Your Weekly Kitchen Cleaning Checklist

You’re not the only one who feels like their kitchen is one dirty dish away from pandemonium. The kitchen is the heart of the home, but it’s also where spills, crumbs, grease, and dirt happen most often. Cleaning your kitchen every day is important, but doing a deep clean once a week will help you keep it looking beautiful, feeling fresh, organized, and really clean.

You should use this Weekly Kitchen Cleaning Checklist every week. It’s not about spending hours cleaning till your arms hurt; it’s about getting ahead of the mess with purpose and ease. This list can help you keep your kitchen clean every week, whether you’re a busy parent, a professional who works from home, or just someone who likes a clean home.

Why It’s Important to Clean the Kitchen Every Week

Cleaning every day keeps things looking nice, but cleaning once a week stops bacteria from building up, scents from getting weird, and clutter from creeping in. You will:

Get rid of bacteria that everyday wipes don’t get to.
Make sure your appliances work well.
Don’t let food get contaminated or cross-contaminated.
Make the kitchen and gathering room more pleasant and useful.

Are you ready to take back your kitchen? Let’s go through your weekly kitchen cleaning list step by step.

A List of Things to Do to Clean the Kitchen Every Week

1. Clean and Organize the Counters

Take everything off your countertops that doesn’t belong there, such as mail, keys, gadgets, empty containers, and so on. A clean counter makes the whole kitchen feel cleaner and offers you space to clean it properly.

What to do:

Put things that are out of place back where they belong.
If your coupons are out of date, your utensils are broken, or your produce is outdated, throw them away.
Clean your cutting boards, knife blocks, and appliances on the counter.

2. Clean All Surfaces

It’s time to clean up once the mess is gone. You can use a cleaner that works on a lot of surfaces or a mix of warm water and dish soap. Don’t forget about the backsplashes!

Don’t miss:

Countertops
Tiles for the backsplash
Handles and doors for cabinets
Fronts of drawers
Knobs and switches for lights

Use a cleanser that doesn’t change the pH to protect granite or marble counters.

3. Clean the Fridge

If we’re not careful, the fridge is where leftovers go to die. Cleaning out once a week keeps smells away and food from going bad.

Steps:

Throw away food that has gone bad or leftovers that are more than 3–4 days old.
Use a light disinfectant or baking soda solution to clean the shelves and drawers.
Put similar things together, such as dairy, condiments, and meats, so they are easy to get to.

Bonus tip: Put removable mats on the shelves of your fridge so it’s easier to clean next time.

4. Clean the Sink

There are more bacteria in your kitchen sink than in your toilet. Isn’t that shocking? A brief scrub every day is good, but you need to do a deep clean once a week.

Cleaning the sink once a week includes:

Using baking soda and a soft sponge to scrub the basin.
Flushing accumulation down the drain with hot water.
Cleaning around the soap dispensers, sprayers, and drains that are already there.
Using white vinegar or an antibacterial spray that is safe for the kitchen to clean the sink.

If you have a sink strainer and garbage disposal, don’t forget to clean them.

5. Clean and Disinfect Your Appliances

You should also show your affection to your big and tiny appliances. Giving them weekly care helps them last longer and keeps the kitchen cleaner.

Things to clean:

Microwave: Use steam from a cup of vinegar microwaved for three minutes to clean the inside and scour the turntable.
Toaster and toaster oven: Clean the outside and empty the crumb pans.
Coffee maker: Clean the carafe and outside once a month, and remove any scale.
Stovetop: Take off the grates and clean up any spills or oil stains.
Oven door: Clean the glass and knobs (perform a comprehensive cleaning of the oven once a month).
Dishwasher: Wipe down the door, clean the filter, then run an empty cycle with vinegar.

Don’t forget to clean the handles and doors of your fridge, especially where fingerprints like to collect!

6. Clean the Floors with a Broom and Mop

The kitchen floor is one of the dirtiest in the house because of crumbs, spills, and people walking on it. It is important to deep clean once a week.

Steps to take every week:

If you can, sweep or vacuum well, getting beneath appliances if you can.
Use a moderate floor cleanser that works on your type of floor, including tile, laminate, vinyl, or hardwood.
Pay special attention to the corners and baseboards.

If you want to, you can use a steam mop to clean without chemicals.

7. Clean the Can and Throw Away the Trash

You undoubtedly take out the garbage every day, but how often do you clean the can itself? A short scrub once a week keeps smells and bacteria from building up.

What to do:

Get rid of all the trash and recyclables.
Use disinfectant spray on the bins or wash them with hot, soapy water.
Before putting new liners in, make sure they are totally dry.

Tip: To get rid of smells in the future, put baking soda at the bottom of your can.

8. Clean the Cabinets and Shelves in the Kitchen

Cabinets get dirty with time, especially the ones above your stove.

Check this list:

Use a dish washing solution or a degreasing agent to clean the outside.
Clean up spills or crumbs right away.
To get into corners, use a portable vacuum.
While you’re there, rearrange the shelves in your pantry or spice rack.

You can check the expiration dates on canned items and dried foods if you want to.

9. Clean and Disinfect Areas That Get a Lot of Use

There are a lot of places in your kitchen that get a lot of foot traffic that need to be cleaned every week. These places are where bacteria and viruses grow.

Clean:

Switches for lights
Handles for cabinets
Handles for the refrigerator door
Levers on faucets
Knobs for the oven
Buttons on appliances
Stands for phones or tablets (if you use them while cooking)

Use wipes or a spray that is appropriate for surfaces to clean. A microfiber cloth and rubbing alcohol also work well.

10. Clean and Refresh Your Dish Sponges and Towels

Old dish towels and kitchen sponges can include bacteria that are bad for you. Weekly cleaning helps keep things clean.

To do:

To kill germs, put your wet sponge in the microwave for 1 minute.
Change up your sponges every week or every other week, depending on how often you use them.
Use hot water to wash dishcloths and towels.
Use hot soapy water or a bleach solution to clean dish drying racks.

Pro tip: Set up a system for rotating your towels so you always have clean ones.

Tips for Cleaning Once a Week That Save Time

You don’t have to do everything at once. Here are some tips to make your weekly cleaning less stressful:

Do a few things each day and break it up into days.
Set a timer for 30 minutes and see how much you can get done in that time.
Use a caddy to keep all of your favorite cleaners and cloths in one place so you can easily get to them.
Get help: Get your family or roommates to help out by giving them jobs like cleaning the floors or emptying the fridge.
Stay on track: To make it a habit, do your weekly cleaning on the same day every week.

A Checklist for Cleaning the Kitchen Every Week That You Can Print Off

This is a simplified version of your list. For simple reference, print it out or write it on a whiteboard.

✅ Clean and organize the counters
✅ Wipe down all surfaces and cabinet doors
✅ Clean out the fridge
✅ Sanitize the sink and faucet
✅ Wipe down equipment like the microwave, toaster, stove, and so on
✅ Clean the floors by sweeping and mopping them
✅ Empty the garbage and clean the bins
✅ Wipe down the cabinet doors and shelves
✅ Disinfect places that people touch a lot
✅ Change out sponges and dish towels

Final Thoughts: A Clean Kitchen Makes for a Happy Home

Cleaning the kitchen doesn’t have to feel like a chore that never ends. By using this weekly checklist, you’re making your environment healthier, calmer, and more useful. Your food tastes better when you cook in a clean kitchen, and your whole home feels more welcoming.

Keep in mind that the goal is not to be flawless, but to make progress. Even if you can’t perform all of these chores every week, doing just a handful of them will make a tremendous difference.

Enjoy that additional shine in your kitchen and have fun cleaning!