Deep Cleaning Your Kitchen the Easy, Professional Way

A Mess Free Life may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page.

The kitchen is one of the most used rooms in the house.

You probably cook at least twice a day, and more frequently on weekends when you might be freezer cooking for the week, or preparing extra special treats for your family.

As a result, the kitchen can get pretty dirty, pretty fast.

You don’t need to wait until spring to do a deep clean of any room of your house, but since the holidays are fast approaching and families tend to congregate in the kitchen, maybe NOW is the time to get your kitchen sparkling clean and ready for whoever shows up.

Table of Contents

Deep Cleaning Your Kitchen

The Pre-Clean

Before you dive in, let’s do a little de-cluttering. Go through your entire kitchen and remove anything that doesn’t belong there. This includes opening up the cabinets and drawers and getting rid of stuff that doesn’t belong.

Decide to either toss this stuff or move it to its proper place in the home.

Go through your cupboards and throw out expired food.

Remove anything that’s taking up space, you don’t use any longer, or has missing or broken parts. Either toss, donate or put aside to sell at your next yard sale.

Deep Cleaning Your Light Fixtures

First, shut off any light fixture you’re about to clean. Cut power to the source.

Remove all glass and clean.

Dust fan blades if you have a ceiling fan.

Dust light bulbs (use a dry cloth only)

Wipe down any other surface to remove dust. If your fixture is not that dirty, a Swiffer works very well to accomplish this task.

Replace glass, give final wipe.

Deep Cleaning Your Kitchen Cupboards and Surfaces

After light fixtures, cupboards and surfaces should be the first place you start when giving your kitchen a deep clean:

Clean the insides: First, remove all the contents of your cupboards and drawers. Use a disinfectant spray and a cloth to wipe inside. If your cabinets are not properly organized, consider picking up some cheap dollar stores bins to divide and organize your cupboards.

Use an appropriate cleaner on your cupboard doors: For cabinet fronts, a bowl of warm, soapy water and a cloth is usually best, though solid wood doors may need a special cleaner.

Scrub down outer surfaces: Grab a step-ladder and wipe down the outside of your kitchen cupboards, any shelves, and the exhaust fan, if you have one.

Shine up the handles: If your cupboard handles are looking particularly greasy, remove them and soak in a bowl before wiping. You may want to polish wood and metal hand-pulls when dry to get them shining like new!

Put your belongings back, and rejuvenate: Once everything is put back and organized, consider polishing or Rejuvenating your cabinets. I do this once or twice a year, and it keeps my cabinets looking like new.

Backsplash/Tile: Clean the wall space under the cabinets. You may have granite, tile or just painted or papered wall. Use the appropriate solution for your type of situation. If you have things hanging under your cabinets (i.e., pictures, hooks, etc.) remove them first, clean properly and put back once the area has been cleaned.

Pictures, wall hangings: Clean the glass on all photos, wipe down and remove any dust on any wall hangings.

Deep Cleaning Your Kitchen Appliances

The biggest cleaning jobs in the kitchen are usually the oven and refrigerator, but if you deep clean these together you can save a lot of time and energy:

Apply cleaner to the oven: If you have a self-cleaning oven, you’ll start the cycle and continue to the refrigerator. If not, unplug the oven. Take out the shelves, and spray oven cleaner inside the cooker and on the door, taking care that you wear gloves and keep the kitchen well-ventilated.

Scrub the stove top: Remove any stove top plates and place them in the oven, coating them with cleaner, too. Leave for at least 30 minutes.

Wipe down the top of the fridge: Spray with mild cleaners and wipe with a cloth.

Purge the fridge and freezer: Unplug the refrigerator and remove the contents of the fridge and any freezer compartment. Chuck out any unwanted or rotten food and keep perishable items, like meat and fish, in a cooler while you clean inside the appliance – they shouldn’t be outside of the fridge for more than 20-30 minutes.

Soak fridge shelves: I like to take out all the shelves and compartments and give them a quick clean in the dishwasher. It’s fast and easy. If you’d rather clean in the sink, you can soak them in soapy water.

Clean fridge walls: Inside the fridge, wipe down the walls with a mild anti-bacterial spray and a microfiber cloth.

Clean the fridge shelves: Wipe down the shelves that have been soaking, dry and replace, or remove from the dishwasher and replace. Reconnect the power and refill the fridge.

Soak oven parts. Return to the oven, putting the shelves and the stove top plates into the sink to soak.

Scrub the oven: Scrub the top and insides of the oven with a sponge. Crusted-on food may need a second application of cleaner.

Remove soap: Rinse the sponge and wipe the oven down with clean water.

Scrub and clean the stove top plates and shelves in the sink and replace: Leave the door open to let the oven dry. Reconnect the power source.

Deep Cleaning Your Small Kitchen Appliances

To deep clean smaller appliances, like the microwave, remove any detachable components and wash them separately in the sink. Microwaves can then be scrubbed inside and out to get rid of grease stains. The coffee pot and toaster can also be wiped down with surface spray and a warm cloth. Follow my instructions for deep cleaning your coffee pot.

Deep Cleaning Your Counters

Besides your coffee pot and toaster, you may have other items on your counter that need a cleaning. For example, your block knife holder; your utensil holder; the flour, sugar, coffee containers; maybe you have a rack for your onions, fruits, and garlic; cookbooks. Whatever else you have on your counters, give it a good wiping down, remove any grease, or dust and get it sparkling.

Wipe down your counters with a disinfectant and replace your items.

Deep Cleaning Your Kitchen Tables, Chairs, Stools

Depending on what your chairs, stools and tables are made of will determine how they are cleaned.

If wood, use a good wood cleaner. More detailed instructions for polishing wood furniture can be found in my article, How To Polish Wood Like A Pro.

Use glass cleaner on the glass and a damp towel on metals and other surfaces to remove dust.

Final Tasks to Deep Cleaning Your Kitchen

Scrub the sink: Try to leave this job until after you’ve completed the rest of the kitchen. Then, clean it according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Clean the floor: Finally, sweep or vacuum the floors and fill a bucket with a diluted floor-cleaning solution. Mop the floor thoroughly and leave to dry.

I’ve created a handy checklist to help you remember all the surfaces that have to be cleaned. You can find it in the FREE Resource Library. Print this handy checklist anytime you’re going to deep clean your kitchen!

You’ve deep cleaned your kitchen, and it’s ready for the holidays. If you maintain it regularly, this should carry you straight through to the new year when it might be a good time to do it again!

5/5 - (1 vote)