Eco-Friendly Kitchen Spring Cleaning: Freshen Up Your Space In A Safe, Organized Way
Spring cleaning can feel like a massive, overwhelming project each year, especially when it comes to the kitchen. People often try to tackle this kind of project in one fell swoop, aiming to declutter, clean, and tackle spring home maintenance all at once, and more people are aiming to do all of this in chemical-free and eco-friendly ways. Spring cleaning can be more manageable if it is broken down into different chunks and done by the entire family. The kitchen is a key place to start.
Focus on chemical-free cleaning options to keep things eco-friendly.
Better Homes & Gardens points out that kitchen spring cleaning can be done on a budget and with eco-friendly, safe products. If you are going to use store-bought cleaners, read the labels and avoid ones that are filled with chemicals and ingredients you can't pronounce. Look for products that are biodegradable, free of chlorine and phosphates, and nontoxic. You can also use rags or microfiber towels for cleaning rather than paper towels that generate waste.
When you are looking to do chemical-free spring cleaning, you may want to focus on using household items such as baking soda, dish soap, vinegar, and Borax to do the heavy lifting. Many surfaces can be thoroughly cleaned with a mixture of water, dish soap, and baking soda, while Borax or baking soda mixed with water works well to clean glass. You can then turn to a mix of water and vinegar to clean stainless steel, chrome, and mirrors.
Don't start until you have a plan for tackling the space.
Wholefully notes that the kitchen can be one of the most labor-intensive areas of the house to tackle during spring cleaning, but once you get done there, the rest of the home will feel easy in comparison. Prepare yourself ahead of time by gathering all of the supplies you'll need and create a plan of attack. For some people, spring cleaning means that you declutter and tackle spring home maintenance issues along the way, and go so far as to reorganize the pantry, messy cabinets, and drawers as well.
If your goal with spring cleaning is to really dig in and leave the kitchen fully organized and fresh, plan for things to get messier before they get better. Go through each cabinet or drawer one by one and pull everything out, get rid of old items, and figure out what you can donate or combine. Wipe down the shelves, replace liners, and add in organizers as needed, and then put everything back in an organized fashion.
Housewife How-Tos recommends leaving the bigger individual projects for last, like cleaning out the freezer and refrigerator and tackling items like the oven, stovetop, and dishwasher. Martha Stewart suggests cleaning the oven with a chemical-free approach as well. Coat oven surfaces with a paste of water and baking soda, leave overnight, and clean up the next day. Traditional oven cleaners can be packed with toxic chemicals, and an eco-friendly approach like this will leave you feeling confident that what you cook next will be safe for everybody to eat.
When it comes to having your house feel fresh and revitalized after spring cleaning, the kitchen is the one area of your home that can have the biggest impact. Give yourself plenty of time to tackle this area, and make sure you have a plan of how to proceed. Make sure you declutter along the way and tackle minor spring home maintenance issues as you go, and turn to eco-friendly and chemical-free options that will leave everything smelling and feeling fresh.
[Image via Pixabay]
Article courtesy of Jackie Waters of Hyper Tidy
