Since your kitchen is often the busiest area of the house, knowing how to clean this space can help your busy schedule and make it a breeze. Here are some cleaning hacks to make sure that elbow grease is not the only thing you need to keep your kitchen spick and span.
1. Categorize Your Things Before Cleaning
Okay, it’s technically not a hack but collecting and categorize everything in the kitchen before a deep clean will help you finish strong. Prepare plastic boxes you can get at any dollar store and categorize your stuff based on which part of the kitchen they belong to.
This will help you put everything back the way it was under no time at all. It can also help you segregate what needs to be thrown away, kept, and replaced. 
2. Sponges in the Microwave
How do you clean the thing you use to clean everything else? Sponges are a must in the kitchen, but they can also be the dirtiest tool you can find there. An effective way to kill bacteria and order is to pop it in the microwave (make sure it’s wet and there are no metals in it) for one minute on high.
Be careful when taking it out, and you can repeat the process every few days. However, it’s best to replace your sponge every two to three weeks, or when there’s discoloration and an odor that can’t be removed.
3. Treat Wooden Cabinets
Kitchen cabinets can last years if you keep them well, and to do that, you must periodically remove oil and grease which love sticking on to wood.
A combination of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda can work wonders in removing the grime of the wood. Depending on how much oil you use in your food, do this every second week or a month. This will ensure that too much grime never settles on the surface.
4. Steam Clean Grimy Floors
Grease is a common enemy in the kitchen because you can find it sticking on your kitchen cabinets and floors, making the clean up a nightmare. However, a steam mop or steam cleaner
The heat from the steam loosens and lifts dirt without the need for chemical cleaners. You can also create a solution with white vinegar, dish soap, washing soda, and warm water if steam cleaners are not available.
5. Use Ammonia for Your Oven
A range oven can easily be the most daunting kitchen appliance to clean but an easy cleaning hack takes the stress out of getting this done.
Preheat your oven to 150F and then boil a pot of water. Add a cup of ammonia to the baking dish and place it on the top rack, then simply place the boiled water on the bottom rack and close the door.
You can leave this anywhere between a few hours and overnight. The ammonia will work its magic and undo all the grime that has been inside your oven. Add some dish soap to the ammonia and get your cleaning gloves on.
6. Clean Silver with Aluminum Foil and Baking Soda
Yes, you can clean silver using aluminum foil and baking soda through a simple chemical reaction that removes tarnish from the silver. Take a bowl or baking dish and line it with aluminum foil, shiny side up, and make sure the foil covers the entire inside of the bowl.
Add baking soda, salt, and boiling water and your silverware then leave it in the solution for about 5 to 10 minutes. This technique is gentle and effective for most silver items, but it’s best to avoid using it on antique or highly valuable silver pieces, as it may remove a patina that adds value.
7. Rescue Garlicky Hands With Steel
Garlic. Great to taste, but makes everything stink. The chopping board, the mortar and pestle, and of course our hands. The easiest (and laziest) method to make sure your hands don’t give away what you are cooking is to rub your hands on anything that’s stainless steel.
The steel helps to transfer the sulfur compounds from your skin to the steel surface, thereby neutralizing the smell on your hands. Many people use stainless steel soap bars specifically designed for this purpose, but any stainless steel surface, such as a sink or kitchen utensil, can work just as well.
8. Erase Water Stains With Vinegar
If you live in an area with hard water, you will understand this: that ugly, white crust on everything shiny: from your sink and faucet to your family silverware and utensils. Vinegar, however, can undo all this hard water grime. Rub a little vinegar gently on all these surfaces to watch the water spots disappear.
9. Bread Does Wonders for Broken Glass
Did you break a glass or dish today? Picking up the tiny shards of glass can be a pain, and often even dangerous for your loved ones to walk around the kitchen. Here’s a hack that can help clean up those pesky smaller pieces of glass:
Once you have removed the larger pieces by hand, use a slice of bread to pick the smallest grains of broken glass as they will stick on to the soft surface. If you do not have a slice of bread, use a damp, thick paper towel to cover the area where the pieces are. Toss in the trash and you’ve got a safe floor for you and your family.
