10 Things You Forget To Clean In The Kitchen

There’s a good chance that you found this post because you’re spring cleaning. We tried to make that season a lot easier for you with our Ultimate Guide To Spring Cleaning.

It’s filled with things you miss in specific rooms (like the bathroom, bedroom, living room, etc.), cleaning hacks, and more.

Things You Forget To Clean In The Kitchen

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Don’t look at this as a checklist and start with the first item of the list, then clean the second in the future. Do them all the next time you clean your kitchen. Please.

Also, make sure you have everything you need to clean. We use dish soap, mostly, because it’s effective and already in the kitchen. Some tasks need distilled white vinegar.

Of course, if you have a homemade cleaning solution (a lot of people make a solution with part vinegar and part baking powder to use as a paste or in a spray bottle), have that ready too.

The aerator in the sink’s faucet

The aerator in the sink’s faucet is so disgusting if you don’t clean it. But guess what? So many people don’t even think about cleaning it.

Honestly, people don’t even know what the aerator is.

So, if you think about your faucet, think about where the drops of water come out. Now, look at it (mostly in your mind, but also, when you’re cleaning). There’s so much gunk and water buildup there. And it’s gross if you don’t clean it.

Especially when you think that all your clean water comes out through that area and cleans your dishes — or goes straight into your glass of tap water. So clean it.

So clean it often.

The best way to clean the aerator in the sink’s faucet

Personally, the best way I’ve found to clean the aerator in the sink’s faucet is to first use the blunt end of a toothpick to clean any grime that’s left between the spouts where the water comes out.

Then use a soapy cotton swab to clean around the aerator. Finally, use a dish cloth with dish detergent on it to wipe it all down.

Range hood filters

We cook a lot. I work at home, so I cook breakfast and lunch for myself daily, and then every night I cook dinner. And of course, Pete makes huge pots of marinara sauce here. So we really put our oven through a lot of work.

We clean our stovetop every night, which I’m sure you do too. But how often do you clean your range hood filters? Did you even know they exist?

If you look above the stovetop, under the range, there are filters there that capture and remove debris, grease, and smoke, preventing them from going into the air ducts.

Without the filters, you greatly increase the chance of a fire. So they’re important. And it’s important to clean them.

The best way to clean range hood filters

Remove the range hood filters. Soak the filters in a mixture of water, dish soap, and baking soda for 10 minutes. Use a dish cloth to scrub any remaining grease or debris, then dry them completely before returning them.

Bottoms of the cabinets and drawers

Every Sunday, I clean the cabinets in our kitchen. Like deep clean them, not just the daily wipe down (we have white cabinets in the kitchen, which look beautiful but require a lot of cleaning).

Every couple days or so, I wipe the front of the cabinet door, the handles, and the top and bottom of the doors with a microfiber cloth. I think most people do.

But, how often do you clean the bottoms of the cabinets?

I don’t mean the underside of the cabinets. I mean the floor of the cabinet and drawers. Crumbs and dust accumulate on the bottom, as well as drips from spills, but no one thinks to clean in there.

The best way to clean the bottoms of the cabinets and drawers

Remove everything from the cabinet (all pots, shelf liners, silverware holders, etc.). Use a small brush or handheld vacuum cleaner to sweep the bottoms of the cabinets and drawers and remove dirt, crumbs, debris, etc.

If you don’t have a handheld vacuum, a brush attachment for your stand up vacuum will work.

Dip a rag in a solution of water and dish detergent, then wash the floor and sides. Be careful not to oversaturate the rag. Dry with a towel.

And, if you’re doing this to your junk drawers as well (because we all have at least one), go through it and throw away anything you don’t need in there.

Dish rags and sponges

You wash your dishes with your dish rags and sponges. So, since they’re always covered in dish soap, you just expect that they’re clean. And no one thinks about cleaning the things that clean things. But you should.

Bacteria loves things that are wet, and your dish rags and sponges are often wet. So they can be home for bacteria. And that’s not exactly what you want to be washing your forks and plates.

The best way to clean dish rags and sponges

You can throw dish rags in your washing machine with other towels. Wash them on hot and then dry them completely, also on hot. Don’t let them air dry.

For sponges, put them on the top rack of the dishwasher and they’ll get clean during the dishwasher’s cycle. We suggest using the sanitizer cycle if you do have your sponges in there (although, honestly, I use the sani cycle every time).

Dishwasher filter

The filter in the bottom of the dishwasher is so disgusting. Just thinking about people not cleaning it on a regular basis is making me gag.

But it’s one of those things that people don’t even think about cleaning. Like, your dishwasher cleans your dishes. So shouldn’t it clean itself at the same time? No.

You need to clean your dishwasher monthly — and that includes handwashing the filter because it gets a ton of food residue buildup in it.

