If you’re like most families, the kitchen is the most lived in room in your house. However, this means that for you it’s probably the messiest room in the house as well. I’ve personally found that cleaning the kitchen isn’t a job you do once a week or even once a day. With two toddler boys I try to clean the kitchen as best as I can after ever meal. It doesn’t always work that way, but I do try!

There are the obvious cleaning tasks that are necessary in the kitchen – cleaning the stove, sweeping and mopping the floor, doing dishes, and cleaning the countertops. Here are a few quick suggestions you can consider to make your kitchen cleaning a bit easier.

• Try baking soda as a cleaning agent for your countertops, stove, and refrigerator. Like the commercial says it was strong enough to use to clean the Statue of Liberty but gentle enough to not cause any damage.
• Toothpaste works to remove skid marks from linoleum floors.
• Keep the clutter on your counters to a minimum to make cleaning them easier. Put away all pots and pans, dishes and flatware after you’re washed them. Store as many appliances in the cabinets as possible.
• Replace your dish rag and dish towels often, as well as the sponge you use for cleaning dishes. If you have a dish washer you can run your sponges through it to kill germs.
• To clean your coffee maker use vinegar. Pour in vinegar as if you were making a pot of coffee. Run the coffee maker (without a filter) and repeat this process until the water runs clear.

As hard as it is to do sometimes, the more often you clean small messes the less often you’ll be faced with large messes. Try to take the time every day to keep your kitchen clean so you won’t be stuck with marathon cleaning sessions. The only thing worse than cleaning the kitchen is cleaning the bathroom!