Kitchen Cleaning Challenge-Ordered Up

I have a confession.  And it may come as surprise to you.  I do not like to deep clean.  In fact, I avoid it as much and for as long as I can.

Whew.  It feels good to get that out there. 

As I’m sure you’ve figured out (you’re smart), I like to organize: to sort like with like, purge clutter and create efficient systems—those fun projects that end up making life easier.  To me, deep cleaning does not fall under that umbrella.

You may be thinking, “Wait.  What about your obsession with focus on food safety?”  That’s a good question.  (I knew you were smart.)  My fascination with food safety keeps dishes, utensils, and hands that touch the foods squeaky clean and sanitized, but the attention to detail stops there.  Weird, I know. 

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I don’t live in filth.  To prove it, here is a photo of my kitchen right now.

I clean up after meal prep, wipe spills and consistently put dirty dishes in the dishwasher.  It’s the little things that add up over time like crumbs from the toaster, gunk in the microwave and that pesky dog hair that seems to multiply and distribute itself into every nook and cranny.  I tend to overlook those things until one of two things happen: either I get overcome with an urge to open the windows and scrub my home (usually the first warm day after winter) or (more likely) I invite company over.  And then I tackle the most obvious problem and tend to putter out before the rest of the room is spotless. 

I, like you, am not dumb, so I recognize that just as it is with organizing projects, regular maintenance is the key to success with cleaning ones—even if they’re not nearly as fun.  So, I’m on the lookout for simple, quick and efficient methods for deep cleaning each area of the kitchen.  Over the next several weeks, I’m going to be deep cleaning every inch of my kitchen—one project at a time—and documenting it here.

Here’s the plan:

I’ll be researching methods for completing each task.  My focus will be on:

• Natural/non-chemical-y cleaning products (think vinegar or lemon juice)
• Inexpensive cleaning tools
• Doable time-frames (which may require breaking tasks into manageable chunks)

The posts will include how I cleaned the area, how effective the method is, how long it took (in Tobes’ Tunes*), and my thoughts on the process.

I’d love to hear from you during this challenge.  Please feel free to share your tips and thoughts.  Hopefully we can all learn something new along the way.

How do you feel about cleaning?  Do you love the smell of cleaners and the sight of shiny appliances?  Or can you overlook crumbs and stains? 

* I’ve found that music can help to make the most mundane tasks more tolerable.  So perhaps my favorite music could make cleaning, dare I say, fun!?  I’m willing to give it a try, so my cleaning soundtrack will be provided by Toby Keith.  Sure, the dancing and singing may add a minute or two to the project time, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.  Wish me luck!