Make cleaning kitchens and bathrooms easier with these tips used by professional cleaners.
Start from the Top and Work to the Bottom
That means start with dusting high areas like the tops of cupboards or kitchen cabinets or the bathroom vanity. Use a microfiber duster to trap dirt and dust and not just knock it to the ground, or on to lower counter tops or shelves.
Now is the time to test and clean your oven in preparation for Thanksgiving Day. Cleaning takes time and it’s not something you want to put off.
Why Should I Clean My Oven?
According to appliance manufacturer Whirlpool, a clean oven cooks food more evenly and smells better versus a dirty oven. Grease and food spills can gather inside of the oven’s interior, darkening it and making the oven work harder to evenly cook food. Any spills can start to smoke and produce unpleasant smells. These smells might affect the taste of any food you cook inside it.
How to Test Your Oven Before Thanksgiving Day (Easy)
If you have not turned on your oven in several months, make sure it is working properly by baking something simple like a frozen pizza or cookies. Thanksgiving is already a very busy time for appliance repair businesses so if something is not working right; you want to know as soon as possible in order to schedule an oven repair.
Using an Oven’s Self-Cleaning Cycle
If you are planning on using the self-cleaning feature of your oven, do it a few weeks before Thanksgiving. A self-cleaning cycle reach’s incredibly high temperatures in order to incinerate food particles, dirt and grime inside your oven. The cycle takes a long time to run and the oven door locks as a safety precaution. Self-cleaning cycles can also produce smoke and smells that might linger inside your home. Be sure to open windows and keep the room well-ventilated when running the self-cleaning cycle.
If your oven is several years old, it might prove risky to run a self-cleaning cycle so close to Thanksgiving Day. During these cycles, there is a good chance that any weakened parts might break, leading to a needed repair. Thanksgiving is already a very busy time for appliance repair businesses and they may not have the part they need to fix your oven in stock.
Eco-Friendly Options for Cleaning an Oven
You may decide that cleaning your oven by hand is best. To clean your oven, first consult the owner’s manual for your oven to see what to use and what not to use when cleaning your oven. If you no longer have the owner’s manual, you can search for it online using your oven’s model number which should be located somewhere on the oven or range.
Let an oven completely cool before cleaning it. Put down towels or a plastic garbage bag to catch any drips or dirty water from cleaning and to protect your floors. Remove any oven racks. Make your own DIY eco-friendly oven cleaner by mixing together a paste of baking soda, dish washing liquid and a little water. Let the baking soda mixture sit for 30 minutes to overnight. Use a spray bottle filled with vinegar or lemon juice to spray inside the oven for added cleaning power on tough grime and grease. Scrub the walls clean using a non-scratch scrubbing sponge like the Instant Erase Super Star Scrubby or SpongeOutlet’s non-scratch cleaning pad.
Remove the oven racks and clean them by soaking them in a sink or bathtub using the same mixture. Rinse and wipe clean.
Remove any trace of your home-made cleaner before turning on your oven with a damp microfiber cleaning cloth. After your oven is clean, turn it on to make sure there is no smoking from left-over cleaner.
SpongeOutlet.com is sending our Instant Erase Sponges to help out in the clean up and recovery efforts from Hurricane Ida in Louisiana. We have contacted the non-profit Second Harvest Food Bank of South Louisiana and have sent them our sponges this week. Second Harvest distributes food, water, and supplies (including cleaning supplies) to those in need. To find out how Second Harvest is helping people out, visit their Hurricane Ida Response page.
