Degreasing Is Absolutely Key When It Comes To Cleaning Up The Kitchen

We all know that cleaning our kitchen is important (even if maybe we don't do it as often as we should). We know we need to sanitize things from time to time — especially if we've worked with raw meat, especially if we've done something inadvisable like washing raw chicken — and we know that cleaning out the sink is an important step we need to make sure not to skip. But one step people often skip when it comes to cleaning is degreasing.

Deep, clinging grease is something that collects on kitchen surfaces slowly over time, so it's easy to become blind to it. But next time you're in your kitchen, take a good long look at your stove hood — if you haven't been degreasing it from time to time, there's a good chance you'll be shocked at what's collected in there. Beyond that, failing to degrease can pose some actual health risks.

It's not just that degreasing will make your kitchen look better and feel less grimy; it's actually an essential move for health reasons. If you're disinfecting your kitchen without occasionally degreasing it, you might expose yourself to bacteria, which can become trapped and hide within the grease. Just spraying disinfectants on top of this stuff won't solve the issue because the grease protects it. It can escape later and cause some issues, so you should be sure to degrease those surfaces so this can't happen.

There are various ways to deep clean the collected grease in your kitchen; some are more intense than others. Make sure you wipe down all surfaces that are going to get cleaned before you start; that initial move will save time later and ensure your cleaning products can really get into the caked-on mess. The easiest is simply to buy a spray-on degreaser and wipe down all the surfaces with collected grime, like stove hoods, settings panels, and cupboards. There are other methods too, like using vapor to coat wider areas or immersing specific objects in cleaner (though this obviously does not work with an entire cabinet). You could even theoretically pressure-wash your whole kitchen, although that's likely to cause a pretty significant mess in its own right.

It is, however, important to note that you need to take proper precautions when degreasing your kitchen. Deep cleaning may be important, but when you're using the heavy stuff, you need to take care. The solvents and chemicals involved in the process can be very potent, and you don't want to accidentally inhale, ingest, or expose your skin to them. Obviously, make sure there's no food anywhere it could be exposed, but you should also make sure you wear protective clothing like gloves or eyewear.

But while degreasing does present some health risks if you're not careful, it's still a crucial step in keeping your kitchen clean, both for sanitary and aesthetic reasons. Just make sure you're covering your bases, and you'll be fine — and much happier with how your kitchen looks and feels at the end of the process.