Cleaning Tips: Get Your Kitchen Ready for Fall

The following statement will elicit cheers from some and groans from others. But here goes: Fall is almost here.

Yup! Summer is reaching the halfway point - which means that in this world of ours, half the population is already thinking about pumpkin spice, turtlenecks, and holiday baking season. However, before we can start planning our fall festivities, it’s a good idea to clean up the messes we made this summer. Here are some of our favorite cleaning tips to get your kitchen ready for fall.

Clean the Stove and Oven

Our stoves and ovens take on the heavy lifting during the holiday season, so it’s a good idea to show them some love before schedules get too busy. Soak and scrape old food stains off the cooktop, using a degreaser if necessary. For ovens, either use the self-cleaning feature or coat everything in a paste of baking soda and water and leave overnight before wiping away.

Clean the Refrigerator

There’s a lot more to cleaning the fridge than removing old food—though it’s a good idea to do that regularly. Wipe down shelves, clear out the vents, and double-check the door to make sure it still seals properly. Baking is much harder when our refrigerators aren’t pulling their weight.

Check the Pantry and Spice Rack

The pantry and spice rack are two places where old food seems to hang out the longest. Check behind storage bins, read the “best by” labels on canned goods, and verify that everything is still good to use. While spices don’t necessarily go bad, they do lose their flavor over time, so it’s good to replace anything over a year old.

Reorganize Cabinets

Having too many things crammed into your kitchen cabinets can make it hard to find what you actually need. A thorough end-of-summer cleaning is the perfect time to toss out old food storage containers, mismatching lids, and utensils we don’t get much use out of—this will leave us more room for the things we do need.

Mop the Floors

While mopping is something we should all do more often, it tends to be one of the more easily forgotten cleaning tasks. This summer, give your floors a fresh start by sweeping thoroughly and mopping.

Fall is one of the most exciting seasons for cooking and baking. Hopefully, these cleaning tips to get your kitchen ready for fall will inspire you with new ideas for you and your loved ones to have a wonderful autumn.