So you have a brand new kitchen. Congratulations! It is exciting to finally have the dream kitchen you have always wanted. Once the dust has settled though, reality kicks in. How do you take care of your kitchen to ensure it stays in as good a shape as when the contractors left? Let us share some tips and tricks for how to care for your kitchen.
Tips to Take Care of Your New Kitchen
Wipe up spills as soon as they happen
When it comes to countertops, some materials are more porous than others. Depending upon what you go with, some are more prone to stains, from things like orange juice, coffee, or red wine. The reality is though, spills happen. Wiping them up as soon as they occur, limits damage to your brand new counters. Regardless of your countertop material though, wiping up spills promptly reduces sticky spots, insect infestations, and keeps your kitchen looking fresh and ready for your next culinary adventure.
Care for Your Cupboards
Kitchen cupboards are fairly resilient items, but a little care goes a long way. A lot of grease and grime goes through your kitchen. While hood vents help to suck the worst of the air out of the room, it is inevitable that you get a certain amount of film in your kitchens. Wipe cupboards down with a damp cloth to limit greasy buildup that makes dirt that much harder to clean.
Air Out Your Vents
Speaking of your hood vent, it needs regular care too. It works hard to remove cooking scents from your kitchen and needs regular cleaning to ensure it continues to work properly. Remove the filters at least once a month for a thorough cleaning. Don’t forget about wiping down the outside of the range hood too, as it can get coated in oil and grease as well. This not only makes it look cleaner, but also helps to prevent fires. A dirty hood vent can be a fire hazard. Keep the air flowing free!
Clean Your Sink
One way to clean your hood vent is by washing the filters. Have you thought about the greasy film it leaves behind in your sink? You might think the soapy water you start with is enough to keep your sink sparkling clean, but it can use its own cleaning too. Make sure to use surface safe cleaning agents, but give your sink a thorough cleaning at least once a week. Disinfecting it prevents growth of bacteria from anything from stagnant water, raw meat, to your hands. You don’t want to pass that along to other things, like the fruits and vegetables you eat, so got cleaning, including disinfecting the drain!
Don’t Forget About Your Backsplash
The very name backsplash should give you some idea of what it is there for—to catch splashes. Those splashes might come from grease, sauces, batter, or dirty sink water, but you certainly don’t want to leave those spills there to breed germs. Like your counters, clean up spills and splashes as soon as they occur. To keep your grout looking as good as it did on day one, you need to clean it too on occasion. Sealant helps, but grout cleaners make everything look good as new too.
Show Your Floors Some Love
Floors are the ultimate victim of gravity. Every spill, splash or dusting ultimately falls down. Your floor collects all of it. It should be no surprise then that we suggest sweeping up dirt and spills as soon as they happen. You also need to mop floors regularly to kill germs too. Forget the five second rule. It doesn’t exist. Rule of thumb; sweep or vacuum daily and mop once a week.
Overall Tips to Take Care of Your Kitchen
Have you sensed a pattern here? Rule number one should always be clean up major spills and splashes as soon as they happen. For overall cleaning, wipe/sweep counters, sinks, backsplashes, floors daily and door more thorough cleaning once a week or month depending upon the surface. Ultimately, this keeps your kitchen cleaner and you healthier, plus extends the life of your kitchen exponentially. Tidy as you go and you don’t end up with massive daunting cleaning tasks either. Plus, it is generally easier to tackle too. You know how hard it is to go up against stubborn stuck-on stains you’ve left too long. Forget the harsher cleaning chemicals and extra muscle power by dealing with issues immediately.
Overall, know that regular maintenance prevents bigger issues too, like plumbing issues, stove functionality, and the lifespan of your overall kitchen. If you want your kitchen to last, regular maintenance needs to be a part of the solution. Time for that spring cleaning folks!