AIBU to ask how do you clean a kitchen?!

[noctu]

Can't believe I'm asking this, I'm really embarrassed, but here goes.

How do you clean your kitchen?! What products do you use, do you use one of those scrubby sponge things, or the mop up sponge things, or something else? Do you fill the sink with hot water and disinfectant and dip your sponge in there, or do you just spray, wipe, and rinse your chosen implement under the sink?

How on earth are you even meant to use Zoflora? I've tried mixing it with warm water and squirting it on the tops but it just resulted in wet tops which took ages to mop/sponge off and dry, and didn't really feel like a proper clean.

I've heard of so many different ways of cleaning kitchens, I don't think I'm doing it right ... we always seem to have crumbs in the corners, water marks on the hob.

Please don't judge me for asking. I didn't really have a role model growing up to see this for myself.

Thank you all so much for your comments, information, and lack of judgement!

My mum - bless her... (!) - used to run a rag around the counter tops if she remembered, and would wash dishes in the sink using just her hands. (No cloth, sponge, or anything scrubby. She'd just sort of rub the plates etc with her fingers. Nothing was ever clean.) Pans were stored in the cupboard, still dirty or with muck flaking off. So er, that's what I'm working with!

@Loveisthehope

Oh, do wash your washing up cloths frequently in hot water!

Most importantly make sure they dry between uses.

I go from top to bottom.
I always use an anti bacterial/disinfectant spray. Sometimes I use diluted Zoflora. I have different cloths for different things. I have a Minky kitchen cloth and a separate scrubber for the sink.

I start by cleaning all the front of my cupboards and handles top and bottom as well as the kick boards. Then do underneath the cupboards above the counter. Then work on the counters/tiles. I usually leave the sink until last as I usually need to get the limescale off (hard water area) so wipe it daily. I have a cleaning tea towel for buffing up the taps etc.

I have a chrome effect on the washing machine and microwave so they get wiped because I can't stand finger prints on them! I also clean the front of the washing machine and inside as well as inside the microwave. I have a black fridge so wipe that too as DP couldn't possibly use the fridge door handle he has to put his big fat paws on the side .

For my hob I use stainless steel cleaner then buff it up so it's nice and shiny. I then clean the floor by hand because I much prefer it that way.

@UhtredRagnarson

Squirt of washing up liquid and splash of zoflora in the basin, run the hot water into it. Clean cloth in it, wring it out, wipe all the counter tops, hob and table. Done.

Basically this! Sometimes put the same mix in a spray bottle

The only anti bacterial i tend to use is down the loo.

Hot soapy water everywhere else or mixes that are natual oils or vinegar/washing liquid for showers.

I don't like anything toxic sprayed etc. if it can be used.

White vinegar and fairy liquid mixed is super for cleaning with.

Wiping surfaces with hot soapy water does a great job IMO.

There is a reality that if you have stuff on surfaces, you will never have it tottaly crumb free unless you move all of it every day.
I made sure I now have minimum staff on a counter, no pretty jars etc. It massively helps with tidying.

Honestly. What you have go do is pretty simple, no need to overcomplicate it, the people here with wet cloth and soap water are actually the ones getting great balance between cleanliness and a hassle😁

Also mine might sound a bit extreme but I'm a clean freak and suffer with OCD and a germaphobe. So mine probably is a bit extreme but I'm sure you'll find your own routine. Some great tips on here!

Wait. Are we talking daily clean or big once in a while clean? Some posts confise me. I thought it's the daily clean

I just use a spray cleaner and a cloth - I'm a bit obsessive and spray and wipe the surfaces several times a day. I do the hob in the evening after dinner, and wipe the cupboards down as needed. Once a week I bleach the sinks. Sweep the floor with a swiffle mop then soak the mop cloth in hot water and lemon flash and mop it.

Thanks for this post, OP, clearly I needed to read it too! I've just been wiping my counters with method sprays and kitchen roll (microfibre cloth if tree hugging DP is around)

Just wipe it with a clean cloth and some sort of cleaning agent. Wipe cupboard door fronts and fridge and stuff with Mark's, smears or finger mark. Stuff like crumbs falls off counters into floor. Then sweep floors. Then mop floors with hot water with zoflora in. Use different cloth or kitchen roll for really dirty stuff like bins. Bleach sink if you want.

I use very hot water and fairy liquid to clean the worktops, cupboard doors/handles and tiles.
Cif for the hob, sink and taps.
I rinse all the cups regularly with bleach to remove any tea stains.
Brillo pads are fantastic for removing stuff from stainless steel pans but they will ruin teflon. Teflon (and other non stick pans) require gentle scrubbing with a nylon sponge.
Put a liner on the bottom of your cooker so you dont have to clean it so often and line all baking trays with baking paper so you dont have to scrub baked on food off them.
I use zoflora and hot water on the floors.

