If you're just joining in, please read last week post here, where we focused on the first half of cleaning. You can very easily catch up if you want to. Fifteen minutes a day is pretty manageable and when you set a timer and put a little "pressure" on yourself, you can get a lot done! We're still using #2016HowJenDoesItChallenge on Instagram, if you want to see every ones progress.
This week she's challenging everyone to work just 15 minutes a day to get the rest of the kitchen clean by the weekend. You can check out this weeks video from Jen, from HowJenDoesIt, here. For the next several weeks there will be a new challenge for different areas of the home. This seems extremely doable. We can do it!!
Week 3, This week she is focusing on finishing the cleaning of the kitchen. By the end of this week, your kitchen should be decluttered and totally clean! Then after this week, we will move on to a new area of the home
- Monday ~ Under the kitchen sink, inside of dishwasher & garbage can. First, clean underneath the sink. Pull everything out. Go through your cleaners, sponges, gloves, what ever is hiding in there, and only keep the things that you use. If there's old dingy things like sponges or rags that need thrown away, or cleaners you never use, get rid of them. *Tip: an easy way to sanitize sponges is to put them in the microwave for 30 seconds on high. Next spray down the inside of the cabinet and wipe it down. If you don't have bins for your cleaners or sponges already, now's a good time to grab a couple from the $1 store, it will help you keep things nice and tidy. Put everything back and enjoy a clutter free and clean area! Second, clean your dishwasher, this takes about 2 minutes. Wipe the crevices around the door, remember to get the sides too. Then pour 2 cups of white vinegar in a glass bowl and put it into your empty dishwasher and run it. Last, the garbage can, this will also only take about 2 minutes. Wash is down and sanitize it.
- Tuesday ~ Wash your oven mitts, hot pads, rugs and aprons, and clean the oven. First wash the mitts, pads, rugs and aprons, pre-treat them with a stain remover if needed. These things sometimes get over looked, but they should be washed regularly. Also thin out your hot pads and oven mitts, if you can barely squeeze them in the drawer, consider donating them. I used to have a ton before my big Kon-Marie purge, you can read more about that here, but now I have 4 and I've found out that's all I really need. Second clean your oven. This might take longer than 15 minutes, depending on how dirty it is. Run the self cleaning option if your oven has it. If it doesn't, spray it down let it sit, and scrub it out. Sometimes there just is no easy way to clean that oven besides good ol' elbow grease. While you are waiting for the inside to sit with the cleaners in it, clean the top of your stove. If you have glass top stove like I do, my favorite way to clean it is with a scratch free scrubber like these, a razor blade, and this cleanser from Weiman. When it's all scrubbed and rinsed, I spray it with glass gleaner and polish it up with a paper towel. Don't forget to clean the knobs, drawer under the oven if you have one and the outside of the oven door as well.
- Wednesday ~ Wipe down everything sitting on your counters and clean your coffee maker. First wipe down all the decor, fruit bowls, plants, small appliances, knife blocks, canisters, utensil holders, etc. that sit on your counters. I just run some hot water and dish soap in my sink with a little disinfectant and wipe everything down. Remember to take the fruit out of the bowls and the utensils out of the holders, because crumbs and dirt do fall into those. Next clean your coffee maker. Wipe down the outside and make sure and read the owners manual on how to clean the inside of your coffee maker if you have a Keurig. If you have a normal coffee maker you can run vinegar through it and then run water through it a couple times, you don't want yo end up with vinegar flavored coffee ;)
- Thursday ~ Wipe down your light fixtures and your baseboards, just in the kitchen. Remove any cobwebs or dust from ledges and plant shelves as well. I just use a damp rag, it will hold on to the dust as you wipe stuff down. Also when your doing the baseboards get into the corners where you might normally miss with a mop or broom.
- Friday ~ Clean the kitchen windows, and wipe down the outside of the cabinets. & drawers For me windows is my most hated chore, but when I break it up by room it doesn't seem so bad. Clean the inside and outside of the windows. Clean the sills and wipe the casing as well. Next, quickly wipe down the exterior of the cabinets and drawers. This doesn't take long just move quickly and wipe off any spills an greasy spots. Now step and back and look and your clean kitchen and pat your self on the back! Good Job!
- BONUS! Jen doesn't mention this, but I am going to challenge you to sweep and mop your floors and clean your microwave as well. If you find a little extra time one day, clean your floors. A kitchen just doesn't seem clean to me, if there are crumbs, spills, and dirt on the floors. Then when you find another couple minutes, clean your microwave. A quick way to clean it is to boil some water and lemon juice in a glass bowl in the microwave, let it set about 5 minutes so the steam will loosen anything that's stuck on and then wipe it out. Easy peasy. Also remember to wipe down the top, sides, vent areas, and underneath as well. You can take the little filters off the bottom, it you have a microwave upon your stove, and boil them in water to loosen and dissolve the grease.
That's it! She wants this to be quick so it's not overwhelming. If you need more than 15 minutes in an area, then of course take the extra time. And I am guessing that most of these tasks this week will take longer than the estimated 15 minutes.
I am excited to continue this! Let me know if you plan on trying this too.
Happy cleaning and thanks for reading :)
Thank you!!
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