The Case For Giving Your Kitchen A Full Nightly Shutdown

Picture this: the candles are lit, the wine is poured, and the plates of homemade pasta sit atop your dining table. Espresso beans and homemade vanilla ice cream await their transformation into affogatos. Once you've finished this restaurant-worthy dinner and dessert, you throw it all in the sink and kiss the night goodbye, right? As tempting as it is to leave a kitchen mess overnight, a full-fledged nightly shutdown can improve your morning and mental health while lowering your electricity bill and keeping pests at bay.

Leftover food and dirty plates are a nightclub for pests. From cockroaches to rats, many common household pests are most active at night. When you leave food out or crusted onto plates overnight, you're inviting creepy crawlers into your kitchen space and providing them with nutrients they need to grow and reproduce — no thanks.

But it's not just multi-legged creatures that pose a threat to your messy nighttime kitchen, it's also your electricity bill. From phone chargers to espresso machines, electric-powered items left in their socket overnight continue to use and waste energy, increasing your energy bill and your carbon footprint.

Beyond the obvious "icks," a messy kitchen can also impact your mental well-being. A 2017 study published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology found that a messy house is linked to procrastination and feelings of chaos — not exactly how you want to start your morning.

Big spills, decaying food, overflowing garbage cans, and buzzing electrical appliances are easily detected by the senses. But what about the messes that aren't so evident? There are a few less obvious chores you should incorporate into your kitchen shutdown to keep things tidy down to details.

Starting with the fridge, double-check that the lids of the condiments and beverages you used to make your meal are sealed tight. When you overlook a loose lid, you run the risk of a slow sticky drip oozing onto your refrigerator shelves, leaving you with a mess to clean at best and soiled produce at worst. Once you're clear of a leak risk, make sure you've shut your fridge and freezer door tightly to avoid waking up to half-thawed food and produce that's gone bad from prolonged exposure to room temperatures.

Did you use your stove or microwave to make dinner? Clean out any crumbs or grease splatter stains that may be stuck to their surface. Although the mess might be small, so are bugs and pests. Although it's common for toasters, toaster ovens, and air fryers to house crumbs and debris, it's also worth giving them attention to remove any food fragments that attract unwanted guests. 

You can also run your dish disposal with running water to break down large pieces of food that made their way down the sink. By doing this, you're preventing wet sink food from polluting your morning air.

A nightly kitchen shutdown doesn't just improve your life, but the lives of your pets, as well. If you have animals that roam around at night, maintaining a clean, well-organized kitchen will keep your furry friends safe and mess-free.

Although there are some human foods that cats, dogs, and other house pets can enjoy with you, there are also foods that you should never give to your pet. If you leave common snacks and meal ingredients like chocolate, onions, avocados, and grapes out overnight, your mischievous pet can get into them — and the consequences can be fatal. At the very least, store these foods in a place that your furry family members can't reach.

Unplugging electrical appliances can lower your utility bill and prevent fires, keeping you (and your pets) safer. Appliances with heating settings like air-fryers and coffee makers are especially at risk of catching fire. Unplugging them means your cats, dogs, birds, and other furry friends are much more protected. Similarly, remember to blow out your dinner candles.

The perfect image of cleanliness and organization varies from person to person, and although thoroughly shutting down your kitchen can keep pests out, improve your mood, and keep you and your pets safe, you may not have the energy to go all out every night — and that's okay!

Listen to your body, and meet yourself halfway. Some days our mental well-being benefits more from rest, relaxation, and ease than it does from organization and tidiness. Keep things simple when you have to. Rinse off plates to remove any major sources of leftover food, but save the detailing for the morning. A quick, 30-second wipe-down with a paper towel and multi-surface cleaner can go a long way when it comes to freshening up counters — no need to spend hours on it. Let your vacuum rest and perform a spot sweep to pick up large crumbs, and only take the trash out if it's overflowing.

Full kitchen shutdowns are supposed to make you feel better and safer, not stressed and overwhelmed, so don't overexert yourself if you don't have to. Whether you're making a homemade steak dinner or simply enjoying instant ramen, performing a post-dinner kitchen cleaning to the best of your ability will make your morning merry.