Once a season, Mike takes all three kids to the park on a Saturday morning, and I get the kitchen to myself from eight until noon. He calls it "Mom's spa day," which is funny, because what I'm actually doing is scrubbing grease off the top of the refrigerator. But it's quiet, I get to play my music loud, and at the end I have a kitchen that feels brand new. Honestly, it is a little bit like a spa day.
I did this past Saturday, since it's the end of April and the windows can finally be open. Here's the order I follow, what I use, and roughly how long each part takes.
What's in my bucket
- White vinegar
- Baking soda
- Blue dish soap
- A store-brand degreaser spray
- A pack of cheap scrub sponges and a stack of old washcloths
- An old toothbrush, a plastic scraper, and a step stool
Total cost if you had none of it: maybe $15. Most of it lasts me all year.
The order matters: top to bottom, dry to wet
The first year I did this, I mopped the floor first because it looked the worst. Then I cleaned the top of the fridge and rained a winter's worth of dust and crumbs onto my clean floor. Now I always work from the ceiling down and save the floor for last.
8:00 – Clear and dust the high places (30 minutes)
Take everything off the counters and put it in the dining room. Then climb the step stool and dust the tops of the cabinets, the light fixture, the top of the fridge, and the range hood. The cabinet tops in a kitchen collect a sticky film of dust and cooking grease. A cloth dampened with the degreaser cuts through it.
8:30 – The refrigerator (45 minutes)
- Pull everything out and throw away what's expired. There is always something.
- Take out the shelves and drawers and wash them in the sink with hot water and dish soap.
- Wipe the inside with a mix of warm water and a spoonful of baking soda. It cleans without leaving a smell.
- Put it all back, grouping like with like.
Last Saturday I found a jar of pickle juice and an unopened cream cheese that had quietly expired in February. I wrote cream cheese on the "stop buying this" list.
9:15 – The oven and stovetop (45 minutes, mostly waiting)
I spread a paste of baking soda and water over the inside of the oven, avoiding the heating elements, and let it sit while I do other things. The stovetop burners and drip pans soak in hot soapy water in the sink. Later, I wipe out the oven paste with a damp cloth and a scraper, then spray a little vinegar to foam up the last of the baking soda. It isn't as fast as the self-cleaning cycle, but that cycle makes our whole house smell like burnt toast for a day.
10:00 – Cabinet fronts, handles, and the backsplash (40 minutes)
Warm water with a few drops of dish soap handles most of it. Around the stove and the trash can, I use the degreaser. The toothbrush gets into the grooves around the cabinet handles, where little hands leave a surprising amount of peanut butter.
10:40 – Sink, dishwasher, and microwave (30 minutes)
- Microwave: Heat a bowl of water with a splash of vinegar for three minutes, leave the door closed another two, and wipe. The steam loosens everything.
- Dishwasher: Pull out the filter at the bottom and rinse it. I'd never done this until two years ago, and I don't want to talk about what I found.
- Sink: Sprinkle baking soda, scrub, and rinse. Then clean the faucet base with the toothbrush.
11:10 – Counters and the floor (50 minutes)
Wipe the counters, then put back only what you use every day. Everything else goes into a cabinet or gets a hard look about whether it needs to live in the kitchen at all. Then sweep, pull the trash can and the kids' step stool out of the way, and mop the whole floor, corners and all.
Keeping it close to this clean
A deep clean doesn't last if nothing changes afterward. Two small habits have made the biggest difference for us: wiping the stovetop every night after dinner, and a quick fridge check every Thursday before I write the grocery list. The second one also cuts down on food waste, which helps the grocery budget.
By the time the minivan pulled into the driveway at noon, the counters were clear, the floor was drying, and the windows were open. Rosie ran in, announced that it "smells like lemons," and immediately dropped a juice box on the floor. It's a kitchen. It's meant to be lived in.
