Here’s Why You Should Keep Your Kitchen Appliances Clean—And How To Do It Easily

Keeping your kitchen appliances clean is not only incredibly important for the health and well-being of your family (after all, remember: the food you’re eating is coming into the contact with these machines), but also for the longevity of your appliances, too. Over time, grime, food residue, and dirt build-up can impact both the operation and lifespan of your appliances, so it’s crucial to keep these machines as tidy as possible. And while cleaning your kitchen appliances may seem like a pain, it’s really not that difficult or time-consuming if you know the proper technique.

To help you keep your appliances shiny and fresh, just follow these simple guidelines below:

CLEAN YOUR REFRIGERATOR:

One of the dirtiest spaces in your entire home, believe it or now, isn’t in the bathroom. It’s actually in the kitchen—specifically, behind your refrigerator, where food, dust, spillage, and other dirty debris has likely been collecting in one nasty square foot of filth for months… maybe even years! Ew.

To clean, shift your fridge forward (or to the side) and mop up that space until it sparkles. Also be sure to vacuum the refrigerator coils and the space under them, which will help prolong your machine’s life.

You should also clean the outside and inside of the fridge itself by using a mixture of water and white distilled vinegar (diluted 50-50) to get rid of any icky food residue or mystery spills. This will keep your refrigerated food safer from contamination, too.

CLEAN YOUR MICROWAVE:

Sometimes food pops and spurts when cooking in the microwave, getting splattered on the top of the machine. Then, the next time you go to cook something in there, there’s the possibility that the old food residue can end up in what you’re cooking… Yuck! Plus, caked-on residue can have negative impacts on how well the microwave cooks for you in the future.

Thankfully, cleaning your microwave is super easy and quick to do. First, fill a microwaveable cup with water and a few slices of lemon, placing it in the microwave and on high for three minutes. The steam will help to loosen spillage (while the lemon will kill bacteria and odors), making it easy to wipe down the inner walls with a washcloth soaked in warm, soapy water afterwards.

CLEAN YOUR DISHWASHER:

As your dishwasher gains gnarly build-up over each use, your dishware becomes harder and harder to clean completely, resulting in you having to wash extra cycles afterwards—and thereby defeating the purpose of the thing in the first place! Plus, there’s nothing more icky that pulling out a “freshly cleaned” dish with some gunk still plastered on it. Blech!

It’s important to give your dishwasher a deep clean once in a while, and it’s easier than you think. First, wipe down the interior and racks gently with a cloth and warm, soapy water. Afterwards, fill the detergent cup with white distilled vinegar and run an empty cycle to wash out any lingering stains or lime deposits. Be sure to give the outside a refresh with some appropriate all-purpose cleaner, too!