The best way to clean the dishwasher filter

The dishwasher filter is located in the bottom of the dishwasher, under the spray arm. So move the bottom rack and you’ll be able to access it. Unscrew the filter and pull it out. You’ll see gunk and food particles inside.

Wash the dishwasher filter using hot water and dish soap, making sure to clean the outside and inside of the filter, plus the plastic pieces of the filter.

Garbage disposal splash guard

Every place I’ve lived in on my own has had a garbage disposal, but I didn’t grow up with one. So I generally don’t see the point of using one. Just scrape your food into the garbage itself.

But, our home has a garbage disposal, as most homes do now, and you actually need to run it often in order to not ruin it. Always run cold water down the garbage disposal while you’re running it to keep in properly.

The point of the garbage disposal is to break up large food items so they don’t end up clogging your pipes. There’s a splash guard there so any loose debris hits the bottom of that guard doesn’t fly back into your face (because eww).

And, if you don’t clean it, it starts to trap kitchen sink odors.

The best way to clean the garbage disposal splash guard

Put gloves on. Grab an old toothbrush and dip it in a degreaser. Then, scrub the underside of the garbage disposal splash guard with the toothbrush. Rinse it, and then do the same with the upper side of the garbage disposal splash guard.

You want to be really careful though. The device doesn’t have sharp blades (despite everyone thinking it does), but it has blunt metal paddles on a spinning plate so you want to be mindful of that.

On top of the fridge

You know you need to clean on top of the fridge, but you’re probably just lazy about it. I mean, no one sees the top of the fridge, so why do you have to clean it?

But it can get gross up there. The top of the fridge in our house just gets dusty. But, in our old apartment, it would get sticky and covered in a layer of grease. It was so gross.

The best way to clean on top of the fridge

Use a dry cloth or duster to dust on top of the fridge. Personally, my go to is a used dryer sheet. It’s such a magical cleaning tool for dust (try it on baseboards).

Then, spray disinfectant on top of the fridge and wipe that down with another dry cloth.

Under the oven

We all know we should clean the oven. I don’t know how often you scrap the burnt stuff out of the bottom of your oven or how often you run the self cleaner. That’s between you and God.

But, what’s on this list is under the oven. You want to remove the drawer that holds all your pans from its track and clean the kitchen floor that’s under the oven.

That’s what people forget, but not me. Honestly, I clean that floor more often than the oven door.

The best way to clean under the oven

Completely remove the bottom drawer of your oven. Take it off its track and set it aside. Sweep the floor with a broom.

If you feel compelled, wash the floor with a floor-safe cleaner and wait until it’s dry to return the drawer.

Also, while we’re talking about the oven, we have a grill mat at the bottom of ours to catch any food. That’s so much easier to pull out and clean than cleaning any stains on the oven floor (shout out to my dad for that hack).

And, to clean the glass of the oven door, I swear by the ScrubDaddy Scrub Paste, which you use with the Scrub Mommy. I know. All those words are very silly and gimmicky, but it’s the only thing to ever clean my oven door and make it sparkle.

Under the crisper drawer

I don’t know how often you deep clean your fridge, but you really should pull out all your food and drawers and clean your fridge often. That’s a really good time to make sure you’re not hoarding any old or expired food.

It’s also a good idea pull out your crisper drawers.

Small aside: The crisper drawers are the ones at the bottom that pull out, where you put your vegetables.

Go through the food in those and clean under them. I assure you, the floor under where they rest is filled with crumbs, no matter if you ever put crumbs in the fridge or not.

The best way to clean under the crisper drawer

Pull the crisper drawer out.

Use a handheld vacuum to suck up any crumbs that have fallen. Take a cloth, dip it in soapy water, and wipe under the crisper drawer.

Dry with a dry cloth.

Microwave ceiling

We wipe down our microwave all the time. Plus, we use a microwave plate cover every time we microwave something, so it really reduces the splatter.

But I’ve seen some microwaves where people haven’t cleaned the microwave ceiling in ages.

And all I can think is the microwave heating up, heating that dried food on the ceiling, and then droplets of it falling into your food.

Is that how physics works? Maybe not. But it’s how my brain works.

The best way to clean your microwave ceiling

Put one cup of water in a bowl with a few tablespoons of distilled white (“cleaning”) vinegar.

If you don’t have vinegar, a few slices of squeezed citrus (lemon, lime, or orange works). Microwave on high until the water boils and steam forms. Let the microwave sit closed for five minutes. Wipe down everything with a damp cloth.

More Kitchen Cleaning Tips:

You do need to do a little more cleaning, even if you’ve gotten through this list. Sorry. But don’t worry, we can help with that too.

We have a post about How To Clean A Dishwasher In Three Easy Steps and one about How To Deep Clean Your Fridge.

And, just because you know we love a home that runs smooth, check out our Six Tips To Keep Your Kitchen Running Effectively. Buttoning up a few things in your kitchen might help you save some money too, which is always a good thing.