If you’ve been following Style Curator for a while, you’ll know that we love a good hack. They make our lives easier, whether it comes to styling, cleaning or even DIYs! Today we’re talking all things kitchen cleaning hacks… because although there’s no greater feeling than a candle burning on the bench of a pristinely clean kitchen, the process to get those sparkling results can be tedious.
So we’ve searched high and low for the best kitchen cleaning hacks to cut down on elbow grease (see what we did there 😉 )! From degreasing rangehoods to making your kitchen sinks sparkle, keep scrolling to see them all!
Related article: The coolest (and cleverest!) Kmart kitchen hacks around
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1. Onions to clean oven racks
Starting off our round up of easy kitchen cleaning hacks is this onion trick. Women and Home guest expert Heather Nixon suggests rubbing half an onion on oven racks to cut through grease. If the grease is extra pesky, she also recommends soaking the racks in hot water and dishwashing liquid for half an hour.
This natural cleaning hack is also great for cleaning barbeques 😉
2. Cotton buds in the waste bin
There’s just one word to describe smelly bins — gross! Often the forgotten part of the kitchen, trash bins can house a variety of smells, especially if they take a while to fill up. Luckily, there’s a simple trick that only needs two materials — cotton balls and essential oils. Simply soak a couple of cotton balls in essential oils and drop in the bin, under the liner.
We love using essential oils for cleaning and can confirm, this one works! The essential oils do a great job of masking the smell and it only takes seconds to do.
Check out our quick video on Instagram with even more ideas on how to eliminate kitchen odours.
3. Leftover lemon sink cleaning hack
Affordable, durable, easy to clean and impervious to corrosion, there are plenty of reasons why stainless steel kitchen sinks are a popular option! In saying this, they can show up water marks more than any other kitchen sink material. Luckily, TikTok’s queen of cleaning hacks, Carolina McCauley shared this clever sink cleaning hack using lemon.
Lemon is known to be a great degreaser, natural stain remover and now your new scrubbing buddy. You can even add coarse salt or bi-carb soda instead of dishwashing soap to make it the perfect scrubber for tough grime.
@carolina.mccauley Don’t throw away used lemons 🍋 🗑️ they’re great for cleaning your sink ✨😌 #cleaninghacks #cleaningtips #cleaningmotivation #homehacks #homehackswithcarolina ♬ original sound – Carolina Mccauley – Home Hacks
4. Lemon microwave cleaning hack
Keeping with the lemon theme, you can also use lemons to get your microwave squeaky clean. Lemons contain citric acid — a powerful natural cleaning agent. For this microwave cleaning hack by Kitchn, all you need is a microwave-safe bowl, lemon, water and cleaning rag. Simply place the lemons in a bowl and microwave on high for 3 minutes. The steamy citrus will cut through grease, making it easy to wipe clean!
5. Fridge cleaning spray
Whether you clean out your fridge every week or once a year, our natural fridge cleaner spray can get the job done! Not to toot our own horn, but it works wonders! Using just salt, citrus essential oil (or lemon juice) and warm water, it’s an inexpensive natural cleaner that’s 100% food safe. Find our fridge cleaner spray recipe here.
6. Line your fridge shelf
Make future fridge cleanup a breeze with this next hack — lining your fridge shelves. We’ve seen people use anything from cling film to dedicated fridge shelf liners… Whatever you choose, this hack can make keeping your fridge sparkling clean simple. While we’re all about minimising waste, we do love this idea for shelves that house your meats and/or sauces.
7. Cupboard and cabinet cleaner
Food splatter, hand prints and general grime can quickly mark kitchen cabinets. Luckily, cutting through these messes doesn’t have to be hard. Clean Mama uses a simple 4-ingredient cabinet cleaning recipe that’s suitable on timber cabinets too.
8. Oven and stove deep cleaning hack
It’s amazing the difference a clean oven can make to your home but it can be such a tricky appliance to clean. This can make it tempting to go straight for the harsh chemicals but there are more natural solutions that work! Chantel from @mama_mila_au offers us a fantastic alternative using ingredients we all have around the home. Her recipe only requires baking soda, dishwashing liquid and water.
9. Oven door cleaning hack
This next oven hack boasts the ability to remove caked on grease from oven doors with nothing more than a single dishwashing tablet. Yes, we’re surprised too. Notoriously hard to clean, Ashley from Kitchn swears by this oven cleaning hack. She says it removes grease spots in seconds.
