Simple Home Cleaning Tips: 5 Kitchen Cleaning Hacks & Gadgets You Need to Know About by Matt McCarthy, Kitchen Innovator

It’s happening in kitchens across America: working parents struggle just to get dinner on the table. The stove doesn’t get wiped down thoroughly every night. What’s left gets burned on. By the end of the week, someone (you?) gets stuck soaking the stove with a wet rag or using a plastic spatula to try to scrape off the caked-on mess.

You want to clean less, live more. I get that! Your family and friends love gathering in the kitchen but it’s a constant battle to keep it clean. My mother was the guru of Depression-era cleaning tricks that most people have long forgotten. But guess what? They still work! She was simplifying cleaning long before Martha Stewart became a celebrity.

I approach kitchen cleaning from a guy’s perspective. We’re all about shortcuts and we love gadgets. And just as there are after-market parts for your car and cellphone, there are after-market parts for your kitchen that make life a lot easier! People love bringing me their kitchen cleaning hacks and ideas, and I thrive on inventing a few of my own.

Here are a few of my favorite kitchen cleaning hacks and gadgets that cost little or nothing, and save a whole lot of time:

1. Use a utility caddy to keep all your cleaning products with you in one room. This was one of my mom’s favorite tips. When you’re not walking back and forth between rooms, you’ll get the job done a lot faster.
2. Use an after-market stove protector to avoid dealing with burned-on messes. For generations, people covered their stovetops with foil to make cleaning easier. I’m an inventor so I took this idea to the next level. StoveGuard is a durable, dishwasher safe stovetop liner custom cut with laser-precision to ensure a perfect fit for your stove. It’s Teflon coated so messes slide right off.
3. Clean your blender by filling it halfway with warm water and adding a drop of dish soap. Turn it on and watch the buildup break free. Then just rinse and you’re done.
4. Install edge guards between your stovetop and counters. If you’ve ever tried using a butter knife to dig out the crumbs that fall into the cracks between your stove and counters, you’ll appreciate these gadgets. There are several different brands on the market. They slip in easily and keep the space looking neat.
5. Always keep a universal, after-market oven guard on the bottom rack of your stove. Guys, I don’t know about you, but as much as I love pies and lasagnas, I don’t like the inevitable baked-on spills! A Teflon-coated OvenGuard catches the drippings and makes cleaning easy. Just don’t forget to put it back onto the lower oven rack after you clean it. I didn’t invent this but I wish I had!

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