My Essential Kitchen Cleaners
It’s the first Wednesday of the month again – the time when I keep things simple. And today I’m going rogue. No recipe. I know … I’m usually all about cooking. But this IS called My Global KITCHEN after all – so hopefully you’ll accept this week’s topic: kitchen cleaning.
As I mentioned in a recent post about Cooking with Friends, I am somewhat fanatical about cleanliness. And over the years I’ve come to rely on a few key products that help keep my kitchen spotless. You may be surprised to learn that these aren’t even conventional kitchen supplies!
1) OxiClean. I know – the commercials drive me crazy too. But this stuff really works! Dissolve just a bit with hot water and soak anything that stubbornly sticks to your pots or pans overnight. In the morning, you’ll need a minimum amount of elbow grease and the mess cleans up beautifully. I also soak the head of my espresso maker in some OxiClean daily to get the coffee oils out. Oh, and my oven racks, when they are disgustingly dirty, go in the bathtub overnight with some OxiClean. Last night I miraculously cleaned my toaster oven drip pan by soaking it and going over it lightly in the morning with an SOS, and it looks spanking new, and when I burned the inside of my stainless steel saucepan (don’t ask but let’s just say my hardboiled eggs were cooking for an hour in a dry pot) the pan returned to shiny new with this marvelous powder.
2) Microfiber towels: You can buy these at Target in the Automotive section or at Bed Bath and Beyond, and they are absolutely the finest kitchen rags ever. They are inexpensive, they don’t smell, they wash well, you can squeeze them dry or use them wet to wipe down counters, floors, stainless steel, your computer screen…you name it.
3) Bar Keepers Friend: this has been my “go to” cleaner for years and I am never without several cans of the powdered version. It truly is the best bleach-free, all purpose cleaner for sinks, stovetops, cookware, bathrooms… I buy it at Home Depot or my neighborhood grocery/drug store. Read all about it – Amazon has almost 150 5-star reviews! Trust me, once you try it you’ll never want to be without it.
Readers, do you have favorite kitchen cleaning products to share?
My favorite kitchen cleaning supply for stainless steel is WD-40. I heard about this trick a few years ago, and when I finally got a stainless steel refrigerator, I tried it out. Spray a little WD-40 on a paper towel, and wipe your fridge with the grain. It’s amazing! We also use it on our stove, and it not only cleans up fingerprints but helps prevent them from re-appearing. Truly a “Must Try!”
I’m adding that to my list and to my kitchen! I trust your judgment for sure and would love to do away with stainless steel cleaner. I bet that would work on BBQ (Stailess steel on the outside) too!
It works on the BBQ, too. And it’s MUCH less expensive than the stainless steel cleaners I’ve seen in the stores, plus it lasts longer. Let me know what you think!
I will try it this weekend-time to clean the outside of my deck BBQ anyway. Will report back!
I’ve been using cleaning cloth products sold by a company called “Norwex” – they are made in Norway. The kitchen cloths, plus all their cloths, clean only with water! They are anti-microbial, and have silver in them. They are amazing! I haven’t used chemical cleansers for 2 yrs. now, except for SOS. You can find them online!
I’m ordering them now…I don’t use a lot of chemicals either–lots of vinegar, baking soda and the like. Thanks for the Norwex suggestion. How did you hear about them??