How to Clean Your Kitchen: The Ultimate Guide

Updated on May 12, 2026

Keep your kitchen guest-ready with these expert-approved kitchen cleaning tips.

Your kitchen is called the heart of the home for good reason. Far beyond a functional space for preparing dinner ideas, the kitchen is also a central gathering spot where families can catch up on their days and friends inevitably end up gathering during parties and dinners.

As a result, a kitchen can get messy very quickly. And if you let it slide too long, it can become one of the most overwhelming rooms in the home to tackle—especially when you are expecting guests and are trying to clean your kitchen fast. But if you keep it tidy by doing a little bit every day with the kitchen cleaning advice below, it’s easier to keep your task list in check. Before you know it, you’ll have a kitchen that you actually want to hang out in with your friends and family.

Essential Kitchen Cleaning Tools

As you’ve probably noticed during your last trip to the store, there are a ton of products out there that profess to be the must-have solution for a messy kitchen. You can easily end up with cabinets overflowing with cleaning products, which isn’t helpful if you’re already trying to get rid of kitchen items you don’t need in a room that’s already prone to clutter.

Let’s cut to the chase and narrow down your kitchen cleaning tool needs just to the essentials.

Dish soap: A reliable dish soap goes a surprisingly long way in keeping a clean home, especially because it can be used for more than just dishes. You can use it to remove stains from clothing or shoes, or dilute it with water to clean your appliances or cabinets.
All-purpose cleaner: An all-purpose cleaner like Lysol will help you clean and sanitize kitchen surfaces, including your countertop, sink and backsplash.
Sponges and microfiber cloths: A scrubbing kitchen sponge will help you manually clean your dishes without scratching them, while microfiber towels can be put to use shining up kitchen surfaces without leaving behind streaks or lint.
Degreaser: If you’re battling built-on grime in the kitchen, you’ll need to step up your game with a degreaser like Dawn Powerwash, which removes built-up grease from surfaces including your counters, walls and cabinets. You can also concoct a homemade degreaser.
Vinegar and baking soda: White vinegar is an MVP of kitchen cleaning. You can mix it in equal parts with water to do everything from cleaning your coffee pot to your microwave. You can also clean with baking soda. It’s especially helpful to have on hand as an oven cleaner and a natural fridge deodorizer.
Broom and mop: Keep your kitchen floors clean and free of debris and stains by always having a good broom and mop handy. You can mop using diluted dish soap or white vinegar.

Daily Cleaning Checklist

man wiping kitchen counter with yellow cloth — Miljan Živković/Getty Images

The key to keeping your kitchen clean—and ensuring it never becomes too arduous a task to take on—is to keep up with it every day. Sure, you might not feel like doing these steps every day, but you’ll always be glad that you managed to get in the cleaning mood and tackle at least a few of these tasks each day as part of your kitchen “closing shift.” And don’t forget to clean from top to bottom so that you’re working with gravity instead of against it.

Empty the dishwasher: Return any dishes and pans in the dishwasher to their proper places so it’s ready for you to fill and run again.
Hand-wash dishes and pans: There are a lot of items you can clean in the dishwasher, but it’s not always the right task for the job. It takes time, but it’s best to hand-wash thrifted dishes or large pots and pans that won’t fit in the dishwasher. And if you don’t have a dishwasher, hand-washing is your only choice, so don’t let those dishes pile up!
Tidy up clutter: One of the easiest ways to fix kitchen clutter is by putting food away after cooking and transferring clean dishes to the cabinet when they’re dry. The kitchen will feel tidier when you return small appliances and anything else on your counter to their proper places and straighten up dish towels.
Wipe down surfaces: After you’re done tidying, use an all-purpose cleaner to wipe down the counter, stovetop, oven, fridge (if needed) and sink.
Sweep the floors: Sweep up any food crumbs and other debris, and wipe up any spills using an all-purpose cleaner or degreaser if needed.
Take out the trash: Eliminate garbage odor and avoid waking up to a smelly kitchen by taking out the trash every day. This is especially important if it’s full or contains stinky items like shrimp peels.

Weekly Cleaning Checklist

Even if you’re keeping up on your daily kitchen cleaning tasks, there are still a number of cleaning tasks you should aim to do every week. These will help you stay ahead of the deeper kitchen grime that can set in if left unattended.

