10 Little Kitchen Cleaning Tasks You Can Do in 60 Seconds or Less

Sometimes, the best kind of kitchen cleaning isn’t the top-to-bottom overhaul that takes a whole day to execute, but little blitzes of work you can put in while you wait for your leftovers to heat up. You know the tasks I speak of — the little things that can add up to a cleaner-looking kitchen by the end of the day or week, and can leave you just as satisfied as truly getting on your hands and knees and scrubbing.

Here are 10 little kitchen tasks you can do in 60 seconds or less.

While it probably doesn’t strike you as dirty, when your sink faucet shines, it’ll look super clean! Spritz it with your favorite cleanser, wipe down with a paper towel or microfiber cloth, and admire how the whole area just got a lift.

If you have more time: How To Clean Your Kitchen Sink Sprayer

There are a couple of zones on the floor that tend to get especially messy: your prep area and (if you have kids — or even if you don’t) the floor around the dining table. Grab your dustpan and hand broom to quickly pick up bits of food and debris. You can do the whole floor another time.

While you can certainly do the in-depth, multi-step version with all the tools, just giving your sink a quick spray with a multipurpose cleaner, scrubbing the sides and bottom, and rinsing it out will remove random gunk and stains.

If you have more time: How To Clean Your Kitchen Sink

It seems like we always have a bunch of random dishes drying next to the sink — some of which have definitely been there for at least a few days. Take 60 seconds to put them back where they belong to make your countertop feel less cluttered.

Grab a sponge or cloth and your favorite cleaner and give this a quick spritz and wipe-down. This is a perfect example of a place that, if cleaned frequently, won’t need a time-consuming deep clean later.

If things get really bad: How To Clean Your Microwave Naturally with Just a Lemon

I don’t know about you, but my kitchen table is also an office, a garden, and a craft area. We tend to sort of scoot everything to the center or side for meals, but relocating that accumulated stuff instead will make dinnertime just a little more peaceful. You can even put it all in a laundry basket and put it away later if 60 seconds isn’t going to be enough to put it all away.

In my kitchen, we have these super-kid-friendly wipe-clean molded plastic chairs — that we basically never wipe clean. It only takes a moment, and they really do look so much better afterwards!

Your fridge doors are probably pretty grimy. All those finger prints! No need to go overboard here — just use a damp rag (and a little soap or special cleaner) to give the doors and handles a wipe.

If you have more time: How To Clean the Refrigerator

If you took out the olive oil and the turmeric, put it back — don’t leave it out on the counter to deal with later. If you have a lot of stuff sitting out, tackle five things now and five more things later.

A full trash can really limits what else you can do in the kitchen and you run the risk of letting empty bottles or scraps pile up on the counter. If your trash or recycling cans are full, take them out. It won’t take more than a minute and then you’ll literally get a fresh start.

What things do you clean or organize whenever you have a minute to spare in the kitchen?