4!) and a New Habit Tracker. You can print them or use them digitally to track your progress toward these game-changing habits!

You can download it for free by clicking on the big green button below!

Click here to download Danae's: 30 Days To A Dish-Free Counter

 

Kitchen Cleaning Tip #2: Only Touch Each Dish Once

dirty plate with fork and spoon

Because we have a nice empty dishwasher (or dish rack) to start our day, our goal is to touch each dish the least number of times possible. 

So if we are carrying a dish to the kitchen (ie. breakfast bowl, coffee cup), these items should be placed directly into the dishwasher, rather than being placed in the sink or on the counter, and then retouched when we begin loading. 

This will obviously be harder to do after a full meal has been served. This is why it is important to teach kids to clear their dishes from the table, and depending on their age, to wash it or place in the dishwasher.

Sticking to this ‘one-touch’ rule for as many dishes as possible will make a huge difference in dishes piling up.

Clean Kitchen Tip #3: Serve food in lid-friendly containers. 

chicken fajita toppings in glass lid-friendly dishesI recently invested in some glass containers with lids – and what a difference this has made! I regularly use these to serve up our dinner sides, condiments etc.

After we are done eating, if any leftovers remain, I pop the lid on and stick it directly in the fridge (with no extra dishes!) This makes fajita/taco night such an easier clean-up! 

 

Kitchen Cleaning Tip #4: Wipe-down one kitchen appliance per day

While cleaning every kitchen appliance can seem like a huge job that we tend to put off – getting into the habit of giving one (and only one!) a wipe down is hugely rewarding. I like to work counter-clockwise around my kitchen. You can easily follow a schedule like the following depending on the layout of your kitchen:

kitchen with clean stainless steel appliancesMonday – dishwasher

Tuesday – oven, stove hood

Wednesday – fridge

Thursday – Microwave

Friday – toaster

Saturday – coffee maker/kettle

If you want to know my favourite time-saving tool that I use to make my stainless steel appliances sparkle in minutes using only water, click here to learn more.

Just like making your bed can make your whole room look cleaner, your sparkling appliances will make your whole kitchen feel cleaner and brighter! 

In Closing

I hope these 4 kitchen cleaning tips were helpful to you! A dish-free counter definitely makes me feel more at peace and rest in my kitchen…and we spend a LOT of time there!

Don’t forget to download my free “30-Days To A Dish-Free Counter”. Once you are on a consistent schedule for cleaning your appliances and starting your day with a clean slate – you’ll be off to the races!

You can download the planner and tracker by clicking the big green button below! 👇

Click here to download Danae's: 30 Days To A Dish-Free Counter

Additional Resource to Check Out:

📝 Monthly Meal Planning That’s ACTUALLY Easy! 

In this post, I share how I plan our family’s meals out one month in advance. There is even a free template that you can customize for your own family’s taste preferences! It comes together exceptionally easily – so head on over if you want to take the stress away from knowing “What’s for dinner?!” before 4pm.

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Thanks to these awesome photographers for sharing their talents:

  1. Photo by Castorly Stock from Pexels
  2. Photo by sliice on Unsplash
  3. Photo by Sidekix Media on Unsplash
  4. Photo by Szabo Viktor on Unsplash