5 easy habits that'll keep your kitchen clean without even trying

Keeping the kitchen clean and clutter-free may seem like a near-impossible feat, but it’s easier than you might think.

Simple daily habits can make keeping your kitchen clean much easier. Between grocery hauls that land on countertops and daily spills, keeping the space clean and clutter-free may seem like a near-impossible feat, but it’s actually easier than you might think.

Keeping your kitchen clean requires consistency and a few minutes each day to tidy up as you work, address messes as soon as they happen, and deal with dirty dishes and clutter. Additionally, implementing a quick nightly cleanup routine ensures you wake up to a tidy space every morning. Here are the five easy daily habits that’ll keep your kitchen clean.

1. Clean as You Cook

Cleaning up as you cook is an excellent habit that makes post-meal cleanup much easier. While you wait for a pot of simmering water to come to a boil or for the oven to preheat, use the time to hand-wash dishes or load the dishwasher, wipe up any recent spills, and put used ingredients back in their designated spots.

2. Keep Countertops Clutter-Free

It’s easy for kitchen countertops to become a drop zone for everything from mail to groceries you haven’t had time to put away. A simple way to keep your kitchen clean is to banish countertop clutter. Every item needs a designated home so it doesn’t land and linger on the countertops. In addition to looking clean, clutter-free countertops make cleaning easier and provide more workspace because you don’t have to work around piles or move items from one spot to another to wipe down the entire surface.

3. Take Care of Dirty Dishes Immediately

Letting dirty dishes pile up inside the sink or on the countertop makes a kitchen look messy and smell unpleasant. Not to mention, piles of dirty dishes can block access to the sink and faucet. If you have a dishwasher, place the dishes directly into the appliance instead of using the sink as a layover zone. If you are hand-washing items, do so immediately rather than letting them fill the sink, which makes your kitchen look messy. Dishes are much easier to clean immediately, rather than hours later, when food residue has dried.

4. Tackle Messes as Soon as They Happen

Instead of letting food splatter dry up inside the microwave or letting fallen food scraps rot at the bottom of the trash can, tackle messes as soon as they happen. It may take a couple of extra minutes, but it saves time and effort in the long run. It’s much easier to clean up fresh spills and tackle new stains than to deal with dried-up, set-in stains. A seemingly small mess on the bottom of the trash can—such as vegetable peels or raw chicken juices—should be taken care of as soon as it happens. It’ll be harder to scrub later, plus it will fill the whole kitchen with an unpleasant odor and turn the trash can into a breeding ground for mold and bacteria.

5. Implement a Nightly Cleanup Routine

To keep your kitchen clean and ensure you wake up to a neat space, implement a nightly cleanup routine. Simply getting in the habit of taking a couple of minutes each night to tidy up the kitchen is a game-changer. This isn’t the time to deep-clean the stove or descale the coffee maker; it’s a quick end-of-the-day routine to close up the kitchen. Incorporate the following tasks into your nightly cleanup routine:

• Put away all food. Whether it’s leftovers that need refrigeration or groceries that belong in the pantry, place all food items in their proper homes.
• Take out the trash. If the garbage smells bad or is overflowing, don’t leave the task until morning.
• Put away clean and dirty dishes. If there are clean dishes in a drying rack or inside the dishwasher, put them away. Similarly, place any dirty dishes in the dishwasher and run it overnight.
• Clear and wipe down countertops. Place anything that’s sitting on countertops but doesn’t belong there in its proper place, and quickly wipe the countertops and other surfaces, such as the kitchen table.
• Unplug any appliances that shouldn’t be plugged in overnight. Whether you have a candle warmer on or a small countertop appliance you used to cook dinner is still plugged in, make sure all these items are switched off and unplugged.
• Sweep up any dirt. If you notice any spills or dirt on the floor, give it a quick sweep.

Related: Tackle These 8 Must-Do Kitchen Spring Cleaning Tasks for a Fresh Start

Read the original article on Better Homes & Gardens