Commonly Overlooked and Rarely Cleaned Appliances in Your Kitchen

Commonly Overlooked and Rarely Cleaned Appliances in Your Kitchen

You may think you’re cleaning every inch of your kitchen that day you decide to spontaneously deep-clean your home. Truthfully, there are a few nooks and crannies we all tend to forget about. Here are 7 commonly overlooked areas and appliances in your kitchen that probably need to be cleaned, and how to clean them!

Oven

The self-cleaning function on your oven often gives off a bad odor in your kitchen. If you see a build up inside your oven from years of home-cooked meals, it may be time to deep clean the inside of your appliance. You’ll need rubber gloves, baking soda, water, a damp dish cloth, a plastic or silicone spatula, a spray bottle, and white vinegar.

1. Remove and set aside anything from the inside of your oven (racks, thermometer, etc.).
2. Mix ½ a cup of baking soda and about 3 tablespoons of water in a bowl. Put your gloves on, and coat the inside of your oven with the mixture, while steering clear of the heating elements.
3. Let the baking soda mixture sit overnight for 12 hours, and clean your oven racks in the meantime.
4. Wipe off the baking soda with a damp cloth, and use a spatula to scrape out any stubborn, hard-to-reach areas.
5. Spray your oven with a little bit of vinegar; this will foam up when it hits the baking soda.
6. Do a final wipe down with your damp cloth to remove the vinegar. You can always add more vinegar if baking soda remains.

Refrigerator

Deep-cleaning your fridge could be the perfect solution to both purging old, outdated food and cleansing the appliance’s interior.

1. Transfer your highly perishable items (milk, raw meat) to another cooler while you clean.
2. Empty out your items, throwing things away that are too old or you no longer need, and placing your “keep” items on your counter in an organized manner.
3. Scrub the removable drawers, shelves, and door inserts with dish soap and water. You can move these to your sink, bathtub, or outdoor hose if extra space is needed to wash them.
4. For the interior, you can use a variety of cleaning solutions: diluted bleach and water, all-purpose cleaner, dish soap and water, glass cleaner, etc. This all depends on your preferences in chemical levels and odor. Use a sponge, dish cloth, or microfiber cloth to scrub – even a clean toothbrush could come in handy for those easily forgotten corners and edges.
5. For stubborn stains in your fridge, soak a rag with hot water to ring out and press onto the area.
6. Use a microfiber cloth to wipe the fridge’s exterior; this will easily get rid of fingerprints and other temporary stains.
7. Put all of your cold food and perishable items back in your fridge neater than how they started!

Dishwasher

You’d think your dishwasher would already be clean because of how often you run it; however, there are extra steps you can take to make sure your appliance is just as clean as your dishes.

1. Inspect the dishwasher drain and remove any accumulated food remanence; this will improve the appliance’s cleaning efficiency overall.
2. Place a dishwasher-safe container of white vinegar in your top shelf. Run the dishwasher through a hot-water cycle to remove grease and grime.
3. Sprinkle one cup of baking soda onto the bottom shelf and run a shorter hot-water cycle to remove stains.

Microwave

Did your leftover spaghetti’s sauce get splattered across the walls of your microwave? Here’s how to remove dried up stains from your microwave, while also making it smell fresh!

1. Combine one cup of water with squeezed citrus juice (lemon, lime, orange) in a microwave-safe bowl.
2. Place it into the microwave and heat the mixture on high power until the water boils and windows steam.
3. Let the water cool for 5 minutes before opening the door, then wipe the interior down with a sponge.
4. To clean the outside and door, spray a little bit of rubbing alcohol onto a microfiber cloth and wipe the exterior to make it shiny and bacteria-free.

Cabinets

While you cook, tiny droplets of grease and residue tend to cling onto your cabinet doors without you even noticing! You’ll need a gentle cleaning solution here, so you don’t damage the paint or wood finish on your cabinets. We recommend you make a 1-to-2 ratio mixture of dish soap (or distilled white vinegar) and hot water. Don’t soak or scrub too hard; spray your solution, wipe the entire surface and hardware, and do a final water rinse before drying with a dry cloth. If your cabinets have glass, use a glass cleaner for those portions. If you have stubborn stains to tackle, create a 1-to-2 mixture of baking soda and water. Dab this onto your visible stains, let the solution sit for 5 minutes, then gently rub off with a damp cloth.

Trash Can

While we take the trash out often, it’s easy to forget to clean the inside of your trash can. Not cleaning this out can lead to bacteria build-up that can stink up your kitchen, and beyond. You’ll need rubber gloves, a nylon-bristled brush or toilet bush, disinfectant spray, and access to a hose or bathtub.

1. Take your trash can outside or to your bathtub to wash it off.
2. Spray the can with disinfectant and scrub it with your brush.
3. Let the cleaner sit for 5 minutes after scrubbing.
4. Rinse it off with water.
5. To maintain the cleanliness of your trash can after its deep clean, spray it with all-purpose cleaner and wipe with a paper towel each time you take out the trash.

Coffee Makers

After you caffeinate and feel energized for the day, it’s time to deep clean your coffee maker! Your drip coffee maker may start giving off a bitter taste in your coffee if it hasn’t been cleaned in a while.

1. Make sure your carafe is empty of all coffee grounds.
2. Fill your water chamber with a half water-half white vinegar mix; you can use the carafe to measure this out and assure it’s an even combination!
3. Run a half brew cycle, and once it’s done, let the mixture sit in the maker for one hour.
4. Run two or three more full cycles of just water, allowing time for your maker to cool between cycles.
5. Wipe down the exterior of your coffee maker and soak the carafe in hot, soapy water before reassembling.

Home Clean Heroes Add-On Services

If you don’t have the time to deep clean these often-missed appliances in your kitchen yourself, Home Clean Heroes is here to fight the grime for you! We offer an Operation Clean Oven service, a Refrigerator Rescue service, or a combination of both that you can add onto your standard home cleaning. Click here to read more about our service packages and add-ons, so your kitchen can feel and smell cleaner than ever for your future cooking sessions!