10 Best Tools For Deep Cleaning Your Kitchen

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There are a lot of items and surfaces in your kitchen that can be difficult to clean, but having the right tools for a kitchen deep clean can make the task a little less daunting. In fact, if you have the right tools, you might even look forward to deep cleaning so you can use them. Plus, the task won't seem so overwhelming if you have a plan of attack for the harder-to-clean spots, like between appliances, in crevices, and areas that are higher than you can reach.

Some items on this list are must-haves, while others are going to be items you can try to see if they solve a problem you might have. However, for the most part, we feel like having the right tools for the job can turn what you've thought was going to be an all-day job into something that takes less time and is far more manageable, even if you've got grime that's been waiting for you to tackle it for a long time. 

We've specifically looked for items that are reusable, non-scratch, and often multi-purpose, so you can get a lot of good use out of them. Whether you're spring cleaning, getting ready to sell your house, or want to add a deep cleaning routine to your life, this list of tools covers everything you need to give your kitchen the deep clean it deserves.

Before you even get started on a kitchen deep clean, you should reach for reusable kitchen gloves. Of course, reusable kitchen gloves are great if you're squeamish about getting your hands dirty, but they're really for everyone, especially if you'll be spending a lot of time cleaning.

There are several reasons you should always wear kitchen gloves when cleaning. For one thing, you can tolerate hotter water when you're using thick kitchen gloves. They'll also protect your hands and fingernails from harsh chemicals you might use to clean your kitchen. Plus, if there are areas in your kitchen that are contaminated with microbes that could make you sick, like Salmonella or E. coli, you're less likely to infect yourself with them.

When choosing ones to get, you'll want ones that are thick and reusable, like rubber or silicone, since they're more durable for the time it might take you for deep cleaning. Long waterproof gloves help prevent water and chemicals from getting inside and keep your arms and sleeves dry. You'll also want to measure your hands and get ones that fit well for better comfort, grip, and control. We like options like these Bamllum rubber dishwashing gloves because they're long, rubber, durable, and have grips to help hold onto your deep-cleaning tools.

If you haven't had a chance to try Swedish cleaning cloths yet, you're going to love how much they save you on paper towels during a deep kitchen cleaning. These quick-drying dishcloths have the absorbency power of a sponge and can be reused since they are dishwasher and machine-washable. In fact, they're reusable for more than 100 times and biodegradable once you eventually throw them away.

Swedish engineer Curt Lindquist first created these cloths in 1949, naming them Wettex since they're a wet textile that's a mix between a sponge and cotton cloth. Since they dry quicker than sponges, they don't harbor as much bacteria as regular sponges do. However, like sponges, they can absorb over 10 times their own weight in liquids to assist with big cleaning jobs. You can use them anywhere in the kitchen where you'd use a paper towel or sponge. However, they're more versatile. For example, you can use them to clean your kitchen windows and stainless steel surfaces without leaving any residue behind, as you would with paper towels. The ridged surfaces are also good for scrubbing without scratching surfaces.

While there are several brands of Swedish dishcloths these days, you can still get a pack of 10 Wettex Swedish dishcloths for under a dollar each. However, many people like to get ones with fun patterns that match their aesthetics a little better, like the Lucomb 8 pack of Swedish dishcloths featuring birds and flowers.

If you need a little more intense scouring power than Swedish dishcloths provide, you'll want to have some non-scratch scouring pads on hand for your kitchen deep cleaning. These help remove hard debris stuck to surfaces without you worrying about scratching them.

Different non-scratch scouring pads fit different needs. Nylon or polyester sponge pads with a scrubbing surface, like Scotch-Brite Zero Scratch scrub sponges, are good for cleaning countertops and a variety of other surfaces. The scouring side helps remove hardened debris, while the sponge side can soak up cleaning liquid as you go. Then, there are nylon scouring pads that are like sponges wrapped in a non-scratch nylon material, like these Scrubit multi-purpose scouring pads, which are useful for countertops, backsplashes, appliances, and tiles.

There are even some non-scratch scouring pads that integrate metal into the design. For example, there are non-scratch wire scrub pads made with stainless steel or steel wool woven into the cloth, like the SmokEase Spongenator kitchen scrubbing sponges. You can use these to clean a multitude of surfaces, like wood, glass, and metal surfaces. So, they're great for cleaning the interior and exterior of appliances.

Scrapers are must-haves if you are trying to clean the smooth surfaces of a glass stovetop or countertops. Scraper blades can help remove hardened food and other debris that may require more effort with other tools, such as scouring pads. We've found scrapers to really be a game-changer for multi-colored stone granite countertops, where stuck-on food particles can be nearly impossible to see with the naked eye.

