Deep cleaning is mostly effective when done by a professional because of their professional tools and equipment (especially for hotels and restaurants), I have also come to know that with a little guidance and hard work, you can get it done yourself.
You can also make it easier on yourself by getting some affordable equipment that will ease your work. If you have always wanted to deep clean your kitchen at home, your hotel, or your restaurant, I will show you how to do it in this article.
Deep cleaning is the art of cleaning the areas of your kitchen that you don’t clean on a normal day like your window vents, your doors, and your store. It involves airing and rearranging your kitchenware, cleaning under your counters or gas tops, rearranging your kitchen, cabinets, and many more.
In this article, I will share with you the 10 steps to deep cleaning, and the importance of deep cleaning or why you should deep clean your home, office, hotel, or restaurant.
10 steps to deep cleaning your kitchen
1- Start from the top
Clean out your ceiling with a cobweb brush that is long enough to reach the top of your ceiling. Clean out your windows and window vents. Clean under your kitchen counter and clean your kitchen door. Check those hidden places in your kitchen where you rarely sweep or clean, and clean them out.Â
Related: 10 Tips for Maintaining Food Safety and Hygiene in the HomeÂ
Guidelines on How to Maintain Food Safety and Hygiene in Hotels and RestaurantsÂ
2- Clear out your cabinets
The next step is to bring out everything in your cabinet like your appliances, dishes, cutleries, and other cookware. Bring them out so you can clean your cabinets.
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3- Clean cabinets and drawers
Cabinets and drawers usually get dirty if they have been untouched for so long. They also harbor dirt, insects, and insect eggs. Sweep out every dirt in your cabinets and drawers, then wipe clean with a clean damp cloth.
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4- Clear out dirty dishes and clean the sink
Now that your cabinets and drawers are neat, you need to clean the cookware, dishes, and appliances you just brought out. If you have dirty dishes in your sink, clean them. Clean your neat cutleries and dishes too.
Take out your appliances like your toasting machine, air fryer, and blender, wipe them with a damp cloth, and leave them to dry before putting them back into your cabinet, so that the water will not cause them to rust.
If you find out there are hard stains that will not go in any of your cookware or appliances, pour vinegar on them or add baking soda to water and apply it on the hard stains for some minutes before cleaning them again.
Also, clean your sink with warm water, soap, and baking soda. It will help remove every bacteria and grime in your sink. Ensure to scrub gently and leave to dry.
Also read: How to Make Your Kitchen Insta-Worthy – A Simple and Quick Guide
5- Clean out your refrigerator
The next step to deep cleaning your kitchen is cleaning your refrigerator. Most refrigerators are filled with spoiled and forgotten leftovers and different types of poorly stored food. This can cause cross-contamination between raw and cooked foods. It can also cause a foul smell in your refrigerator.
The first thing to do is to bring out everything in your refrigerator. Throw out spoiled food in the trash can. Repackage raw food or just stored foods. Clean your refrigerator with soap and water then use a foam to take out any water residue inside.
Afterward, wipe clean with a damp cloth to ensure there is no trace of dirt, soap, or water. Leave open to dry for a while or clean with a dry cloth. Rearrange the neatly packed food and food ingredients in the refrigerator.
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6- Wipe your oven and cooker clean
The next step to deep cleaning your kitchen is to clean your oven and cooker. Most times ovens are not usually as dirty as the cooker. The cooker usually contains debris and leftovers from cooked food.
This means you have to clean your oven and cooker differently. Clean your oven with a damp cloth and add some vinegar or baking powder if there is stubborn grease.
Clean your cooker first with soap and water while avoiding the burner so you don’t get water into it. Then wipe clean and spray with a cooker cleaner. Leave for some minutes then wipe with a dry cloth.
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7- Clear your countertops
After cleaning out the different kitchenware you own and putting back your dry cookware and dishes in your cabinets and drawers, clean surfaces and countertops with soap and water. Then wipe with a clean dry cloth. Afterward, sanitize your countertops.
8- Rearrange your pantry
When pantries are left unclean for a long time, they tend to become disorganized. One of the important steps to not miss in deep cleaning your kitchen is rearranging your pantry. Pantries are usually a store room for food ingredients, spices, seasonings, and unopened food cans.
Ensure to check for expired products, check for opened seals, and also make sure pests like rats or cockroaches have not gotten to your food ingredients. Take out spoiled or opened food, clean out your pantry shelves, and sweep the pantry floor. Lastly, rearrange food items neatly on pantry shelves.
9- Clean and mop the floor
After looking around and making sure you have cleaned every area of your kitchen, the last step is to sweep and mop your kitchen floor. All the dirt you have wiped down from your cabinets, counters, and windows will now be on the floor. Ensure to sweep thoroughly and then mop afterward.
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10- Take out the trash
Put all the bin bags together and take out your trash. Here is the last step to deep cleaning your kitchen. You don’t want to finish cleaning and yet still find flies moving around your kitchen because you are yet to take out the trash. Ensure to take them out.
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Why should you deep clean? Importance of deep cleaning your kitchen
It keeps your food safe and hygienic
When you deep clean, you are able to cook in a safe environment hereby protecting your food and food ingredients from contamination.
To purify the air
When you deep clean your kitchen, you have changed the air in your kitchen to a cleaner and breathable one. Purified air also helps you cook in a better atmosphere. You will also inhale disinfected air.
To keep you healthy
When you deep clean, you are not only keeping your environment or food healthy, but you also keep yourself healthy.
To prevent contamination and spread of bacteria
Bacteria breed in dirty places. Deep cleaning makes you clear out the hidden areas of your kitchen that you don’t clean on a normal day, thereby causing you to root out all the breeding places for bacteria. This also helps you prevent food contamination.
A clean area alleviates your mood
A study from VeryWellMind indicates that your mental health can either be healthier or depressed depending on the cleanliness of your environment. When you clean your kitchen or any area of your room, it alleviates your mood and can sometimes suppress depression, anxiety, or sadness.
Personally, I have noticed that each time I clean my house, I feel energized and a lot happier. For hotels and restaurants, deep cleaning alleviates the mood of your cooks and even customers, because who doesn’t love a neat environment?!
It helps you enjoy your kitchen atmosphere
When you deep clean your kitchen, you will love coming to the kitchen, you can even sit around your kitchen, and you will also not mind cooking.
It makes cooking exciting and easy to do
When your kitchen is clean, it’s easier to cook. Everything is in order, and your dishes and cookware are well-arranged. You will feel less tired and energized to cook.
To avoid pest infestation
It is also important to deep clean your kitchen to avoid pest infestation. I gave more details on how to get rid of pests in the kitchen in this post (especially for hotels and restaurants).
Conclusion
While these steps are realistic for deep cleaning, you should also note that your kitchen is different from mine and that of others. Let these steps guide you but also check for other areas of your kitchen that were not mentioned and deep clean them.
Remember, to always have a damp cloth, a dry cloth, vinegar, warm water, baking soda, and soap in handy when cleaning your kitchen. Also, if your kitchen is clean but the other areas of your house are not, it will not take a long time before your kitchen becomes dirty again. Make sure to also clean the other rooms in your home.
