Clean Green this Holiday Season

During the holidays, guests drop in, meals are prepared and eaten, and leftovers are stored—and the need to clean never stops!

Here are some great kitchen cleaning tips specifically geared toward the bigger tasks, appliance cleaning. All suggestions are chemical free, which provides you with peace of mind and your guests with yet another reason to visit.

Cleaning the Stove

The stove is where all the good stuff takes place, and it needs to be in tip top shape, especially if guests and helpers are coming in contact with it. The most thorough way to clean a stove is to pull it out, and clean under, behind and the sides of it first, and the top and inside last. The areas that never get cleaned, like the stove’s sides, may need some baking soda to help remove stains.

The best product to use for the greasy build-up is a natural enzyme cleaner. Let the enzymes do all of the work for you, whereas with an all-purpose cleaner, you may find yourself spending more energy than you want. Tougher stains will need to soak for a while, so treat the areas and come back to them when a product has had a chance to soak, about 15 to 20 minutes. Then use a heavy duty sponge to clean away the grime and rinse clean. For harder to reach areas, use a toothbrush—they work wonders.

For the inside of the stove, you can try one of two solutions: Set it to self clean and clean it after this task is complete, or treat it with a natural stove cleaning product. You can also use a paste of baking soda and vinegar, allowing it to sit for about 20 minutes.

You can also try steaming the oven with lemons and water. Simply add two lemons, pared and squeezed, to a baking dish filled with an inch of water and bake for an hour. The lemon and steam will help break down all the greasy grime from the oven walls. Let the oven cool slightly before you wipe the grime away.

Cleaning the Fridge

The refrigerator is another key appliance to keep tidy during the holidays. This may sound like a huge job, but it is worth it. Defrosting the fridge is the best way to do the job, but if that is not possible you can certainly work around it.

Start by pulling out old and expired foods. Fill your sink with warm water and add a couple of drops of vegetable-based dish soap and a teaspoon of baking soda. Take the shelves and drawers out and start to clean one by one with the solution.

While they dry, tackle the inside of the fridge by cleaning the sides, bottom, and all the shelf grooves using the warm water solution and a microfiber cloth (you can add the solution to a spray bottle for easier use). You can also clean out the freezer, but it is hard to do if not defrosted.

If you have hard water build-up on your fridge water dispenser, try soaking this area with vinegar, then wipe clean. This should remove the build-up. You can also replace the box of baking soda, which keeps foods fresh and deodorizes the fridge. Return all food in an orderly fashion.

Cleaning the Microwave

If you own a microwave*, it needs to be cleaned out regularly, or else it can develop almost-impossible grime. A simple and quick solution to clean the microwave out: Take a lemon, cut it in half and squeeze into a microwave-safe bowl; fill the bowl with an inch of water and microwave for about three to four minutes; use a soft sponge or cloth to wipe the microwave clean. The steam and lemon juice will loosen almost everything and make for an easy clean.

Once the bowl has cooled, you can use the lemon water to clean with, and the lemon provides natural disinfecting properties. Remove the plate or any shelves from the inside and wipe clean. Don't forget to clean the sides and underneath the microwave, you would be surprised what ends up under there!

Cleaning Small Appliances

Typically, soft microfiber cloths are best to use because they are strong and are designed to lift dirt and grime away from surfaces, while weaker cloths do not have the same powerful cleaning abilities. Simply dampen it with a solution of water and lemon juice, or water and vinegar (about 1/2 a squeezed lemon or 1/4 cup of vinegar per gallon) to clean, disinfect, and deodorize any small appliance in the kitchen.

With these cleaning tips in mind, head to the heart of your home and get cleaning before the holiday season kicks into high gear!

*At Naturally Savvy, we discarded of our microwave oven a long time ago and now use a toaster oven instead. Although this may sound tedious, you get used to it and you feel better knowing it is benefiting the health of your family. To warm up heat bags (for aches and pains) use a slow cooker.