Welcome back to those of you who have begun the Chasing Clean Challenge with me! I don’t know about you, but I am loving my sparkly clean stove! If you missed yesterday’s challenge, just click HERE to catch up! Each day, I will be providing you with a small, manageable chunk of work to help you get your home deep, down clean! While the jobs ahead may not be super thrilling, I guarantee you that you will LOVE the results! (Trust me! Yesterday I was not too thrilled at myself for starting with the oven…I begrudgingly worked through my own steps, and then was SO happy I did! It looks awesome!)

Today, our quest for that DEEP CLEAN home remains in the kitchen, as we tackle our counter-top appliances! I will walk you through the most common, but your individual work load will of course depend on the appliances you choose to keep out.

The Project: Counter-Top Appliances

The Steps:

The Microwave

1. Remove the glass plate from the inside of your microwave, and either stick it in the dishwasher, or hand-wash it in the sink. If you happen to have a food cover, such as the one shown below (Ikea for just a few bucks), go ahead and wash that as well!

2. Wipe out the interior of your microwave. Make sure you wipe the walls and “ceiling” as well as the floor of the microwave. Exploding butter and soup have a way of creating some “lovely” stains on tops of microwaves, so make sure not to miss them! I use Mr. Clean with Febreeze to wipe down my microwave.

3. Clean the OUTSIDE of the microwave! The vent of my microwave accumulates A LOT of dust and grime, and can really use a good wiping. I’m going to go in between the vents with a folded paper towel or wipe to make sure I get it all! Wipe down the handle, top, and front, including the buttoned portion.  A disinfectant spray may be a great idea, so as not to spread cross-contamination or food germs that may be on the microwave surface.

The Toaster

1.Empty the crumb tray! (Preferably over the sink or trash can!) Wipe your counter of any crumbs that were hiding underneath the toaster, or under any of the surrounding counter-top items.

2. Wipe the outside of your toaster with all purpose cleaner or disinfectant spray. Make sure to wipe all sides, the top, as well as the handle.

The Mixer

1. My Kitchen-Aid is my trusty companion, and takes a beating! Wipe down your stand mixer thoroughly! Remove the bowl, and wipe (or scrape in my case) the recess that the bowl rests in.Wipe down the remaining sides of the mixer. I know that mine is coated in a mixture of flour and assorted batter!

2. If necessary, wash the bowl, and any of the attachments.

The Cofee Pot

1. First things first…DUMP OUT ANY OLD COFFEE OR GROUNDS! Especially if you don’t brew coffee every day, you may have some moldy coffee or grounds on your hands (have had both at our house!)

2. Put your carafe, carafe lid, and grounds basket in the dishwasher! (or hand wash them!)

3. Wipe down all sides and the top of your coffee pot, including the place where the carafe rests, as this area experiences frequent drips, and will most likely have stains.

 

If you have any remaining counter-top appliances, such as a blender, toaster oven, food processor, etc. wash all of the parts and pieces that you can in the dishwasher or sink, and wipe down all surfaces of the appliance with your favorite cleaner.

See you back here tomorrow for Day THREE of the Chasing Clean Challenge!