Recipes, guides and kitchen know-how. Mostly useful, occasionally silly.
How to Clean Your Kitchen in 15 Minutes a Week (Without Moving House)
Fifteen minutes once a week, plus a few two-minute daily habits, keeps a family kitchen properly clean. Here's the minute-by-minute routine and what to do monthly.
Nobody has ever said "I love a big kitchen clean".
Not once. Not even your nan.
The good news? You don't need one. You need 15 minutes, once a week, and a couple of tiny habits in between.
This is how to clean your kitchen properly without losing a whole Sunday to it. Set a timer. Put a song on. Go.
The trick: little and often
Kitchens don't get filthy in a day. They get filthy in a fortnight of "I'll do it tomorrow".
Spread the work out and every job stays small. A wipe here, a rinse there, then one quick blitz a week to catch the lot.
Think of it like brushing your teeth. Nobody waits until Saturday to do all seven days at once.
The 15-minute weekly blitz, minute by minute
Here's your kitchen cleaning checklist. Work top to bottom, so crumbs fall on bits you haven't done yet.
Minutes 0-2: The fridge cull
Open the fridge. Be brave.
Bin anything past its use-by date, anything furry, and that half an onion wrapped in cling film since the Jubilee. Wipe any drips on the shelves while they're empty-ish.
Minutes 2-5: Worktops
The big one, because it's where your food actually lives. Here's how to clean kitchen worktops so they're clean, not just shiny:
- Clear everything off. Yes, the toaster too. Crumbs breed behind toasters.
- Wash with hot soapy water to shift the grease and grime.
- Then spray, if you use one. The Food Standards Agency says disinfectants only work on a surface that's already visibly clean, and you need to leave them on for the contact time on the label.
- Dry it off with a clean cloth.
Granite or quartz? Skip vinegar and anything harsh - washing-up liquid and water does the job. Wooden worktops? Same as a wooden board: no soaking, and a bit of oil when it looks thirsty.
Minutes 5-7: Hob and microwave
Wipe the hob while it's cool. Stubborn bits get a paste of bicarb and a splash of water, left for a minute, then wiped.
For the microwave, heat a bowl of water with a slice of lemon for two or three minutes. Leave the door shut for a minute and the steam does the scrubbing. Lazy. Effective. Our favourite kind of clean.
Minutes 7-10: Cupboard doors and handles
Here's how to clean kitchen cupboards without stripping the finish: warm water, a drop of washing-up liquid and a soft cloth. Wring it out well - doors hate being soaked. Dry as you go.
Pay attention to the handles. Every hand in the house touches them, usually straight after touching something else. Greasy doors near the hob? A bicarb paste on a soft cloth lifts it without scratching.
Minutes 10-12: Tiles and splashback
Splashbacks catch everything the hob throws at them. Wipe with the same soapy cloth, then dry for a streak-free shine.
That's the weekly bit of how to clean kitchen tiles. Grout gets its turn once a month: bicarb paste, an old toothbrush, rinse. Vinegar's fine on glazed tiles, but keep it away from natural stone.
Minutes 12-14: Sink and taps
Clear the plughole, scrub the sink, polish the taps.
A shiny tap makes the whole kitchen look cleaner than it is. It's basically kitchen make-up.
Minutes 14-15: Cloths out, floor swept
Every cloth, tea towel and the grotty sponge by the sink goes in the wash or the bin. Fresh ones out. Then a quick sweep and you're done.
Timer goes off. Kettle goes on - or better still, brew a proper pot of coffee. You've earned a biscuit.
The two-minute daily habits
These keep the weekly blitz to 15 minutes. Skip them and it's 45.
- Wipe as you cook. Spills come off in seconds when they're fresh, and take a chisel when they're not.
- Wash boards straight after raw meat. The FSA's advice is to wash them thoroughly soon after preparing raw food, then wash your hands.
- Empty the sink before bed. Nobody wants to meet last night's lasagne dish at 7am.
- Take the bin out before it starts taking itself out.
Wooden and bamboo boards need a little extra love - we've covered giving your boards a proper spa day in a separate post.
Your kitchen cleaning schedule
Stick this on the fridge. Or don't, and just remember it. We're not your mum.
Every day: wipe worktops and hob after cooking, wash up, wash boards after raw food, empty the sink.
Every week: the 15-minute blitz above, plus fresh cloths and tea towels.
Every month: grout, the inside of the microwave and fridge drawers, the bin itself, and a wipe inside the cupboards.
Every few months: the oven, behind the fridge, and the top of the cupboards where the dust has formed its own government.
When the big monthly jobs come round, our guide to the spots most kitchens forget about has the full top-to-bottom list.
The kit you actually need
You don't need a cupboard full of sprays. You need:
- Washing-up liquid and hot water
- Bicarbonate of soda
- A few microfibre cloths (one for surfaces, one for washing up)
- An old toothbrush for grout
- A surface spray that says it's safe for food areas, if you like one
And a decent set of boards, so there's always a clean one to hand while the other dries. Our set of three bamboo boards comes in three sizes, each with a thumb hole to hang it up and keep the worktop clear. Not sure which board to trust? Here's which material earns a place on your worktop.
That's it. Fifteen minutes. One song, maybe two.
Now go and cook something. Then wipe up after.
