5 Kitchen Surfaces You Forgot to Clean!

When it’s time to clean the kitchen, it can be overwhelming!

Messes on the table, food on the floor, grease on the stovetop, and don’t forget the bits of exploded clam chowder on the ceiling of the microwave. And that’s only a fraction of what needs to be done!

With so much to do, we can’t blame you if you miss a spot or two. However, there’s a couple of important areas around the kitchen that you can’t afford to leave unsanitary!

So today, we’re going to look at five kitchen surfaces that can often be missed when kitchen cleaning season comes around!

1 - Backsplash

Baby got Back…splash!

We all wipe down our counters! Kitchen countertops are constantly facing a barrage of messes from food prep to dirty dishes. But how often do you scrub the backsplash? Better yet, how many of you know what a backsplash even is?

For the uninitiated, the backsplash is the wall behind the counter that protects the actual kitchen wall. You’ll typically find this behind the sink or stove, but can be found across the entirety of the counter space. Backsplashes can be made of a variety of materials such as stainless steel, formica, linoleum, and smooth stone tiles. Regardless of which material or how much of it you have; splatter, debris, and water stains can easily form on backsplashes, which is why you need to keep them ship shape!

Spray the surface with your kitchen cleaner of choice and wipe it down with a rag or hand brush for stuck on messes. If your backsplash is made of tiles, you’ll want to make sure you get into the grout lines, especially if they're small. If you’re having trouble hitting these spots with the cleaning instruments at your disposal, try our Medium Green Edge brush; a wheel-shaped, drill-powered scrub brush that was built for cleaning grout lines and grooves.

Don’t forget to also check the edge where the counter and the backsplash meet. This wedge is hard to get into and can become a haven for crumbs, which can attract bugs and other unwanted guests. Getting as close to the corner as you can will assure you clean it out, but you can also use our Cone-shaped corner brush with a cordless drill to get a seamless scrub.

2 - Back of the Fridge

Livin’ in the fridge!

The back of the fridge is a land of mystery. A place where leftovers go to rot. Where milk gets frosty and condiments get lost. The horror increases when something leaks and you have to pick up each individual thing to find out what the culprit was.

Cleaning the fridge is a no-brainer, albeit a tedious one, but you have to make sure the back of the fridge is clean to avoid situations like the one above.

Clear everything out of the fridge and get a good look on the situation. See if any liquid stains have left themselves on the shelves and see if any crumbs or spots are chilling in the back corners.This is a good chance to inspect your bottle, cans, and plastic containers to see if there’s any leaks or messes to take care of.

Then just spray some kitchen-safe cleaner and get to work giving each shelf and side a deep scrub down. If the shelves in your refrigerator can be removed, that makes your job even easier, as you won’t have to bend and twist to clean them and you’ll have more room to scrub the back.

If you want to use a Drillbrush on it, 4 inch and 5 inch flat brushes work great on the shelves and walls. You can also use an Original or a Mini in a 7 inch extension if the shelves don’t come out or you’re having trouble reaching into the deep recesses of the refrigerator.

Don’t forget to also check the shelves on the door as well. These are jam packed with condiment bottles, small drinks, preserves, eggs, butter, and more, which can leave the surfaces looking like a painter’s palette! Scrub it down good, or [TEXT: G-42O. se any of the brushes from our Medium 4-2-O kit if you aren’t confident in your scrubbing skills.

3 - Keurig / K-Cup Coffee Maker

America runs on Drillbrush!

Many Americans get their day started with a hot cup of coffee. If their unending daily grind set leaves them with not enough time to brew a pot or detour to the nearest cafe, many will use K-cups in a Keurig. Just fill the tank with water, pop in the K-cup, and let that sweet bean juice trickle down into your mug while you hurriedly put your khakis on and scramble to figure out where you put your phone!

However, the water in the tank can become still, and it’s good to change out the water every so often and clean it out for a healthy coffee-creating experience. Alas, during the morning rush, we often forget about maintaining these things. Luckily, it’s a quick clean!

If the tank can be removed, great! Just wash it out in the sink, dry it off, and put it back in. However, if the tank is built into the machine, you’ll need to get in there to scrub it.

We like using our Medium Green Mini Original Drillbrush with a 7 inch extension to get deep into the container and scrub away any built up residue and water stains. However you decide to clean your coffee maker, be sure to rinse it out thoroughly. Running it a few times without a k-cup in it can help flush anything out of the system.

4 - Garbage Cans

Taking out the trash!

At first glance, this may sound silly. “Why clean garbage?” But keeping a tidy waste bin is a great way to maintain a nice kitchen environment.

Kitchen garbage cans are often the smelliest as it's where foodstuff is typically thrown out. Those smells can attract bugs like ants and flies, as well as repel house guests! Some garbage bags are scented to lessen the impact, but a method I employ along with it is to sprinkle some powdered cleanser in the bag. The cleanser smell tends to keep bugs and other animals away.

However, even with a bag, some stenches can lurk on the can’s surface and some people might miss it when throwing things away. We recommend washing both inside and outside the bin every once in a while to keep any potential nastiness from building up.

Spray cleaner and paper towels will typically do the trick, but if you want to keep some distance and get through it quicker, try using an Original Drillbrush on a 7 inch extension. Though we recommend reserving one brush for garbage duties and another for kitchen surfaces so you aren’t using the same brush on both.

5 - Vents

Green may be venting, but he’s not an imposter.

We’re not talking about restaurant kitchen vents (though those need to be cleaned too,) we’re talking about common air vents within a typical home. As air blows through the vent, it can send all sorts of nasty particles flying throughout the kitchen, which can really put a damper on a dinner party. A clogged up return vent can also keep stagnant, dusty air in the room instead of filtering it out as it should.

Be sure to frequently dust by vents and keep them clear of debris. If the vents are particularly dirty, such as from being gummed up with airborne grease, use a scrub brush to wash away any surface substances. If the vent can be removed, you can also soak it in soapy water first to loosen everything up before scrubbing.

Along with conventional means, you can also use a Drillbrush Power Scrubber to get between each slat. Brushes of ours that are particularly good for vent cleaning include the Original, Mini Original, 2 inch Short, and Edge brushes.

A Squeaky Clean Kitchen

We hope we were able to shed some light on some oft missed messes around the kitchen. If you want to see some Bathroom surfaces that homeowners miss, check out our article on that here!

We also have a blog on Kitchen Cleaning with a Drillbrush, which goes into detail on the more typical kitchen cleaning spots.

Lastly, if you want to make kitchen clean-up quicker, check out our line of Medium Green Drillbrush Kitchen brushes on our website.