The Ultimate Guide on How To Clean A Really Dirty Kitchen

Welcome to the world of turning a filthy kitchen into a gleaming clean space that can bring you fortunes of joy and fun family memories. If your kitchen is grimy and greasy, it might be the last place you want to spend your time. Still, with our extensive guide on how to clean your kitchen thoroughly, you can make it sparkle once again. After completing the below steps, it will be much easier to keep on top with a small amount of daily and weekly care and remember – cleaning doesn’t have to feel like a chore. Set aside enough time, turn up the music and enjoy yourself while scrubbing.

Appliances

The first thing to tackle when cleaning a kitchen is the appliances:

• Washing machine – you can put the empty washing machine on a hot cycle, which will bring out any dirt. Once the process is finished, immediately wipe around the door, drum and rubber seal with a kitchen towel. You may need to repeat this step a couple of times. Also, remove the drawer, soak it in washing-up liquid, and use a toothbrush to scrub and remove any mould. 
• Oven cleaning – you can use a shop-bought oven cleaning product to make your range look brand new; don’t forget the racks and door, too. Please see our guide on how to clean a dirty oven for more information.
• Microwave – Half-fill a bowl with water and squeeze lemon juice, then place the bowl in the microwave and turn it on full power for a minute or two. This will loosen all the dirt inside the microwave, making it easier to wipe. You can use a toothbrush for harder stains or hard-to-reach corners.
• Sink – we recommend using bleach to clean a dirty sink by wiping it around the sinks and taps and leaving it for a few minutes to do its work and then thoroughly wipe and rinse it all off using a clean cloth – please ensure you test a small area first so that you know the bleach will not cause any damage and don’t forget to wear rubber gloves.
• Fridge/Freezer, Kettle & Toaster – if your freezer needs defrosting, this is the perfect opportunity to do this too. If it does not need defrosting, empty your fridge and clean inside, de-limescale your kettle using white vinegar and empty the crumbs from your toaster. After this, clean the outside of these appliances, utilising a cleaning solution and cloth. If you have other appliances on your worktops, such as a slow cooker or an air fryer, this is also the time to clean these.

Worktops, windows, cupboards & lighting

When cleaning your home, it is essential to always start at the room’s highest point so that dust does not fall and settle where you have already cleaned. So, after the appliances, give the ceiling and light fixtures a good dust with a feather duster (or you may need to use a de-greasing product if the light fixtures are particularly grimy) and also dust anything you may have on the walls, such as frames or clocks. After this, move on to the windows. It is best to use a window cleaning product inside and outside. We recommend dishwashing liquid mixed with warm water. Just ensure you rinse it all off thoroughly. 

The cupboards may take longer, but cleaning the insides and outsides is worthwhile. Start by emptying the cabinets. You can do this one or two at a time. Thoroughly clean the insides using a damp cloth or an antibacterial spray, and ensure they are fully dry before you put everything back in. This is also an excellent opportunity to re-arrange if you think it could be stored more helpfully. Once the insides are clean, wipe the outsides down until they are sparkling clean, too, and then it is time to remove everything from the worktops and wipe them down, too. 

Now it is time to look around and see what extra touches you can complete – the bin will need to be cleaned, you could wipe down doors and handles, do the radiators need a freshen up? If you have any tables or chairs in your kitchen, ensure these are cleaned.

The floor

Once all the other steps have been completed, it is time to target the floor, and it is worth investing the time now and cleaning the bottom to the top of your ability so that it is easily kept on top of afterwards. How you clean the floor will depend on the equipment you have at home, and there are many different machines and products you can purchase – but below are some of our recommendations (for all options except a multi-functional cleaner, you will need to vacuum first).

• Multi-functional cleaner – these machines are fabulous at cleaning floors – they vacuum, wash and dry all in one, which saves a lot of time. Another bonus of these machines is that the dirty water goes into a different compartment, which means only clean water is used to clean the floor (and you get to see how dirty your floor is by the colour of the water).
• Steamer – if you use a steamer to clean your kitchen floor, you must regularly change the pad on the bottom to avoid spreading the dirt around. Ensure you rinse these before putting them in the washing machine. You can use just water to steam clean a kitchen floor or add a small amount of floor cleaning product to the water compartment (mixed with water), which will help kill any bacteria. 
• Mop – an excellent old-fashioned mop and bucket always work wonders, but changing the water to avoid spreading dirt around regularly is a good idea.
• Floor wipes can be a good option for smaller kitchens but require more elbow grease. They are better for a cleaner floor than an exceptionally dirty one.

Our top tip for floor cleaning is to add a few drops of essential oils to your water before starting the cleaning process – this will make your house smell lovely. And always try to ensure the floor is arid before walking over it again.

We hope you have found our guide to cleaning a dirty kitchen beneficial and practical. Our professional cleaners take these steps when we complete end-of-tenancy cleaning services to very high standards. Now that you have a gleaming, fresh kitchen, we would advise cleaning the worktops and floors weekly and the appliances and cupboards once every month or two, and you will never have a filthy kitchen again!