10. Dishwasher deep cleaning hacks
Okay, let’s be honest here. When was the last time you gave your dishwasher a proper clean? If it’s been a while, or even never been done in your home, you’re definitely not alone. It’s never too late to do it! Gina shares her top dishwasher deep cleaning tips in the video below. Save it so you can find it later 😉
11. Descale a kettle with vinegar
In the days of the electric kettle, you can’t just soak your kettle in the sink. However, you can still remove the pesky mineral build up with white vinegar and water. Another fab cleaning hack by Kitchn, all you need to do is boil half a kettle of equal parts water and white vinegar. After allowing to sit for 20 minutes, pour out the mixture and thoroughly rinse the kettle. No scrubbing required!
12. Shine the outside of a microwave
So we’ve shared how to clean the inside of a microwave using lemon and water, but what about the outside? Jillee from One Good Thing recommends using a damp microfibre cloth and some rubbing alcohol to buff the outside of your microwave and get sparkling results.
13. Use oil to polish surfaces
This next tip is perfect for a variety of kitchen surfaces — countertops, fridge doors, microwave exteriors and stainless steel sinks. Said to nourish surfaces and loosen stains, a tiny amount of olive oil (or some people use baby oil) applied with a microfibre cloth on any of these surfaces achieves results. Remember less is more and always try a test patch in an inconspicuous area first.
14. Toothpick hack for hard to reach places
We’ve all had this problem right? Around the stove, oven and sink, there can be some hard to reach places where dirt and grime builds up. No matter what cleaning utensils you use, you just can’t seem to get into those tight spaces… well, not anymore!
Carolina McCauley shared this hack using toothpicks wrapped in a paper towel that will get into every nook and cranny of your kitchen. It’s so clever, we don’t know how we hadn’t thought of it before!
15. Natural drain cleaning hack
Arguably the heart of the kitchen, your kitchen sink sees a lot of use. From food scraps when cleaning dishes to possibly even soil from watered plants, it’s no wonder your drains can start to smell. Neutralise odours with this natural drain cleaning hack which can also help to declog your drains too. No more harsh chemicals needed!
16. Degreaser DIY
Technically not a hack but we definitely felt it was worth a mention. Unlike all-purpose cleaners, a degreaser is solely focused on removing grease, dirt, oils and all other kinds of grime. Generally loaded with harmful chemicals, you can make your own natural degreaser at home instead. It’s great for the environment and great for your wallet too!
These degreaser DIYs by allrecipes offer a variety of recipes to suit whatever level of grease you have, all made with pantry ingredients. Hint hint, olive oil makes for an excellent degreaser.
17. Rangehood filter cleaning hack
Cleaning our rangehood filters remains one of those tasks that we find so satisfying but absolutely disgusting. If you’re also guilty of putting it off, join the club! It’s easy to avoid the grime if you don’t know it’s there.
However, cleaning hack queen Carolina McCauley has a great idea that requires no scrubbing, and as a result, minimal handling. A win-win for us all!
18. Stainless steel kitchen sink hack
Now you’ve probably heard of using bi-carb soda paired with vinegar or dish soap to clean your sinks but what about flour?! Yes, this viral online cleaning hack actually uses flour to polish your stainless steel sink!
According to Kitchn, flour makes an excellent quick fix if you have company coming over. The flour reaches the micro-grooves in the sink that other sponges and soaps can’t. All you need to do is sprinkle the sink with flour and buff using a paper towel.
19. Glass kitchen cleaning hacks
Windows, doors, appliance fronts… there are many glass surfaces in a kitchen and you can instantly give them a streak-free shine with cold tea. Yeah you heard that right — tea. Said to achieve a streak-free finish by Woman and Home, all you need is a spray bottle and some black tea. It’s the tannin compounds in tea that can shift tough smudges. Give it a try!
20. Cutting board cleaning hack
Cutting boards can harbour all kinds of bacteria so consider regularly deep cleaning yours using this simple cutting board deep clean hack. Combining bi-carb, salt, white vinegar and water, it only takes a minute to do. Watch the video below to see how!
21. Kitchen wall cleaner DIY
Rounding out our list of the top kitchen cleaning hacks is our DIY all-purpose cleaner. Perfect for any surface of the home, we love using it to clean kitchen walls which can become covered in all kinds of food particles, fats and oil — gross! Not only will it cut through this grime, it will leave your kitchen smelling heavenly. Happy cleaning!
We hope you liked this list of kitchen cleaning hacks. Are you going to try any of these kitchen cleaning hacks? Which one? We’d love to hear all your thoughts in the comment section below!