I’m a top to bottom person too, and that works for me. But I really struggle with the oven. It seems to take forever and I’m never convinced it’s really properly clean. Maybe I don’t do it often enough.

@RiojaRose

I’m a top to bottom person too, and that works for me. But I really struggle with the oven. It seems to take forever and I’m never convinced it’s really properly clean. Maybe I don’t do it often enough.

I am a strong believer that ovens don’t need to be cleaned. Unless maybe you are moving out. Although maybe if you eat meat or fish they get gross?

Flash bleach spray & scrubber sponge. Cloths mean wetter surfaces for longer.Then rinse sponge in warm water & wipe down again. Air dry or use kitchen towel if preferred.

I always buff every up with a shammy, taps,microwave,cooker,windows etc. I
Clean cooker after every use pink stuff for the hob and inside to wiped down with warm soapy water then dried.

I use zoflora and bleach for floors and method wild rhubarb kitchen spray for work tops and kick boards.

Scrubbadaddy pads for doing the tile grout or a tooth brush then buff them up.

Fridge sprayed with zoflora and wiped down with hot soap water and all ingredient dates checked x2 a week.

Floor hoover and mopped every day and done by hand with bleach zoflora mix every second day as I have a dog

Cupboard doors and skirts done with hot bleach and soap water mix then Wash all cloths after use.

Spray bottles from pound stretchers for all my different cleaning solutions.

Worktops and cooker: Vacuum up crumbs then use whatever spray cleaner Tesco had cheap.

Floor: Vacuum then mop with a bucket and Flash or similar.

Tiles, cabinet fronts, fridge front, etc: Either spray cleaner or using wipes.

Top cupboard tops: Vacuum once in a blue moon.

The gap between the cooker and the units: Ahem, never. It's absolutely minging in there but moving the cooker would be a pain so I just try and forget about it.

@IdblowJonSnow Used to be a cleaner many moons ago. More than happy to admit that any dirt or disorder make me unreasonably anxious!

I always rinse plates, pots, bowls and cutlery as soon as I’ve finished with them so food doesn’t get stuck on. Basically just clean as you go.

Someone cleans their baseboards every week!!!
I never even notice the kitchen baseboards, let alone clean them.

Top to bottom. Lemon scented flash scrub with a scourer then wipe with a cloth then dry with tea towel if needed. Then hoover the floor and mop using the same flash. Love the smell of it so it's my main cleaning product.

@BrimfulOfBaba

Thanks for this post, OP, clearly I needed to read it too! I've just been wiping my counters with method sprays and kitchen roll (microfibre cloth if tree hugging DP is around)

I do that too - and will continue to. Some of this sounds completely bonkers. The rest gets cleaned when it’s dirty!

Small bit of bleach and hot water in the sink - use a sponge, clean from top to bottom - walls cabinets, surfaces, cupboards

Let out the water from the sink

Hoover, fill mop bucket with fresh bleach and water and do the floor

Clean sink

Job done

The best thing I’ve found for keeping my kitchen clean is to have everything organised. My food cupboards have those cheap plastic baskets, one for pasta, another for sauces, another for packets etc. My fridge has clear plastic containers, one for cheese, one for yoghurts etc, you get the idea.

This helps in 2 ways. 1 you’re not rooting around trying to find something hidden at the back somewhere and you don’t end up with out of date things lurking in a corner. 2 when it comes to cleaning the fridge or cupboards it’s so easy to whip out the trays/baskets and wipe down.

I wipe down my sides a couple of times a day. Floor as and when. Cooker top daily, oven not as often as I should!

I am like you and didn’t have a good role model growing up. I struggled for a long time knowing what to do and when. Something I have found works for me when it comes to household stuff that isn’t an every day thing is to once a week sit in each room for a couple of minutes with a notebook. I have a good look round and note down anything that needs doing in the coming week. Then I have a list that I can tick off as I go. Might sound a bit silly to some people but it works for me.

I wipe down the surfaces and hob multi times a day with a very hot dilute cloth with fairy and spray Method kitchen. Also scrub sink daily with Pink Stuff. Once a week I clean all the doors etc (painted eggshell) and walls and inside of cooker and microwave and bin with small dab of Pink Stuff and wiped off with hot cloth. Also weekly I use a mop bucket and very hot water and Flash, but use the spray on method daily (the type you don't have to rinse; the rhubarb one smells lovely).