It's all fun and food in the kitchen until it's not. Part of being a chef is keeping your work space clean... but it's so much more fun to create delightful dishes than it is to clean.  It's this same thought many home-chefs and pros alike have and why we are curating some great kitchen cleaning hacks that even your kids can pull off. Proper cleaning of the entire kitchen isn’t as painstaking as one thinks.  Using proper tools, and cleaning after each step while cooking will ensure an easier and tastier time in and out of the kitchen and dining area.  Keepin’ it clean is our motto!

Kitchen Cleaning Hack #1:  Cleaning OLD Stained Pans

Your cookie baking sheets, your cup cake pans and maybe even some cake pans can get that over-used residue when you're an avid kitchen baker.  Baking your bacon is a delicious way to cook bacon yet a big contributor to these stains.  But have no fear, baking soda  is here to save the day.  Mix 1/2 cup baking soda and 1 half cup warm water.  Immerse your baking pan in this mixture for 30 minutes.  Presto, brown and greasy stains are easy to remove with a your Universal Stone Sponge to help pull it all away.

Kitchen Cleaning Hack #2: The Self Cleaning Vitamix

Your Vitamix blender can heat water hot enough to make soup as well as hot enough to clean up after itself - WOW.  The workhorse of the kitchen can even prepare for its next use!  Simply fill your blender with warm water and a drop of dish soap (1/2 full) and zoom zoom that mixture for 2 minutes, rinse out in sink and let dry.  Ready for another concoction in minutes.

Kitchen Cleaning Hack #3: Simple Granite Cleaner

Cleaning your gorgeous granite counter tops - if you've been able to upgrade to granite, you know how beautiful these counter tops look when the sunshine reflects off of the gorgeous stone.  And then you start prepping and cooking and wonder where your stone went... under all that fun and ingredients. Granite is finicky and porous, sou you need to be careful with the cleaning chemicals you use.  We have a simple concoction that will leave your counter tops beaming with cleanliness and shine.  In a 16 ounce container, add 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol, 3 drops of Dawn dish soap and fill the rest with water. Voila, perfect cleaner for your sweet granite counters.  Use our soft TheHome Vital Microfiber Cloths  to wipe down your granite counter tops .

Kitchen Cleaning Hack #4: Oven Cleaning Made Easy

Baked on, caked on oven gunk - it's time to clean your main squeeze, where all your baking happens.  You must clean the oven and it's never fun.  Not to worry, this article is about taking the pain out of cleaning.  Getting your oven in show shape is simpler than you may think. Heat your oven to 150 and then turn it off.  Place a pan of boiling water on your bottom rack. And on your top, place a half cup of ammonia.  Leave this overnight with the oven door closed.  When you're ready to wipe it down the next day, remove the pan and bowl and leave door open to air out a bit.  Now, when you return to clean with your Universal Stone Sponge, it will all wipe off your oven walls very easily.  The 4 hour job turns into a spare time activity between the more important jobs.

Kitchen Cleaning Hack #5: Cast Iron Pan Cleaning

Cast iron pan cleaning can seem so daunting and it can be.  Those eggs seem to hang on for dear life! If you're not familiar, you do not want to use dish soap on these as it can rust the pan.  A built in scrub brush solution that works like a champ, is coarse sea salt with a half of a potato to scrub.  Use hot water with this combo and your pan will be clean in no time.  Season with oil when done and you're back to your blank canvas waiting to be painted with good cooking.

Kitchen Cleaning Hacks Tools of the Trade

Detergents, sponges, paper towels are all essential to making cleaning easier - have you ever tried without these tools?!  Paper towels cover the basic cleaning but, if the spills are larger and you need that stain removed asap, the Home Vitals Microfiber Cleaning Clothes are a true kitchen hack!  The Home Vital Microfiber Clothes removed 30% more stains than paper towels.  99.9% of microbes are gone!  Lawarson’s Chemicals-Citrusolve Cleaner Degreaser is an incredible kitchen hack for a cleaning liquid with the clothes.  Coming in a huge four-liter jug, this concentrated formula breaks down grease from oil and animal protein stat!  No butyl in this formula make it one of the safest with its proprietary blend of cleaning agents. Sponges are a must in all cleaning hacks.  The Universal Stone Sponges are the best for stainless steel sinks!  Universal Stone is a dry, eco-friendly, powder that lasts forever.  It comes in 650-gram and 900-gram containers.  Place some on a Universal Stone Sponge, massage it in with water, and Boom, instant suds for the majority of your cleaning needs. Your stainless-steel sink, fridge, or almost anything metallic will end up looking brand new after a few wipes with this wonder product. These are just a few kitchen cleaning hacks to make cooking easier and more fun by eliminating the bummer part of the job.  If you have any kitchen cleaning hacks you'd like to share with us, we are always listening and you may make it into the blog.  Simply go to our Facebook page and submit your ideas - we're always listening and love sharing great ideas!  Click here>>