12 Things You’ll Want to Spring Clean in the Kitchen This Weekend

With Spring Cleaning for Your Mood, we’re helping you get your housekeeping done no matter what state of mind you’re in. For 20 weekdays in April, we’ll focus on cleaning a new area of your space, with three different ways to get it done—so it’s easy to stay on track even when you’re busy, tired, or away from home. Sign up with your email now and enjoy a better space by the end of the month.

With this spring cleaning program, we’re doing things a little unconventionally. But today’s assignment is one of those quintessential spring cleaning tasks. If you can muster a bit of heavy lifting (cleaning-wise, but maybe also literally), you’ll be rewarded with a kitchen that keeps humming—quietly and efficiently—all year long.

Today is all about getting inside, around, and under your kitchen appliances.

This is kind of a big one, if you’re choosing the deep dive route, so we saved it for Friday. (Plus you need to work around your normal cooking schedule.) You save it for the weekend if you need time to figure things out, or just get a little bit done each day.

So what are you in the mood for today?

If you take good care of your big appliances (“big” in size and in cost), they’re more likely to work better and for a much longer time—saving you lots of money and headaches along the way.

Today’s your day to deep clean as much as you can. Here are some tasks I would try to finish:

• Vacuum underneath. Pull your appliances out as much as you can and vacuum under and behind each one.
• Vacuum your fridge’s condenser coils. They’re the squiggly tube- or spring-shaped things—likely either located at the back of your fridge, or behind a grille at the bottom front. Use your vacuum’s crevice tool to get as much dust and dirt off of them as you can.
• Clean the dishwasher. After it’s run a cycle, empty the dishwasher of dishes and the racks and baskets. Inspect the drain and arms at bottom of the dishwasher and remove any debris trapped there. Clean the drain area with a detail brush and a paste of equal parts baking soda and water. Clean the bottom inside of the door, and around the seal with a mix of equal parts water and white vinegar. As you prepare put the racks and baskets back in, inspect them and wipe them down as needed.
• Soak your range hood filter, oven racks, grates, and even the electric burners. Make sure everything is cool first! You can soak the filter, racks, and grates in a bathtub with dish soap added to the water, and use a scrub brush for any tough grime. Wash the electric burners by hand (don’t submerge them!) with a damp rag and a bit of dish soap, taking care not to expose the electrical connection part to water.
• Clean inside the oven. With the racks out, you can apply a baking soda paste all over the inside of your oven and let it sit for a few hours, or even overnight. When you’re ready, wipe the paste off with a damp rag, then spray vinegar to clear out any remaining baking soda and thoroughly wipe and dry the inside.

I bet there are a lot of small devices that help you get things done in the kitchen daily. For a quick win today, choose one small appliance that you use daily and give it a deep clean.

Here are some ideas and tutorials:

• the coffee maker
• the toaster
• the microwave
• the kettle
• the slow cooker
• the air fryer
• the stand mixer
• any other hardworking appliance on your countertop

Or, if it feels better for you, choose one of the big appliance tasks above in the deep clean assignment and tackle one of those tonight for your quick win.

As you get ready for the day, cook dinner, or just reach for a drink, your kitchen appliances are a natural touchpoint in your daily routine. Take whatever time you have today, wherever you are, and think about how you might be able to add some small cleaning moments to your regular routine in the next few days or weeks. Could you clean out the carafe of your coffee maker after you pour your last morning cup? Soak your oven’s grates and racks on Slow Cooker Sunday? Mentally walk through a typical week in your kitchen, and challenge yourself to make a list of as many small cleaning moments as you can think of. Then stick your list to the fridge as a reminder to check things off as you go.

Visit the Spring Cleaning for Your Mood page to check out all the assignments so far. Download the PDF calendar so you always know what’s coming. And sign up with your email so you’re always on track: