The Gluten-Free Homemaker

It’s a new month and time for a new cleaning task.  How did January go for you?  I heard from a number of you who cleaned your sinks, windows, and lights.  A couple of you didn’t clean those things but were motivated to do some other kitchen cleaning that really needed to be done.  I’m glad we can help motivate each other.  I know it helped me to hear back from you.

I finished January’s tasks by cleaning the two ceiling fans with lights in my kitchen.  I removed the glass globes and washed them, and I dusted and washed the fan blades.

About my kitchen sink, a few of you suggested baking soda and vinegar.  I tried that and it did clean the sink well, but did not remove stains.  I have ordered Bar Keeper’s Friend and am waiting for that to arrive.  Several people suggested it and I have read good things about it also.  We’ll so how it goes.

February:  Clean Your Cook Top and Oven

Stoves can be very dirty places.  For a deep cleaning, I suggest you remove all the pieces that can be removed and clean them well.  This includes parts of your burners as well as knobs.  I have a smooth top stove and have found that the product Sears sells to clean it works very well.  I’m sure there are others also.  I use it regularly, but it doesn’t take much so a bottle lasts a long time.

My oven doesn’t tend to get too dirty, but one reason I wanted to do this job in February is so I can use the self cleaning feature and not mind the heat it produces.  If you don’t have a self cleaning oven, you’ll just have to use some elbow grease.  Remember to clean the outside as well as the inside, and don’t forget the drawer under your oven if you have one.  I use mine to store skillets and pot holders.  I need to go through what’s in there and declutter it as well as clean it.


If you have a range hood or fan over your cook top, that should be cleaned as well.  They tend to collect grease and dust so have your grease cutting cleaners ready.

If you have a free standing oven/stove, I suggest you pull it out and clean the outer sides of it as well as your cabinets, walls and floors in the place where it sits.  Now don’t do this unless you have some help and can do it without harming yourself or your floor.

Some microwaves, like mine, are mounted over the stove and act as a range hood.  If that’s the case, you could clean just the underside of the microwave. Mine is new so I’m going to skip that. Microwaves and toaster ovens will be cleaned another month, but if you finish this early, you could certainly move on to them.
 

What are your favorite cleaners for this kind of job?  I’ll tell you about one of mine in next week’s kitchen tip.

Labels: Keeping a Clean Kitchen