10. Chalk off the Stain
Chalk should not be restricted just to classrooms, there are uses for this writing tool in the kitchen, too. Did you know that given its super absorbent nature, it makes for an excellent stain stick?
Make sure you remove excess oil from the garment you wish to clean using a clean paper towel and then cover it with chalk powder. Then, before you toss the garment in the laundry, rub the spot with stain remover and wash it in hot water. Voila, the oily spot will be gone.
11. Coffee and Vinegar
Everyone loves coffee, so you can bet that coffee machines are widely used in many homes. Even though steam passes at high temperatures through this appliance, they can be full of germs.
So, fill the water chamber with a solution of equal parts vinegar and water. Let the machine run until all the liquid has passed and repeated this once more. Then use plain water and repeat the process to make sure there are no aftertastes.
12. Sink With a Dash of Flour
If you have a stainless steel sink, we have already told you that using vinegar will remove any hard stains on it. However, if you wish to take it up a notch, sprinkle it will flour (when it is dry) and get to scrubbing. Every scrub will reveal extra sparkle in it. This trick works wonders!
13. Clean Grill With Onions
Take half a peeled onion and rub it back and forth over a mildly hot grill. This will deglaze the grill and also add an extra layer of flavour to your dinner. In case you do not have onions, beetroot or even turnips will do the trick for you.
All-Natural Ways to Clean Your Kitchen
Most of the hacks mentioned above use some kind of synthetic material. But if you want to keep your kitchen clean without using any artificial material, try the following hacks.
a. Lemon, including its peel, is your new best friend!
As you might have observed from the previous cleaning hacks, lemon not only adds great flavor but is an extremely versatile tool in cleaning the kitchen. Lemon combined with salt can go a long distance in cleaning and deodorizing your chopping board along with removing any stains too.
b. Scrub cast iron pans with sea salt or potatoes!
It is well known that cast iron cookware and soap don’t go well. So what is the alternative for cleaning the pans if you have some grime and/or stains? Sea salt works like a treat due to its coarse nature and cuts through the grease. In case you do not have sea salt, use potatoes. Simply cut a potato in half, dip the cut end in baking soda, and rub it over the rusted area.
c. Add shine to wood with coconut oil!
Wood likes oil, especially when it is in moderation and spread well. Coconut oil can work like a charm on wooden surfaces and make them shine. It will also remove oil-soluble impurities and dust particles while its lauric acid content kills microbes.
Start with a few drops of oil and work it around with a good quality paper napkin. The key is to do it slowly and spread the oil evenly until there is a slight shine in the wood. Let the wood rest for a while. This will always keep your wood shiny and looking like new.
d. Coconut fibre to remove grime!
In Asia, it is extremely common to see the outside of a coconut being used to clean everything from oily utensils to even algae/slippery zones because of water. It may not be very common in the US, but in case you get a raw, unpeeled coconut, use the outside coir as a scrub for effective cleaning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. How can I quickly clean my kitchen before guests arrive?
A: Gather small items in a basket to clear clutter quickly. Give countertops a wipe down for a tidy look in minutes.
Q2. How do I clean sponges effectively?
A: Place sponges in the microwave for two minutes to kill germs and keep them clean for reuse.
Q3. What’s a natural way to clean wooden cabinets?
A: Mix hydrogen peroxide and baking soda to remove oil and grease buildup from wooden cabinets, keeping them looking fresh.
Q4. How can I easily clean my kitchen floors?
A: Create a solution with vinegar, dish soap, and warm water to mop floors effectively, removing grease and grime with ease.
Q5. What’s a simple trick to clean a greasy oven?
A: Heat ammonia in the oven, let it sit, then wipe away grime effortlessly for a sparkling clean oven.
