5 simple things to have a clean kitchen

We have seen many posts on mantras to remove negativity and simple steps to remove evil eyes at addition. In addition, I would like to add 5 simple things to have a clean kitchen increase positive vibes at home and keep your energy high.

1. Declutter
The first and foremost thing of the 5 simple things to have a clean kitchen is to declutter – Get rid of everything that you do not need. I am not going to tell you to discard everything that you did not use in the last 6 months or so. For me, doing one such thing is just possible as we do have many things that we think we might need in future and that is fine. A simple trick is to start from kitchen – clear most of the take-away containers, jam bottles, sauce bottles, and disposable cutleries. Put them in a bag and give it to the nearest scrap shop. Even better, if you can reuse them to grow plants.

2. Store things in box
Get a nice plastic / cane / cardbox boxes and leave the rarely used kitchen ware in in. For instance, the big cookers and kadais that we use once in a while, the numerous kids school snack boxes that we will hardly use in the next two months. Groceries can be put in a separate air tight box. Extra spoons and forks can be put in a tumbler. In short, have access to only the things that you use on a daily basis. Rest others go inside the box. In my case, i have a big copper pot that I don’t use. So, I have put many small plastic bowls, glass pudding bowls, and stainless vessels that I have in excess within it and put it inside the below-the-counter storage area. There is one more advantage of having limited vessels in kitchen – you gotta wash them frequently – When you have three milk boiling vessels, you are prone to dump them into the sink citing various reasons like I’m tired to wash, I’m not in good mood and all blah blah. End result – sink is always full. When you have to two or one, you are forced to clean them.

3. Put things back in place
Even if you make a coffee, always put back the coffee powder dabba and sugar dabba back in its place right after making it. That way, the counter will look better with some breathing space. Also, always having a few things on the counter top makes cleaning, which is the next step more and more easier and doable. Having a counter top with lots of random stuff is going to make kitchen cleaning literally impossible. So, try putting back all the spice powder boxes, sauces, lentils and everything back in their places right after you finish cooking. If you do not have a dedicated space for it, create one. There are several options that are budget friendly available in shops in D-Mart and Vishal Mart that you can buy.

4. Discard the wet waste immediately
Right after you put the containers and dabbas in their respective places, clear off all the peels and veg waste. This will avoid small flies greatly. Put the veg waste inside the dustbin and keep the dustbin in the balcony if you have one. Else, ensure to discard the waste on a daily basis or atleast once in two days. It is also a good ideal to avoid plastic bags as dustbin liners. Instead, just keep a sheet of newspaper at the base of the dustbin and them add the veg peels and discard them in a common dustbin at your apartment or hand it over to the waste collection person. It is a good trick to filter the wet waste before putting in the dustbin to avoid leachate – the liquid that gets collected due to organic matter decomposition. I avoid storing wet waste under kitchen sink as it attracts flies, creates a foul smell, and worms start thriving in the dark space beneath the kitchen sink.

5. Clean, clean and clean
If you have followed the above four steps, cleaning should not be a big task as there should not be many items on the kitchen counter. Just scrub off the counter and stove with your dishwashing liquid/bar and wipe twice with a clean cloth. I use a recycled cotton kurta that is neatly cut and corners stitched as my kitchen cloth. And then, I use a micro fibre cloth to dry wipe so that there are no water stains.

As our elders say, Goddess Lakshmi lives only in a clean space. So, as we try to invoke the Almighty’s blessings and remove negativity through poojas and mantras, let us also keep our houses clean and welcome the Gods to our homes by following these 5 simple things to have a clean kitchen.

Interested in seeing my kitchen? Please do let me know in the comments section. If there are few other tips and tricks that you want to add, please feel free to comment that as well.