There’s something so wonderfully optimistic when the seasons change and winter gives way to spring. It feels like a new beginning where brighter times and warmer climes are just around the bend, which is why spring cleaning is an absolute must, especially in the busy hub of your home: the kitchen.
From preparing school lunches to cooking up Sunday roasts, after-school homework sessions to weekend craft projects, exuberant cocktail evenings to a relaxing cuppa after a muddy dog walk, the kitchen is that much-loved space that has a panache for getting dirty. But with the days getting longer and the evenings getting warmer, now is the perfect excuse to give your kitchen a top-to-bottom refresh.
From all-natural scrubs to the best organising tips, perfecting your pantry stacking to making your life easier for the rest of the year, get ready for our expert-approved spring-cleaning tips to make your kitchen the only place you’ll want to be this summer.
Clean From Top To Bottom
Giving your kitchen an almighty scrub down is one of the most daunting tasks where just wondering where to start can feel overwhelming as you try to decide where to focus your attention and in which order. Do you sweep up the crumbs, tackle the baked-on grease, try and rid your pans of rust or prioritise your pantry – the list is almost endless.
So to help you get your big spring clean underway, we recommend starting from the top down. Pull out your step ladder, grab some disinfecting wipes and make your way down, starting with the top of your kitchen cabinets, extractor fan and door frames, which won’t just keep you focussed or on the path to success, but will make you so much more efficient too.
When Life Gives You Lemons
Use them to clean your kitchen. That’s right. Instead of letting your lemons go to waste, use them to help clean your kitchen by scrubbing here, there and everywhere with a half-chopped lemon. Simply run them over the different surfaces and marvel at their magic because not only are these summery citrus fruits a great addition to your G&Ts, but they’re also naturally antibacterial with an amazing ability to get rid of nasty smells.
From the stains in your sink to the smells on your chopping boards, lemons are the all-natural cleaning solution that will change your life, even if it’s just a little bit. And if you don’t have lemons handy, you can use bicarbonate of soda instead.
Wipe Down Your Worktops
Not only are your kitchen worktops one of the largest surface areas in any given kitchen, they’re usually a food-contact surface too, which is why they need to be cleaned and decluttered. Of course, what you use to spruce them up can depend on what material your worktops are.
For those made out of natural stone, marble or quartz, you can wipe them down with a multi-purpose cleaning product. But for those with wooden worktops, or even polished concrete, we recommend thoroughly wiping them down with a damp, lint-free cloth and some warm water with a couple of drops of dish soap added to prevent them from splitting, warping or discolouring, while still managing to disinfect, repel stains and restore shine.
Bring in Some Greenery
With the sun starting to shine, warm evenings there to be embraced and warmer weather right around the corner, spring is the perfect time to add some greenery to your kitchen. That could be as simple as adding some houseplants that thrive amongst kitchen life or turning your kitchen windowsill into herb garden that will bring the freshest flavors to anything you cook.
Think mint, rosemary, basil, oregano, chives, parsley and thyme, all of which will thrive as they bask in the morning sunlight. And if that’s not enough reason to add some little pots of greenery to the hub of your home, popping some fresh herbs and plants in your kitchen will also add a pop of color, another layer of textures and improve the air quality in your home too.
Perfect Your Pantry Packing
The best part of spring cleaning your kitchen is the chance to go through your drawers, cupboards, cabinets, larders or pantry, and reorganising them with the next couple of seasons in mind. Simply start with one drawer or cabinet and then work your way through the room as and when you can, getting rid of anything you don’t need or use, pulling your most frequently used tidbits to the front, pushing your wintery appliances to the back and making accessibility the order of the day.
Luckily, the secret to success is all about making it work for you. If your morning routine is all about coffee, make all the items you use easy to access, from your favourite mug to your coffee maker. Alternatively, if you have children that need to access snacks or their water bottles, pop them at their height so they can reach them easily.
Make Your Hobs Shine
Hobs are part of kitchen heaven, and now’s the time to make them glimmer in the afternoon sun. It doesn’t matter whether you have a standard hob or induction one, a Bora hob with downdraft extractor or anything in between, the last thing you want is a grease-specked cooking top with splots and splats of grease.
Simply add a single teaspoon of washing up liquid with 2 pints of hot tap water and then use a microfiber cloth to clean it down, rinsing with clean hot water only, before drying with a clean cloth. That’s all you need to do.
Refresh Your Refrigerator
If you’re anything like us, then those cold wintery months are all about hearty meals that make you feel warm and fuzzy, such as stews and soups, pies and casseroles, tagines and hot pots. But with spring right around the corner, it’s time to give your fridge a refresh so that you can stock it with the tastes of summer.
To do this, start by removing everything, check expiration dates and then set about wiping everything down, from the shelves to the drawers. When you’ve done that, it’s time to rinse it all down and then start creating a system that you’ll stick to using recipes you can’t get enough of.
Clean Up Your Cabinets
The time has come to tackle your cupboards, cabinets and pantries, so get your vacuum at the ready, pop the brush attachment on the end and start getting rid of any heavy duty buildups by going spot by spot. Focussing on one kitchen cabinet at a time, empty everything out, wipe down the interior and exterior, clean any appliance or pot that needs a once-over and then neatly put it all back with spring and summer in mind by bringing your salad bowls, blenders and barbecue dishes to the front.
Enjoy A Cupboard Cook-Up
We can’t write a guide on spring cleaning your kitchen and not mention the leftover ingredients from your cupboards after you’re done emptying and reorganising, which is why we’ve pulled together a few useful tips on what to do with them. Of course, you need to start by checking the use-by dates on your food products, to make sure they’re still good to use and when you need to use them by. But once you’ve done this, it’s time to get creative in the kitchen.
Take those different packs of pasta and use up the odds and ends in a pasta bake or pasta salad, throw those half-empty packets of egg noodles and lentils into a stir-fry, use those almost-empty rices to throw together a delicious side dish, and create a coconut rice pudding out of the forgotten tins of jasmine rice and coconut milk. The freedom to have fun with these tidbit ingredients will not only make you smile, but take your chef skills up a level too.
Make Life Easier
We know this is going to sound more mundane than the bleep at a supermarket checkout, but establishing a regular cleaning routine will make spring cleaning (and every other kind of cleaning) so much easier. It could be as simple as doing a ten-minute end-of-day tidy before you fetch a delicious bottle from your wine cooler or creating a simple chores list for your family to help everyone keep on top of it moving forward. The point is, your cleaning duties will go a lot quicker when dirt, dust and general clutter isn’t allowed to build up over time.
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