Doing a deep clean – the kitchen

The kitchen: the centre of domestic life and the hub of the home. We spend a lot of time in our kitchens, so it’s really important we keep on top of the mess to prevent chaos reigning.

Step one: declutter

The key to a good kitchen deep clean is to give yourself the chance to start afresh. Go through your cupboards and fridge and clear out the out-of-date ingredients ‒ who knows, you might find some hidden gems. When they’re empty, take the time to give the shelves a good clean with a surface cleaner and a cloth. You could even line the shelves with our self-adhesive shelf liner: this easy-to-wipe-clean surface will make your future deep cleans easier.

Top decluttering steps:

Check those dates:
It might be time to ditch the 2004 vintage jam that’s made its home just out of arm’s length.
Put the things with the shortest dates closest to the front of the cupboard – that way they’ll get used sooner.

Be ruthless, but also resourceful:
Have a good think about how you can use the ingredients you have. Those tinned tomatoes are only a chopped red onion, a splash of vinegar and a spoonful of sugar away from being a sweet and tangy salsa. Add some nachos and cheese, and you’ve got yourself a tasty snack to accompany your next movie marathon.

Make a list:
When you know what you’ve got, then you know what you’re missing. Take this time to think about the ingredients you need so you can make the most of what you already have.

Step two: clear those surfaces

When you’re doing a deep clean, it’s important to make sure you can see the wood for the trees. Too many gadgets, pots and jars will prevent you from getting right into the nooks and crannies of your surfaces and giving them a good scrub. Get yourself a box, pop all the things you keep on your surfaces into it and leave to one side (we’ll come back to those later).

Top tip when clearing:

Ask yourself: do I need this here?
While you’re going through the objects on your worktops, think about whether they need to be out all the time ‒ having less clutter on the sides will make having a quick clean much easier in the future. Maybe after you’ve decluttered your cupboards, you’ll have a little bit more space to put those items away, so think about streamlining your kitchen for the future.

Step three: get scrubbing

Now that you can see your surfaces, it’s time to break out the elbow grease and get to all those places you couldn’t reach before. For cracking on with the kitchen worktops, we recommend Vamoose Kitchen Cleaner. This winner of a product lets you tackle all of your kitchen surfaces, including the fridge. Spray, wipe and go. It really takes away all the hassle. And for an even more eco-friendly option, Wilton’s Multisurface Cleaner is your, and the planet’s, friend.

Top tips for sorting those surfaces:
Take your time to clean every bit of surface you’ve freed up ‒ you’ve given yourself the space to have a proper clean, so pop the radio on and really give it your all.
Visualise the space ‒ while you’re scrubbing, have a think about what you want the surfaces to look like when you’re done and which appliances you’re going to leave out on display. This will make it easier for you to navigate your clutter-free environment.
Take a moment to bask in your spotless surfaces ‒ the job’s not finished yet, but you’re halfway there.

Step four: you’ll get to this oven-tually

You’ve been meaning to get around to it for a while, but it’s time to show that oven who’s boss. Let Oven Mate tackle the tough task of oven care. Pop on the provided gloves to keep your hands protected, then simply brush on the gel and leave it to do its thing – finally, wipe away to reveal a dazzling shine.

Top tip for oven care:
Nobody likes cleaning the oven, but this product really does take away the bother.
Just think how happy you’ll be when your oven’s finished. Keep going, your kitchen’s nearly done.

Step five: time to apply yourself

Remember that box of appliances and accessories you took off the surfaces? It’s time to have a good root through it.

Top tips for appliance care:
Decide what’s going to get pride of place on your worktop, and what to store away for when you need it next.Let’s deal with the appliances. Empty toast crumbs from the toaster, and treat your kettle to a little TLC with a Quickshine Descaler Sachet. Time to buckle down and handle the situation: get yourself a cloth and a bottle of kitchen cleaner and give all of your appliances some well-deserved attention, by cutting through the fingerprints and leaving things clean as a whistle before you pop them back on the worktop.

Take some time to make sure your fridge door and all your cupboard handles get a good going over too.

You’re smashing it. One more step to go.

Step six: let’s mop up the situation

Now that your cupboards are done, your surfaces are shiny and you’ve decluttered your space, it’s time for the final task: mopping the floor, but have a quick vacuum round first to pick up any dust, dirt and crumbs that’ve ended up on the floor. Pop the kettle on and, while it boils, get to work on your floor’s flaws. To get them really clean steam cleaning is the way to go ‒ killing up to 99.9% of bacteria, it’s a great way to round off your deep clean.

Now grab that brew and put your feet up – you deserve it!