Chicago Home and Lifestyles – Some easy tips for a clean kitchen

Clean your oven while you sleep. Forget those nasty lung choking oven cleaners. Don’t use that auto clean setting either, it can set off your smoke alarm and leave the entire kitchen smelling funky. Go all natural. Mix 1/3 cup water along with 1/3 cup white vinegar and ½ cup baking soda mixed in a spray bottle. Remove the oven racks and thoroughly cover the entire inside with the solution being careful to avoid heating elements. Take the racks and place in the bathtub with a cup of powdered laundry detergent and hot water. Let both solutions work overnight. Rinse the oven racks and let air dry. Wash the interior of the oven with soapy water, rinse and dry with microfiber cloths. 

Sink disposals can really get smelly over time. Lemons come into use here. Make some cleaning ice cubes with rock salt, lemon wedges and water. Pop a few down the disposal and run till they are gone. The ice and salt clean the blades while the lemon cleans and freshens. The rubber gasket cover of the disposal can harbor smelly greasy yuck too. Take an old toothbrush soaked with dishwashing liquid and scrub all the nooks and crannies top and underneath. Rinse with your faucet spray with hot water. 

Lemon is a great cleaner for wood in the kitchen too. Fill a spray bottle with 1 part lemon oil and 1 part vinegar. Spray on and wipe clean with a microfiber cloth. Leaves all your wood, cabinets, doors and baseboards clean and shining. Before cleaning the cabinets vacuum with the hose attachment on your vacuum. Easier than wiping out crumbs onto the floor. 

Another natural solution everyone has around is hydrogen peroxide. This works great to rejuvenate cookie sheets and other metal bakeware. Along with baking soda it provides a powerful punch. Sprinkle the sheets liberally with baking soda. Place the peroxide in a spray bottle and wet the surface. Sprinkle on another layer of baking soda. Let sit for a minimum of two hours. Rinse and wipe dry. 

The dishwasher is another place where gunk and hard water stains can be a problem and leave your dishes dull. Here is a unique solution, Tang! Tang powdered drink mix contains a good amount of citric acid along with orange essence. Dump an entire container on the bottom of the dishwasher and run through a full cycle. Run through a cycle with dirty dishes and you will love how clean and sparkling they come out. 

Do you have any kitchen cleaning hacks using natural cleaners?

Kathleen Weaver-Zech and Dean’s Team Chicago