How to Deep Clean a Kitchen

Some days the kitchen needs a deep clean and today was one of those days. These are the steps that I went through from start to finish.

Remove racks from oven.

Run self-clean feature on oven. (Takes four hours.)

Google how to clean oven racks, which involves putting racks in a bathtub with hot water.

Concurrently read about noxious fumes from self-cleaning oven.

Open windows in 25° weather to ventilate kitchen. Forget about cleaning oven racks.

Empty dishwasher, which should have been done last night, but wasn't.

Think that I should probably be doing this after the oven completes its self-cleaning cycle.

Try not to inhale too deeply.

Run dishwasher with two cups white vinegar on normal/no dry cycle.

Run washing machine with two cups white vinegar on normal/no spin cycle.

Clean lint screen in dryer. Ponder where all of this lint actually comes from.

Microwave a damp kitchen sponge for one minute, allegedly sanitizing the sponge.

Wipe down interior of microwave with a clean dishtowel.

Clear off kitchen surfaces of countertop appliances, tea boxes, utensils, et cetera.

Wipe down kitchen surfaces and countertops with sponge.

Spray surfaces with an all natural cleaner.

I like Method all-surface cleaner. It smells good with the noxious fumes from the oven.

Dry surfaces with a clean dry dishtowel.

Throw away any trash and recyclables so kitchen does not resemble a frat house.

Vacuum kitchen floor and surrounding floors.

Wash remaining dishes in the sink by hand and leave dishes to dry in drying racks.

Scrub and wash sink itself.

Pour one cup of white vinegar and one cup of baking soda in sink drain. Let drain sit for at least 30 minutes.

Hand dry and put away dishes in drying racks.

Kitchen accomplished!