Cleaning the Sink

There is something so refreshing about cleaning the kitchen sink. This morning I emptied the sink of Phil's cereal bowl and then went to town giving it a deep clean. I used tricks from flylady.net. Fly lady says that having a clean sink gives you a "sense of accomplishment". You probably are rolling your eyes right now unless of course you have actually taken the time to "shine your sink".

Here are the steps that I used:
1. Take all the dishes out of the sink.
2. Put the plus in. Run some very hot water into the sink. Fill to the rim.
3. Add 1/4 cup of Lysol Cleaner (fly lady suggests bleach but we are trying to not use bleach in our house)
4. Rinse your sink well.
5. Use some cleanser (Comet, Ajax, or Baking Soda) and scrub your sink. I use Bar Keepers Friend since my sink is stainless steel.
6. Make sure you clean down near the drain. This is on of the "germiest" places in your house.
7. Take a sharp edge and clean around the rim of the sink, just like you would clean dirt out from under your fingernails.
8. Clean around the faucets too. You may need an old toothbrush or dental floss.
9. Now, get out your window cleaner, I use Windex, and give it a good shine.

I took my cleaning one step further. I took a rag and dipped it in the hot water with Lysol and proceeded to clean all of my cupboard doors and handles. Some of them were a bit grimy. I haven't taken on the FlyLady's next challenge which is to have a zone that you focus on for a whole week and do a deep clean while still accomplishing all of your other cleaning chores for the week. I typically clean every room of my house once a week but I am going to try and work on the Zones for September and October in preparation for the long winter indoors. Today I focused a bit on the outer parts of my kitchen. When I get back from Denver I will focus on inside the cupboards and cleaning out the pantry. I also will brave the cleaning of the inside of the oven. One of my least favorite jobs!

I encourage you to take 15 minutes out of your day, TODAY, to try this little "shine your sink" trick. I promise you'll feel great afterward!