Sunday, February 27, 2011

How to clean your kitchen efficiently!

As I write this article, I even question whether someone like me is even qualified to give any advice on cleaning.  If you stop in at my house you would be shocked at the mess you will find.  My house usually has toys strewn from one end to the other, dirty dishes on the table...you get the idea.  My shtick is more about cleaning efficiently, not about keeping it clean all the time.

Cleaning the kitchen is a daily job that needs to be done throughout the day at my house.  I am still trying to master how to get it done efficiently because as I have said before, I loath cleaning and want to spend the minimum amount of time doing it.


  • The best advice I've heard on keeping the kitchen clean is to run the dishwasher every night and empty the dishwasher every morning.  That way as you mess up the dishes you can put them directly in the dishwasher!  I try to run the dishwasher even if it's not full and even if I still haven't put everything in it, yes, some nights there are still dirty dishes on the table and I am too tired to finish the job completely but I still run the dishwasher...
  • Get your kids to carry their plates into the kitchen after each meal.  I am amazed at how much faster it is to clean up after a meal if I simply ask my kids to carry their plates into the kitchen. My next goal with my kids is to have them wash their plates off and put them in the dishwasher....I think I'll start that tomorrow.
  • Keep a roll of garbage bags at the bottom of your garbage can so you don't have to hunt for bags.
  • If you have any pot or pans that need to soak for a few minutes, that's a good time to wipe the counters down.
  • Another trick I learned,  is after you sweep the kitchen floor, get an old wet rag and wipe up the dirty spots rather mopping the whole floor every time it gets a few spots.
  • About.com has an article with some more tips on cleaning efficiently, I like their idea of having a basket that you load all items into that don't belong in the kitchen as your cleaning up.  We always have random paper and toy that I am running around putting away extending my kitchen clean up time.  
What about you do you, have any time saving tips to share?


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