The cleaning routine described in this post is intended for a weekly or biweekly cleaning, depending on how heavily you use your kitchen. Here’s how we can make your kitchen immaculate in about an hour:

We can’t properly clean around junk that doesn’t belong in your kitchen in the first place. So we start in one corner of the kitchen, or one section of the counter, and remove everything that doesn’t belong there.

You can put things where they go after all the counters are clear or after the kitchen is completely clean.

If your dishwasher is full or nearly full of dirty dishes, we wash any lingering dishes first and then run the dishwasher before we continue cleaning.

Our cleaners may begin at the top by dusting the overhead light fixtures, the top of your refrigerator, and the tops of your cabinets.

Next, they quickly clean your small appliances. We don’t want to spend too long on this, or clean too deeply, but it’s a good opportunity to clear debris from your microwave, coffee maker, toaster/toaster oven, or stand mixer. 

Our workers start with the interiors — dumping out crumbs from toasters and running a vinegar cycle through your coffee maker. 

The inside of the microwave is steamed with vinegar and wiped down. Then the exterior of each small appliance is wiped with microfiber cloth dampened with a white vinegar solution or a bit of all-purpose cleaner. But we don’t use vinegar on stainless steel — it could strip the shine.

This also is a good time to wipe down your dish rack (empty it first, obviously) and toss your drying mat in the wash.

Again, a thorough oven cleaning might be best undertaken at another time, but briefly cleaning the exterior goes a long way in obtaining a spic-and-span kitchen. 

Our cleaners start at the top: If you have a gas stove top, remove grills (you may want to soak them if they’re grimy) and wipe the surface underneath with an all purpose cleaner; if you have an electric burner, those can be cleaned with diluted dish soap (again, wipe the surface below with all-purpose cleaner); and cleaning an electric gas stove top is super easy, just wipe the whole thing down with warm soapy water.

Once the top is clean, we wipe down the front of your oven with an all-purpose cleaner, white vinegar, or diluted dish soap. We don’t forget the knobs and display panels either!

Once your dishes are all washed, we’ve dusted, and your small appliances are sparkling clean, it’s time for our cleaners to move on to your counters. 

Working in sections, we take everything off your counters, including the things that live there, such as your tray of cooking oils or your urn of cooking utensils. We dislodge crumbs caught between counters and the oven with a credit card or pan scraper, as necessary. We wipe your counters thoroughly with a bit of cleaner appropriate for your counter type and a microfiber cloth. we buff dry to make counters gleam.

Deep cleaning your sink is easier than it might sound. First, our cleaners rinse it out. Use a scrubbing cleanser, being sure to address nooks and crannies with a detail cleaning brush. Scrub your faucet and any sponge holders or soap dishes as well. 

Rinse everything. Finish by filling your sink with hot water and adding bleach to the water. Let it sit for 10 minutes and drain.

If you have a garbage disposal and want to keep it smelling good, you can add lemons (or lemon peel) or any other citrus to the drain and run the disposal (with water running).

This may not be the time to do an entire refrigerator deep clean, but do go through your shelves and remove anything expired, wipe down any spills, and put things in their rightful places.

Wipe down the outside of your refrigerator and the dishwasher. Polish with stainless steel cleaner if appropriate.

Now may not be the time to completely wash your garbage can. Take out the trash in it and vacuum out any crumbs in the bottom of the can. Then the trash can is wiped  inside and out with a disinfecting wipe. Do the same with your recycling and compost bins.

Sweep with a broom to pick up all the larger crumbs and debris that end up on the kitchen floor, especially near your cabinet toe kicks. Nudge your broom under the ref and oven, too. 

After sweeping, use a vacuum cleaner to get the fine dust and dirt. Follow it up with a thorough mopping to get at dirt and grime.

Our cleaners then recommend you replace your sponges, rags, and dish towels with fresh ones, light a candle, and put some cut flowers on your counter or table.

Additional deeper cleaning tasks you may want to incorporate (in addition to oven interior cleaning, etc.) include exterior cabinet door cleaning, pantry cleaning, and cleaning underneath your appliance.

Remember that decluttering your kitchen, on the counters, inside cabinets, and your ref and pantry interiors, makes a huge difference in the feel of your kitchen and how clean and organized you and your household are able to keep it.