High Speed
Household Cleaning Tips
Ten Minutes to a Clean Kitchen

1. I am not willing to give more than ten minutes of my life (times three times 365 days a year) to cleaning the kitchen, and if you feel the same way, keep reading.
   As if you were looking at a clock, start at 12:00 (at the sink) and work clockwise for each step
2. Put leftovers away first
3. Go back to 12:00. Soak pots/ pans Unload/reload dishwasher (keep it going all day after a party, if necessary, until things are clean.) Pull out several plates with one hand at a time. Don't be one of those one-plate-at-a-time people.
   

Callout: Have you ever watched a newbie unload and reload a dishwasher?

It was decades before my husband seemed to have even noticed that there was a kitchen in the house. About the time he retired, he started picking up some household chores that did not involve the odd repair. He decided to help by unloading the dishwasher. He took one plate and took it to the cabinet, then the second plate, then a glass, then another - one at a time. This is a far cry from grabbing a stack of five with one hand and another few with the other, and then getting three or four glasses at a time - you get the idea. It was all I could to do to bite my tongue - you don't want to discourage this new behavior with "helpful suggestions"!

4. Water is a universal solvent. It is the best high efficiency solvent there is - look at the Grand Canyon. USE IT. Add a splash of ammonia (don't bother to get out a clean pail, use one of those pots you have out already), and it doubles the cleaning power. Provided that your countertops are non-porous, really soak the surfaces starting again at 12:00 (e.g., you might not wish to do this to butcher block or unsealed marble.) It makes me crazy to watch someone laboriously wiping every surface with a barely damp cloth. Sponges are warm and moist, that means bacteria love them. Don't use them.
5. Remember that you have two hands, use both - hit the microwave while you're at it and the top of your range hood.
6. While the water solution is softening organic detritis, you scrub the pots and pans and let them drain upside down.


You have let the solvent do the work


7. Using a white plastic polyurethane square (or even an old club memberhip card made of plastic) in your left hand to dislodge stubborn spots, dry everything with the clean, dry cloth in your right hand. A humongous and cheap bag of white terry cloths are available at places like Costco (or your favorite warehouse club). Use bunches on cleaning day (you don't want to put the dirt back with a soiled cloth, do you?) and throw all the terry cloths in the washer together by themselves. This means you don't have to fold them. Just devote one drawer in the kitchen to these and dump them back in there. NOW, do the floor, last, of course, because it's always best to clean from the top down.

"Off the Wall" Household Cleaning Tips

I put a vegetable bin from the fridge on the lower level of my dishwasher and one of the glass shelves (tilted) on the top - the dishwasher doesn't seem to mind and cleans it better than I could.

Remember when you were in school and used those funky plastic trays to slide along the cafeteria line? Get some from a restaurant supply - they're also great for sorting mess in drawers. Hold one just under refrigerator glass shelves and scoop all the contents onto that tray for a much faster way to clear the shelf off and return the items after cleaning. The best household cleaning tips get you doing something you like better, faster.

I, for instance, would much rather use my time writing and building a webpage. If you think you might enjoy this type of work, here are some interesting businesses others have constructed on the web.

Read HERE and learn how to turn YOUR passions
into a rewarding business, too.

Household cleaning tips done. Now deal with those leftovers?

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