Keeping your kitchen clean and green is easy once you get into the swing of homemade cleaners. There’s no need to go toxic, not even with hard to clean ovens. Read on for all sorts of great homemade kitchen cleaners that actually work.
Oven cleaning:
- Prevention is your first line of defense. First of all don’t allow spills to happen. Use properly sized baking dishes and pans in the oven and if you’re a terribly messy cook line the bottom of your oven with foil to catch spills.. Secondly, never let spills sit. Clean spills right away with a damp cloth – just be careful not to burn yourself. I wear an oven mitt when cleaning hot spills and I suggest you do the same.
- If you fail to follow the prevention methods above, all is not lost. If you have a hot spill, sprinkle it with basic table salt while the spill is still warm! After the oven is cool, take a damp cloth and rub off the spill. This even works on tough greasy stains; but you have to work with a warm oven or the salt doesn’t work well.
- If you don’t have a warm oven to work with try making a mix of baking soda and water to make a thin paste (about two tablespoons baking soda – then add water slowly). Use an old toothbrush or bristle brush to scrub down your spill then wipe down with a damp cloth to remove the baking soda.
To clean a gross disposal: Run warm water, a smidgen of baking soda, and some citrus peels down your disposal all at once. Any citrus peels you’ve got laying around will work but I like lemon best.
Get rid of burnt food or fishy kitchen smells: Sprinkle an old thrift store pie plate with cinnamon, nutmeg, and a dash of orange essential oil. Place the plate in the warm oven and let it sit as the oven cools.
Homemade herbal scouring pad: Oddly, you can find a natural “sponge” – Horsetail stems act like a scouring pad for pots and pans but won’t scratch your dishes. Rub a handful of dried leafless stems on your pots and pans. While this can leave a bit of a green color on your dishes it’s no big deal as it’ll wash off in the water and it’s non-toxic.
General kitchen sink cleaning:
- Wipe down daily to avoid set-in stains that develop when you pour coffee, berry juice, tea and other dark substances into the sink. This means less overall scrubbing is needed.
- To deep clean the sink, scrub with baking soda and water. Add a dash of lemon for whitening stains if needed.
Get rid of icky ice smells: Ice and food in freezers can start to smell funky due to the food you store. Keep your freezer and fridge clean in general – for example don’t place containers that are leaking in there. If you still get icky smells wipe down the inside of the freezer with pure vanilla extract or white vinegar. A box of baking soda inside your fridge and freezer also works well.
Easy microwave cleaning: Place a bowl of straight vinegar or a bowl of water with 15 drops tea tree oil in the microwave. Heat the bowl on high for about 2 minutes – you want it steaming. The bowl of water will steam and loosen stuck on food and grime and makes it easy to wipe out with a wet cloth.
EVERYTHING ELSE: For a fast and shiny stove top, quick garbage can cleaning, and for any other areas of the kitchen such as counters, the fridge and so on that you need to clean, choose your favorite homemade all-purpose cleaner.
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