Kitchen Cleaning Tips for the Lazy Cleaner

The kitchen is probably the hardest to clean part of the house and the area that is in most need of keeping clean. These tips will help you keep your kitchen clean with very little effort.

- For neglected microwave messes, in a medium size bowl mix 3 tablespoons of vinegar and 2 cups of water together. Place it in the microwave and heat it on high for about 3 minutes. It may need a little longer for some messes. Check it by wiping an area of the mess. It should be soft and wipe freely. If the mess is dry, then heat it some more until it softens. After you are done you can use the leftover vinegar water to wipe down your counters.

- To clean a blender or food processor fill it with warm or hot water and add a few drops of liquid soap, turn it on high and blend. Then, rinse, repeat if necessary and your done. I find this works best when you do it right after you use the appliance.

- After you get done using a lemon throw the leftover in the garbage disposal, to keep your sink smelling fresh. Any other citrus fruit will work too. When you throw them in turn on the disposal and let the hot water run for a minute or two. You can also add some ice cubes after, or anytime to your disposer, for maintenance. Running the disposer with ice cubes will help get off stuff that is stuck on the blades and help prevent the bacteria and mold that creates the smells.

- To help clear out a slow draining drain, first put on about 8 cups of water to boil. While you are waiting for the water to boil add about 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain, then add 1/2 cup of white vinegar down the drain. Do not turn the water on yet, let the baking soda and vinegar work. When the water starts to boil, turn the stove off and then pour all the water down the drain. Be careful and pour the water slowly so it doesn't splash and burn you. This should clear out your drain and help it flow better.

- Clean your coffee maker by adding half water and half vinegar to your coffee maker. Let it run through a whole cycle. This will clean your coffee maker and it will help prevent hard water build up, if you do this once a month or more as maintenance.

- To clean your dishwasher and reduce hard water build up pour 1 cup of vinegar in your dishwasher and let your washer run through a cycle, while empty. This is good to do as maintenance, about once a month if you have hard water.

- To remove hard water build up on faucets and areas on and around the sink, soak a washcloth or paper towel and place it on or wrap it around the hard water area. Leave it for about an hour. After it has set long enough, remove the paper towel or cloth. With a dry paper towel or wash cloth, scrub the hard water area. The build up should sluff off. If you have hard water that has been around and built up for awhile, it is going to take a bit more effort than an hour soak.

- If you ever forget to take a loaf of bread or something off the toaster oven, before you cook in it and end up with melted plastic on top try putting a little nail polish remover on it. The nail polish remover should help it come right off. To keep your cleaning more natural try using natural nail polish remover, like No Miss Almost Natural Nail Polish remover http://www.nomiss.com/polishrmvr.html.

- For a grimy sink, sprinkle the whole sink with baking soda. It will work like a mild abrasive without scratching the surface.

- To get the caked on spots off of your oven make a paste of baking soda and water. Or, you can do it the easier way, like I do. Pour a little baking soda on the spots and then spray them with water. Spay it enough to be very damp, but not soaked. You can leave it all day and all night. Just make sure it stays damp. Spray it once or twice throughout the day and before you go to bed, depending on how long you keep it on the areas. When you finally feel up to cleaning, just wipe up the spots. The longer the wet baking soda sits, the more it should dissolve the mess. This is also very effective for stove-top messes too.