You're Not Finished in the Kitchen!

Okay, so as a professional housekeeper or if you're just cleaning your own home we are picking up from last night's post!  We need to get this kitchen cleaned up!  I mean of COURSE the dishes are done!  And yes there is some real deep cleaning that HAS to be done.  BUT for now we're just working on the first level...layer.  

You've cleaned the counters and under as many things possible without spending too much time moving things.  You can always go back another day and make it a deep clean project if you happen to have MOUNDS of junk, clutter, paperwork on your counters.  I'm just saying IF that's the case.  For now I'm talking about moving the toaster, the coffee pot and the few things around the sink and the other things that are easy to move on the counter.  Just swipe the clean cloth under all these things.  If you need to use a scrubber pad with a little dish soap on the greasy spots do that.  That is important.  Then be sure to rinse with the clean cloth with you rinse out many many times as needed.  Remember you're also dealing with counters where you cook food so it's important for health reasons that the counters are clean and kept clean after this initial cleaning.  Be sure to dry them with clean dry cloth or paper towels.

NEXT: As you are cleaning the counters you can also swipe things...like the toaster, coffee pot any decorative items, clean with your cloth.  BUT you need to back that up with a clean paper tower and Windex and put a real shine on the things that are shiny. If you're a house keeper cleaning a client's home be sure to put things back where you found them.  You weren't hired to re-arrange their home you were hired to clean their home.


A few finishing touches and the basics are done in the kitchen except for the floor.  You are not working on deep cleaning here so unless it's just a few swipes in the fridge leave that for another day.  Time to clean tables, chairs, and sink.  Always leave the sink for last.  In this case if the floor has not been done yet, then leave the sink for the end, especially if you are a housekeeper in a client's home.  You may need the sink to rinse the mop or any cloths that you're using in that part of the home.  

The SINK.  Make sure the sink is wet.  And before you start run some cold water down the disposal drain and run the disposal.  You don't want to leave a beautiful kitchen but the garbage disposal is full of scraps and food.....ewww....gross. 

So now that the sink is wet so shake some Ajax in it and walk away for a little while.  After a little while come back and take the green scrubber pad (you know the with the yellow sponge on the other side---my fav) and scrub the sink.  It doesn't matter if it's a white porselain sink or a stainless steel sink both are okay to use Ajax on them.  Get around the entire faucet very good.  Use the edge of the sponge to get in the cracks and crevices near the faucet.  Be careful with the scratcher pad if you are using it on the shiny parts....gentle.  Now rinse very well and when you are completely finished in the kitchen us paper towels to dry and shine the faucet, around the faucet and in the sink leaving it real pretty and clean AND SHINY DRY.  Clients LOVE this!  

Wrap up: Don't forget to empty the garbage and put a new trash bag in the kitchen trash can.  Make sure the microwave is clean on the inside and outside.  It's a no no to clean the kitchen but leave the microwave dirty.  The outside of fridge and around the edges, sweep and mop the floor, Murphy's Oil soap on the wood cupboards and drawers to clean and lemon oil or Liquid Gold to those will make the kitchen even more beautiful.  

I've rushed, but these are the basics....and oh!  Don't forget to dust any other wood furniture in the kitchen and touch up any mirrors and or windows that you can get to without having to take too much time.  I'm not talking about windows inside and out I'm talking about a sliding glass door smudges cleaned off it it's very obviously dirty.  If you are cleaning a client's home you may not get to all these things in one cleaning.  But for the basics there you are!