15 Ways to Have a Cleaner, Healthier Kitchen

Kristin Appenbrink
Kristin Appenbrink
Kristin is the co-founder of Part Time Vegan and Silent Book Club. As a former editor at Real Simple, she is compulsively organized and loves solving people's problems. She has a weakness for desserts, especially ice cream.
updated May 1, 2019
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Having a clean kitchen to cook in is just as important as being able to master perfectly whipped cream. That’s why we’re here to help you find better, faster, healthier ways to clean your kitchen. From saving that enameled cast iron pot from ruin to learning how to make all-natural cleaners that leave your kitchen spotless, here’s our best cleaning advice from the past year.

  1. A little cleaning every day pays off: Keep these areas spotless, and it’ll be easier to keep your kitchen clean and healthy.
  2. Lemons are one of your best cleaning tools: Not only do they clean and brighten, but they also smell amazing. Make sure you’re putting them to good use.
  3. You should clean your Keurig every now and then: Don’t think that just because the pods aren’t messy that this coffee maker doesn’t need a good cleaning every once in awhile.
  4. Your dishwasher will run better if you treat it with respect: You should know these 10 things to make it run more efficiently. Including how to load every dishwasher model according to their manuals.
  5. Doing the dishes doesn’t have to be such a chore: At least not when you follow these six easy pieces of advice.
  6. You can get your silicone bakeware clean: You’ll probably just need some elbow grease and baking soda.
  7. A primer on cleaning your cast iron skillet: The last thing you want to do is ruin the seasoning you’ve built up.
  8. You don’t need fancy cleaning products: You can clean many things in your kitchen with these DIY cleansers.
  9. Cleaning your oven doesn’t have to be a daunting task: It’s easier than it might seem.
  10. You have to clean the outside of your cabinets, too: Thanks to all the grease and gunk in your kitchen, it’s time to give those cabinet doors some love, too.
  11. Those enameled pans can be saved: A little baking soda and some boiling water and you can make those pans look brand new again.
  12. Onions and garlic have ruined their last cutting board: You can remove stubborn odors with this one ingenious trick.
  13. Your gas grill needs to be cleaned: Here’s the best way to do it. (We’ve got you covered if you have a charcoal grill, too.)
  14. Vinegar works miracles in cleaning the kitchen: It can safely clean and disinfect just about every surface in your kitchen.
  15. Baking soda does a pretty great clean-up job, too: Add this kitchen staple to your cleaning arsenal.

Bonus: Here’s our master cleaning list from early 2015, with 30 step-by-step cleaning lessons.