The kitchen is likely to be the most used room in the house, and consequently, can get dirty pretty quickly. Despite regular cleaning, there are some items that do not get cleaned as well. While there are multiple ways for you to clean everything, some work better than others. Below, we have gathered seven of the most irritating kitchen items to clean, offering two different tricks for some. Take a look:
1. Pan Gunk
How many times have you ended up with leftover food that has burned on your pans? Pan gunk can be quite hard to remove. But some baking soda, cream of tartar and dish soap, ought to do the trick, leaving your pan look like new again.
A second alternative for getting the gunk off pans and other kitchen items is to use baking soda, without the dish soap and the cream of tartar, in favor of hydrogen peroxide. The reaction of these two ingredients together will get that gunk up in no time, leaving you with sparkling clean pans.
2. Wood Cutting Boards
Keep your wood cutting boards clean by using a lemon and some coarse salt. Scrubbing the board using both. While it may seem unusual at first, it is the best way to clean those wood boards. Cleaning the boards with too much water can cause them damage while using harsh cleaning chemicals can sink into the wood. For this reason, it is best that you avoid both.
3. Greasy kitchen dust
It may be hard to reach the top of the cabinets or the fridge, dust loves to accumulate up there and the easiest way to do so is with wax paper, as opposed to a step ladder or long-handled duster. Simply line the top of your cabinets with wax paper causing the dust to accumulate there, making cleaning up easy.
4. Stainless steel
If you've got a stainless steel fridge you may notice how easy it is for it to get smudged and look grimy. A general washing can leave streaks and may not eliminate fingerprints. To keep your fridge spotless you can use an unlikely method: Pledge - which doesn't just work to clean and polish wood. In fact, pledge is great for stainless steel as well.
If you are unsure about using a wood cleaner on stainless steel, you can use white distilled vinegar, which also works wonders at removing build up, streaks and fingerprints and is cheaper than Pledge. However, it may not shine as much.
5. Hard Water Stains
When something comes in contact with water it can develop hard water stains. Things like faucets and bathroom fixtures are more prone to these stains than others, however, anything that has water drying or sitting on it is susceptible. If you just soak the item in vinegar for a while, those hard water stains will wipe off easily.
However, there are some things which cannot be soaked in vinegar as easily. For such items, use a lemon instead. All that you will need to do is rub half a lemon on the stains, leaving the citric acid to do the rest.
6. Fridge Shelves
Want to keep nasty spills and sticky messed off your fridge shelves? Line them with plastic wrap or Press N Seal. You will just need to change it out every now and then preventing you from having to scrub those shelves or deal with leakages.
If the idea of using lining is not to your liking, you can get reusable fridge liners, like coasters and place them in your fridge as you line the shelves. They work in the same way and periodically you will need to wash them instead of tossing them out.
7. MicrowaveIt's impossible to cook in a microwave without it getting dirty. Food will generally splatter leaving a mess in the microwave. But there is an easy way to go about cleaning it and removing any gunk. Just put a lemon and some water in the microwave and switch it on, allowing any food scraps to loosen up.
If you do not have any lemons on hand you can use vinegar. However, one of the cons of using this method is the smell of vinegar in your kitchen afterward. Nevertheless, it's a lot better than having to spend a lot of time scrubbing your microwave.
1. Pan Gunk
How many times have you ended up with leftover food that has burned on your pans? Pan gunk can be quite hard to remove. But some baking soda, cream of tartar and dish soap, ought to do the trick, leaving your pan look like new again.
A second alternative for getting the gunk off pans and other kitchen items is to use baking soda, without the dish soap and the cream of tartar, in favor of hydrogen peroxide. The reaction of these two ingredients together will get that gunk up in no time, leaving you with sparkling clean pans.
2. Wood Cutting Boards
Keep your wood cutting boards clean by using a lemon and some coarse salt. Scrubbing the board using both. While it may seem unusual at first, it is the best way to clean those wood boards. Cleaning the boards with too much water can cause them damage while using harsh cleaning chemicals can sink into the wood. For this reason, it is best that you avoid both.
3. Greasy kitchen dust
It may be hard to reach the top of the cabinets or the fridge, dust loves to accumulate up there and the easiest way to do so is with wax paper, as opposed to a step ladder or long-handled duster. Simply line the top of your cabinets with wax paper causing the dust to accumulate there, making cleaning up easy.
4. Stainless steel
If you've got a stainless steel fridge you may notice how easy it is for it to get smudged and look grimy. A general washing can leave streaks and may not eliminate fingerprints. To keep your fridge spotless you can use an unlikely method: Pledge - which doesn't just work to clean and polish wood. In fact, pledge is great for stainless steel as well.
If you are unsure about using a wood cleaner on stainless steel, you can use white distilled vinegar, which also works wonders at removing build up, streaks and fingerprints and is cheaper than Pledge. However, it may not shine as much.
5. Hard Water Stains
When something comes in contact with water it can develop hard water stains. Things like faucets and bathroom fixtures are more prone to these stains than others, however, anything that has water drying or sitting on it is susceptible. If you just soak the item in vinegar for a while, those hard water stains will wipe off easily.
However, there are some things which cannot be soaked in vinegar as easily. For such items, use a lemon instead. All that you will need to do is rub half a lemon on the stains, leaving the citric acid to do the rest.
6. Fridge Shelves
Want to keep nasty spills and sticky messed off your fridge shelves? Line them with plastic wrap or Press N Seal. You will just need to change it out every now and then preventing you from having to scrub those shelves or deal with leakages.
If the idea of using lining is not to your liking, you can get reusable fridge liners, like coasters and place them in your fridge as you line the shelves. They work in the same way and periodically you will need to wash them instead of tossing them out.
7. MicrowaveIt's impossible to cook in a microwave without it getting dirty. Food will generally splatter leaving a mess in the microwave. But there is an easy way to go about cleaning it and removing any gunk. Just put a lemon and some water in the microwave and switch it on, allowing any food scraps to loosen up.
If you do not have any lemons on hand you can use vinegar. However, one of the cons of using this method is the smell of vinegar in your kitchen afterward. Nevertheless, it's a lot better than having to spend a lot of time scrubbing your microwave.