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Welcome to Clean Enough, a new kind of cleaning column for busy home cooks who have better things to do than scrub and sanitize around the clock. Every other week neurodivergent writer and mom Emily Farris shares tips, tools, and products that can help you stay on top of the dirtiest spots in the kitchen while also dispelling a few cleaning myths and cutting down on clutter.
My fridge is currently so overstuffed I can’t even fit a fresh gallon of milk in there. I know this because when I tried to cram in a jug of orange juice the other day, I dislodged some precariously perched raspberries, which went flying everywhere as soon as the plastic carton hit the floor. After a series of expletives, I hollered to my husband, “We have to clean out this fridge before Thanksgiving!” Except it wasn’t something I needed to actually say because I always declutter my fridge and pantry the second or third week in November—it’s part of the spring-cleaning I do before the holidays.
I love how refreshing it feels to open all the windows and clean my kitchen from top to bottom in March or April, and it turns out that doing it all over again in the fall is equally rewarding. And I don't do this just so my house will look nice when guests arrive for Thanksgiving dinner, though that’s certainly an added benefit that saves me some of the anxious cleaning I do whenever I host. The real reason I deep-clean my kitchen before the holidays is because it makes prep, hosting, and cleanup so much more pleasant.
Here are seven reasons to spring-clean your kitchen before the holidays and a few products to help you do it more efficiently and effectively.
1. Make room in the fridge
If you’re hosting it’s crucial to have available fridge real estate in the days leading up to Thanksgiving so you can store your turkey, prepped dishes, and other perishables. And on the actual holiday you’ll likely need to make room for wine, sides, and that confusing Jell-O concoction your mother-in-law brings. In addition to deep-cleaning the fridge so it’s not gross, you can save yourself from playing pumpkin pie Tetris by adding temporary organizers that maximize vertical space.
2. Take inventory of your staples
When you declutter your pantry and spice rack ahead of the holidays, you get a real-time report of what you actually have (so many cans of tomato paste!), what you thought you had but actually don’t (chicken stock), and what expired months ago (spoiler alert: it’s your spices). With this knowledge, you can get your grocery shopping out of the way early and save yourself one of those last-minute Wednesday-night runs nobody wants to do. You’ll also make room for the cartons of chicken stock you do have to buy, and you can arrange your spice rack in a way that makes the most sense for cold-weather cooking.
3. Assess your tableware
Throughout the year you might shatter a couple plates or wine glasses, misplace a fork or three, and loan your pie pan to a friend who probably never had any intention of returning it. If you’re anything like me, you’re not tallying these losses in your head (or on paper), so deep cleaning and decluttering your kitchen ahead of the winter holidays is a great opportunity to take stock of your tableware and special-occasion serveware to ensure you have enough of everything to make everyone feel welcome. It’s also the perfect time to clean all of those dusty vintage goblets you keep on a high shelf and wash your linen napkins because they probably smell like stale laundry.
4. Have more fun cooking
Nobody wants to prep their stuffing on a crusty counter or make cranberry sauce on a dirty stove top. The fact is, the cleaner the kitchen, the more fun and relaxed you’ll be cooking in it—especially on a big food holiday like Thanksgiving. Give yourself the gift of a fresh workspace by degreasing and degunking your surfaces, mopping the floor, and making your sink sparkle so you can focus on the meal and not the mess.
5. Restock your cleaning supplies
I’ve worked long and hard to get to a point in my life where I can buy $18 dish soap “for work.” I realize this is not the world most people live in, but even before I got paid to sniff seasonal surfactants, I used spring-cleaning as an excuse to treat myself to new supplies. A fresh bottle of beautifully-scented all-purpose spray really does put me in the mood to make all my surfaces sparkle, and I get even more hot and bothered by cleaning products when the pine-scented stuff hits the shelves. I’m always excited to get right to work because I do want my kitchen to smell like a winter wonderland for at least two months a year, thank you very much. If you’re similarly scent-motivated, consider this your excuse to stock up on some luxe soaps and other seasonal cleaning products.
6. Reduce holiday stress
When I’m expecting guests, I’ll spend all day cleaning while regularly announcing to anyone within earshot that I’m going to get in the shower in five minutes. Then I still have a towel on my head when the first guests arrive, and rather than awkwardly tell someone how stressed I am, I’ll obnoxiously apologize for the state of my home. I avoid all of this when I take the time to deep clean my kitchen in the days or weeks ahead of an event, because it inspires me to get a head start on the rest of the house, and I will work to keep it all clean until the big day. Then I can take my time setting a beautiful table and, you know, drying my hair.
7. Cut back on clean-up
When you declutter and degrease your kitchen before a big cooking event, you’ll be more motivated to clean as you cook, corral dirty dishes between courses, and de-crumb surfaces as quickly as possible. And because you did such a good job deep cleaning before hosting, getting your kitchen back to its sparkling state will be a breeze.
