Tips For Keeping Your Kitchen Clean and De-Cluttered

Oh No!!! company is coming and my kitchen is a mess!!! Have you ever had this situation in your house? I have. Since everybody in our house loves to cook, our kitchen is filled with many different, what we in our house hold call, "aromas". Hey, those onions do smell good when being browned. Mix that with whatever else you may be cooking and although it may be OK with you, it doesn't mean your company will necessarily enjoy the aroma.

Anyways, the kitchen, as in many of today's households, is a central gathering point for the family and therefore that means that a lot of cleaning must take place. Let me share from my experience and pass along some tips for keeping your kitchen clean and de-cluttered. And of course, smelling fresh.

Let's start with the odors: For taking care of lingering odors you may want to try what I frequently use: Peppermint Deodorizing Mist:

An 8 oz fine-mist spraying bottle
8 oz of distilled white vinegar
20-30 drops of peppermint essential oil

Once you have combined the ingredients inside of the spray bottle, spray the area you want to have deodorized and let it sit for a few minutes. The odor will soon be gone. However, don't put your face in the line of this spray because the ingredients are very strong. You can find fine-mist spray bottles in most larger super markets, and if not there certainly in any local goods stores or beauty salons.

Does your garbage disposal sometimes smell a bit? Try grinding up orange peels (lemon peel works just as well) and ice cubes. Speaking of garbage disposal; you may want to try and avoid putting certain things into it. Things like grease and starchy foods are items that can clog and create problems down the road.

Clear the way for cleaning: A major on-going complaint I always hear all the time, is the lack of counter space in the kitchen. The aggravation only gets worse when you're trying to clean the kitchen. What to do about all the clutter? In most kitchens, the biggest culprits are the appliances that are out and sitting out everyday of every week. The most common ones being, the toaster and coffee maker. Although these items may be important, we do not use them as much as we think we do. Usually, they will only get used in the morning, so instead of having them out all of the time, after they cool down, why not put them away in one of your kitchen cabinets. The same can be done with other less used appliances. Other such as the George Foreman grill, if you havent' used it for a year or so, consider giving them away.

Now that the clutter is out of the way: Cleaning the kitchen will be much easier but, of course there are some appliances such as the refrigerator (always in need of de-cluttering) and oven that may require special attention. I'll cover those at another time. Now that we have the counter clear, what's the best way to clean and maintain it? Well, in most cases it's quite easy; mild soap and water will do just fine. If you need to get a little tougher, a mild solution with white

distilled vinegar also acts as a good grease remover, although you'll need to take special precautions if you have a granite or marble counter top. An all important thing to remember with these stone type tops, is not to let a cleaner or anything acidic stand on the surface. To be safe check with the installer for instructions.

Linda Short: Home maker and Residential Cleaning company owner enjoys sharing the how tos of cleaning that she's learned over the years of taking care of her own home and running a cleaning company. For more great cleaning tips on how to keep your home clean and organized Click Here [http://www.fasteasygreencleaning.com/kitchen-cleaning].

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