We are well and truly into Spring in Australia (over a month now), the flowers are blooming, the sun is up longer and the added warmth in it seems to give me more energy and motivation. Hallelujah! It really is the perfect time of year to do some spring cleaning, especially with Christmas pretty much just around the corner. If you happen to be hosting Christmas at your house, like I am this year, it is such a nice feeling knowing that your house is ready for hoards of family and friends.
SPRING CLEANING TIP
#1: Tackle one space at a time
If you don't find yourself lucky enough to have a holiday at this time of year, choose one space a week to work on. Break it into manageable chunks.
This blog does just that, and we are going to focus on just the kitchen first.
In this blog, I share all my non-toxic cleaning tips including homemade cleaning solutions to save time and money in the kitchen.
The Kitchen
Yep, we are starting with the largest space to spring clean, and the one we are most likely to procrastinate. It's always a good idea in my book to get the hardest job over and done with so the rest doesn't seem so challenging. Let's do this! Just think about how satisfying and good it will feel to have this done, the end goal is our motivation!
Bookmark this page so you can come back to it later.
DIY Dishwashing liquid
1. Start small by getting all your dishes done, put away and the bench wiped down. This alone is satisfying enough to motivate me to clean the rest of my kitchen. Click here for info on making your own natural dishwashing liquid>>>
Dishwasher clean
2. Clean your dishwasher. Considering its job is to deal with our dirty dishes, it certainly needs a cleaning itself. This is simple, quick and easy to do with just some baking soda, vinegar and lemon juice. Click here for simple steps to clean your dishwasher>>>
Oven cleaning
3. Time to tackle the oven! Perhaps often the scariest and most procrastinated item in the home to clean. Do not be afraid, baking soda and vinegar to the rescue! You'll notice a theme with my cleaning, the hero products of baking soda and vinegar are a force to be reckoned with. Forget the toxic store bought stuff that stings your nose and requires all windows and doors to be opened! Click here to find out how to naturally, safely and cheaply clean your oven.
Fridge clean out
4. So at this point, your dishwasher is cleaning itself, you have a toxic free solution soaking away in your oven, the last appliance to tackle is the fridge. (I am assuming here that you regularly wipe down your stove top and microwave so these appliances don't need a deep spring clean).
To tackle our fridge, we are going need some vinegar, a microfibre cloth and some patience. Click here to see how I make a simple cleaning solution to tackle any dirt, spills and odours and clean out my fridge.
Pantry organisation
5. Almost there! Time for the pantry and the rest of the kitchen drawers and cupboards. There's no stopping now, we are on the last step to getting you the cleanest kitchen on the block.
Tips for keeping an organised pantry:
This is the perfect time to take a look at how you are organising your pantry. Are the most used items in the easiest to reach shelf at eye level? Can you find everything you need, when you need it? Can the rest of the family?
My two tips for organising your pantry so it stays organised, is using labels for all your containers and bins for storing packaged items. When I started using these two organisation tips two years ago, my pantry has stayed tidy with no extra effort. Well worth the time and effort.
When your pantry is organised, and the other cupboards in your home, it is super easy to clean it, especially when you just have to move some containers and remove some bins.
General Cleaning
Simply use the white vinegar you made earlier for your fridge, and a microfibre cloth to wipe down all the shelves. Check the used by date of packaged items and discard anything that is out of date. Use this time to also make a shopping list of any items you are almost out of. Don't forget to wipe out drawers and cupboards too. Another great time to go through your kitchen wares and get rid of anything you haven't used in the last year.
Take a look at the video below to see how I organise my pantry.
That's all my tips for spring cleaning your kitchen. Don't forget to subscribe to the mailing list so you can be notified when the next blog post is published and subscribe to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/mandimakes
Happy Spring cleaning x