Clean the cabinets: Wipe down the cabinet doors, handles and shelves using a microfiber cloth that’s dampened with soapy water. Now is a good time to tidy up the contents of your shelves and dust if needed.
Wipe down appliances: Clean the surfaces of your large kitchen appliances like the fridge, range, oven and dishwasher. Clean the inside of the microwave, and clean out the crumb catcher on your toaster oven.
Clear out the fridge: Check expiration dates on any perishable items like leftovers, dairy products and raw meat, discarding anything that’s expired. After you tidy up and organize the fridge, wipe down the shelves and drawers with soapy water using a microfiber cloth.
Sanitize the sink: Deep-clean the sink by scrubbing it with a sponge and the cleaner of your choice. Don’t forget to clean and disinfect the garbage disposal and drain using a homemade drain cleaner, like baking soda and white vinegar.
Mop the floors: Sweep the floor to remove any physical debris. Then, mop the floors using a homemade floor cleaner or a mixture of hot water and dish soap or white vinegar.
Wash towels and replace sponges: Wash microfiber towels and cleaning rags, and don’t forget to replace your kitchen sponge with a fresh one.

Monthly Cleaning Checklist

As much as you keep up with your daily and weekly kitchen cleaning checklists, there are still tasks that need to be tackled once a month. Keep in mind that some of these tasks take a while, so it should be noted that you don’t have to do all these on the same grueling day! Instead, tackle one or two of these each weekend to stay on track and keep your kitchen fresh and clean.

Clean appliances: Run a 50/50 vinegar-water mix through the coffee maker, deep-clean any remaining stains in the microwave, vacuum your fridge’s condenser coils, run the oven cleaner cycle, and clean your gas range tops and range hood, replacing filters as needed.
Wipe down trash can (and recycling bin): It can be easy to forget that the inside and outside of your trash can and recycling bin get dirty as well. Be sure to disinfect them with a diluted bleach spray.
Clean the windows: Use microfiber cloths to dust the blinds and curtains, and use a glass cleaner (or a homemade window cleaner) to wash the windows.
Dust from high to low: Using microfiber cloths, start at the highest part of the kitchen and dust your kitchen’s lights and ceiling fans. Don’t forget about the tops of your cabinets and fridge before you move on to the lower items, like cleaning your baseboards.
Degrease surfaces: Using a degreaser product, clean your oven and surrounding surfaces, including the walls near the stovetop and nearby cabinets.
Clear out the pantry: Be sure to toss old and expired spices along with stale or expired foods. When you’re done organizing, wipe down the shelves with a mild cleaner.

Deep-Cleaning Checklist

And now we’ve come to the kitchen cleaning tasks for when you’re feeling especially stir-crazy and want to get your kitchen to a truly sparkling Martha Stewart-approved level of clean. Like the monthly tasks and our spring cleaning checklist, this deep-cleaning checklist can also be spread out over time, with one or two tasks done every couple of months so that none of these easy-to-miss messes accumulate too much over time.

Clean behind appliances: Nudge your fridge, oven and any heavy furniture (like kitchen tables or shelving units) forward to clean behind and underneath them.
Wash windows and walls: Give your kitchen windows a good washing inside and out, and wipe down the kitchen walls with a mixture of water mixed with either dish soap or vinegar. While you’re at it, use a broom to remove cobwebs and wipe down light switches and door handles.
Deep-clean the fridge: Remove all items and check for expired items beyond the most perishable items, including condiments and the contents of your freezer. Then, thoroughly clean the fridge and freezer by washing and disinfecting the shelves, drawers and walls.
Clean the dishwasher: Remove and clean the dishwasher filter, and wipe down the gaskets to prevent a moldy dishwasher. Then run an empty cleaning cycle using either vinegar or a cleaner tablet.
Disinfect cutting boards: To clean your cutting boards, use a mixture of hot soapy water mixed with white vinegar or hydrogen peroxide. Don’t forget to oil your wooden cutting boards.
Reorganize tool drawers: Clean out your drawers and wipe down utensil holders, reorganize utensils and tools, and go through your food containers, disposing of any mismatched items.