Friday, September 27, 2019

Time Tidbits: Time-Saving Kitchen Cleaning Hacks for Busy Moms

Throughout history, moms have always been busy. Children and homes both seem to need constant attention. Today’s busy moms are not only responsible for the bulk of cleaning and care inside the home as well as taking care of the children, but most of us also work full-time jobs outside of our homes—leaving us feeling spread thinly on most of our busy days.

We are in our homes in the mornings while we get ourselves and our children ready for the day, make breakfast, pack lunches, and then get the kids and ourselves out the door. In the evenings, we are returning from work, making dinner for the kids, overseeing homework, baths, and bedtime. And yet, somewhere in those hours, we are supposed to find time to keep the dishes done and the kitchen sparkling, on top of the laundry and housework in the rest of our homes.

So how do we make this easier in the midst of our busy days?

Microwave Magic
If your home is like most, the microwave is the appliance in your kitchen that gets the most use—and the least attention. It’s all too easy to slam the door on the cooked-on mess and promise to clean it next weekend.

One easy way to quickly clean your microwave is to place a handful of soaked paper towels in the microwave and then run it for at least three minutes, allowing the microwave to get nice and steamy. Then, simply use the wet paper towels to wipe the softened mess out of your microwave. If you want to deodorize while you clean, add some lemon juice to the soaked paper towels before you heat them.

It’s also easy, in between cleanings, to place your microwave’s glass tray into the dishwasher before you run it, keeping that important part of your microwave clean and germ-free.

Overnight Oven Cleaning
Like the microwave, the oven is an appliance often used and seldom cleaned. Even using your self-cleaning oven feature is something we tend to put off because of the intense heat and odor it creates. A more painless method of oven cleaning is to heat your oven to 150 degrees and then place a bowl with about a half cup of ammonia on the top oven rack and a pan of boiling water on the lower rack. Close the oven door and leave overnight. In the morning the gunk inside the oven will easily wipe away with water and dish soap.

Eliminate Kitchen Clutter
One of the easiest ways to keep your kitchen looking neat all week long is to buy some cute, decorative baskets. Those who stage photos for real estate agencies have long known this easy clutter elimination method. Keep several baskets around your kitchen. One can hold the items that usually end up scattered around your kitchen counters, like salt and pepper containers, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, cooking spray, and cooking oil. All of these will be instantly transformed from clutter to decor when placed in cute baskets. You can also designate a basket for mail, for homework, and for anything else that clutters up your kitchen counters and kitchen table. In fact, placing a few large baskets throughout the house is a great way for quick cleanups. Toys and junk left lying around can easily be thrown into baskets for a super-fast clean-up.

On the Dot Degreasing
A quick way to wipe off built-up grease on the stovetop, counters, cabinet tops, and stove hood is to place a damp sponge in the microwave for one minute and then spray on a citrus, multi-purpose cleaner. Then while wearing a rubber cleaning glove, use the heated sponge to quickly remove stuck-on grease from all over your kitchen.

Surface Swipe
While it can be difficult to carve out a precious chunk of time in your mornings and evenings to devote to cleaning, you can easily prevent spills, crumbs, drips and messes on your kitchen counters from building up during the week and ending in a big mess to clean up on the weekend, which is just when you want to have family time. Instead, multi-tasking—every mom’s strong point anyway—can be put to use in your kitchen.

For example, set yourself the small task of wiping down your kitchen surfaces every morning while your coffee brews. In the time it takes for a couple of cups of coffee to drip through your machine, you can easily wipe down the surfaces in your kitchen. Using disposable kitchen wipes makes this chore even more painless, but otherwise, a sponge or dishcloth with warm water and touch of dish detergent does a fine job.

Dishwasher Drudgery
One of the most time-consuming kitchen cleaning chores is unloading and reloading the dishwasher. While this is going to take up some time and there isn’t much you can do to shorten it, there are a few quick tips to make this a little faster and easier.

When loading the dishwasher, place the items that go in the same cabinet close together in your dishwasher. Keep the plates in a row, the glasses together, and most importantly, load your silverware with all forks in one slot, all spoons in another, etc. This way, when it’s time to unload, it’s super-easy to grab a handful of forks and place them where they belong in the silverware drawer and place an entire stack of plates in the cabinet in one simple move.

Flour Power
A quick tip for a gleaming stainless steel kitchen sink is to use regular baking flour to polish it. Flour is safe and non-toxic, so that’s a plus, and it does an amazing job of getting rid of coffee stains, water-spots, and grime. Simply sprinkle about a quarter cup of flour into your sink and then buff with a damp paper towel. Rinse it all away when you’re done and you’ll be blinded by the instant sparkle.

While there is no quick fix to magically clean your kitchen—short of hiring help—following these simple hacks can shave precious minutes from your cleaning time and allow it to be something you can do while on the go, rather than letting it all pile up for the weekend.

Resources - PGeveryday, Reader’s Digest, TheKitchn.com

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