Your kitchen is a room as functional as it is beautiful, doing double duty with your living room as the centerpiece of most homes. It’s where you start your day with coffee, end it with dinner, and celebrate holidays with your loved ones.

Pair that high traffic with food prep and you’ve got a recipe for a lot of mess, meaning that you have to clean your kitchen regularly! Thorough cleaning and sanitizing of your kitchen accomplishes several things:

• Protects you and your family from contaminated food
• Protects your appliances from premature wear and tear
• Protects your food and home from pests
• Keeps your kitchen a warm and friendly place to be

Before you clean your kitchen, you need the right tools.

Regular Cleaning

For everyday or after-meal cleaning, a few standard chemicals can be kept on hand. A good all-around all-purpose cleaner is ideal for cleaning appliances, especially your stove and countertops (a degreaser can be used for more stubborn messes.) Just be sure it won’t damage the surface; this is especially important with granite or tile countertops.

You’ll also want a standard glass cleaner, usually ammonia-based, to keep things shiny and to remove gunk from your microwave and oven doors.

You also need to sweep and mop the kitchen regularly. Your mopping solution will depend on your flooring. For most laminate or tile floors, a general all-purpose cleaner works great. For hardwood, vinegar works in a pinch, but you’ll want a specialized cleaner for optimal results.

Deep Cleaning

You should deep clean your kitchen at least once per year, more often if you have a large family. This means pulling out appliances and cleaning behind them, cleaning filters from the range hood and dishwasher, and more.

You also need to clean your oven; grease buildup is an easy way to start a fire, plus it causes unpleasant odors. Specialized oven cleaners exist for this purpose.