by Raven Lebeau

Created on: February 09, 2010

The kitchen is the most important room to clean both because it is where you prepare your meals and because it is the room most likely to attract insects or grow mold, mildew, and bacteria. Sanitizing your kitchen with a thorough spring cleaning will help keep your family healthier and will also make cooking more enjoyable. Follow these steps to make your kitchen sparkle:

1. Remove everything from the kitchen counter tops so that you have some room to work.

You will need to set things on the counter tops as you clean out the refrigerator and the pantry. The counter tops are also a good place to arrange all of your cleaning supplies, such as bleach, vinegar, baking soda, paper towels, and scrub brushes.

2. Clean out the refrigerator.

You may spill food or release mold spores as you clean the fridge, so you want to do this before you scrub the floor, sink, and counter tops. Remove everything from the refrigerator and throw all expired food products away. If a bowl or tupperware container has moldy food in it, dump the food in the trash and put the container in the sink to soak. Add a half cup of bleach to the soak water. After an hour or so, you can put the containers in the dishwasher and run it.

Wipe down the inside of the refrigerator with a dilute solution of white vinegar and then once more with a damp towel. As you put the food back into your fridge, organize it in a logical fashion so that you can find what you need.

3. Clean the pantry next.

Remove everything from the pantry, sweep and mop the floor, and wipe down the shelves with dilute white vinegar. Replace old shelf paper if it is getting worn. Set non-toxic bug traps around the pantry in order to keep it pest free all spring and summer.

Check over the food before putting it back. Throw away any stale crackers, cookies, or bread. Discard potatoes and onions that have gone soft. Put the good food back in the pantry in a way that makes sense to you. Be sure to keep products that need to be used soon near the front of the pantry where they are easy to see. Nonperishables can go further back.

4. Organize the kitchen cabinets and drawers.

Repeat the process you used with the pantry on all of your kitchen cabinets. Remove everything from the cabinet or drawer, clean the inside, and then neatly replace the contents. If you find you have kitchen gadgets or pots and pans you don't use, put them in a box to donate to charity. Items you use only occasionally can be gotten out of the way by storing them someplace

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