The type of blade you use depends on the type of surface you're scraping. You can safely use a metal blade like the Diyself razor blade scraper on a granite countertop. However, you'll want to opt for a scraper with a plastic blade, like the Foshio plastic razor blade scraper, for softer surfaces like glass stovetops or marble, quartz, and other countertops. Alton Brown swears by board scrapers and dough blades for maneuvering and removing dough and ingredients from kitchen counters. Ones like the Ecavria bench scrapers can double as countertop scrapers, making them great multi-tools.

Something that helps a lot when cleaning your stovetop or granite countertop is letting your cleaning solution sit for a few minutes to help loosen dried-on debris. After the stuck-on food and other debris on the surface have soaked for two to five minutes, you can more easily use a scraper to remove them.

If you've been eyeing a steam mop as a floor cleaning solution, you might want to expand your search to a multi-surface steam cleaner that can clean both floors and other kitchen surfaces. In fact, you can do a chemical-free deep clean and sanitize a large portion of your kitchen with just this tool, making it an excellent investment.

Nearly anywhere you need to remove debris and sanitize surfaces is fair game. Just make sure you get a steam cleaner such as the Labigo 10-in-1 steam mop with a variety of attachments for different cleaning needs. You'll also want to double-check whether the surfaces you're cleaning are safe for steam cleaning. For example, you'll specifically want to avoid using steam on hardwood floors, stone countertops, or laminate countertops with particleboard underneath.

There are plenty of kitchen surfaces where steam cleaning is ideal. Cleaning all the grime from your sink and sink fixtures is easier with a steam cleaner. A steam mop can help with getting your floor extra clean. It's perfect for cleaning soiled and greasy backsplashes or range hoods. You can even steam clean your stovetop rather than use a scraper. A multi-surface steam cleaner is also a great tool for deep cleaning your oven since the steam helps melt and remove grease. Plus, you can use it to clean the oven door.

With deep cleaning your microwave being among the kitchen cleaning tasks you should be doing weekly, it's helpful to have a small, dedicated tool for the job. You might not want to get out a big steam cleaning kit to do it.

A quirky kitchen tool that's actually kind of fun to use for cleaning your microwave is the Abnaok Angry Mama microwave oven steam cleaner. This plastic microwave cleaner looks like an angry lady with her hands on her hips, who blows steam out the top of her head when you heat her in the microwave. You're supposed to fill it with vinegar water, and then it releases steam into your microwave for seven minutes of heating. All that vinegar-laden steam helps loosen debris so that it's easier to wipe out. Plus, it helps sanitize your microwave. Granted, you could just heat a bowl of water and vinegar in the microwave for similar results, but where's the fun in that? We don't know about you, but it's far more motivating to deep-clean the microwave with an angry little woman letting off steam inside it than with an ordinary bowl of liquid.

Anyone who has ever deep cleaned a kitchen has likely improvised with a variety of objects to clean crevices and areas that regular sponges and dishcloths don't clean as effectively. So, it's helpful to have a variety of dedicated small brushes with handles that can reach hard-to-reach areas.

There are all sorts of crevices in your kitchen that might need cleaning. For example, there might be spaces where your countertops meet the wall, dirty areas around your kitchen faucets, or even areas around your cooktop that you can't easily clean without a brush. Instead of grabbing old toothbrushes for the task, we like angled crevice brushes like the OXO Good Grips deep clean brush set. The angled heads are more ergonomic and are easier to use than straight toothbrushes. Plus, one brush has a squeegee-like wiper blade to help clean around drains.

If you don't want to buy a specialized tool but have an old electric toothbrush on hand, some people use it to clean crevices instead, since the machine does the scrubbing for you. While it probably goes without saying, we'll say it anyway; you'll want to make sure to keep a separate toothbrush head for cleaning your kitchen than brushing your teeth.

Gap cleaning tools are a little more specialized than simple crevice brushes, as the brush parts are longer and thinner to reach into gaps that ordinary cleaning tools just can't get to. With a gap cleaning tool, you can do a truer deep clean.

The dirty gap you're probably thinking of right now is the one between your stove and cabinet, refrigerator and cabinet, or refrigerator and wall. While you might be able to clean crumbs, dust, and gunk from those areas by moving your stove or refrigerator out completely, that's not always the ideal solution, and sometimes not even possible. Luckily, there are a variety of helpful deep-reach gap cleaning tools available, depending on what you need to clean. 

You can start by vacuuming the area with a handheld vacuum or vacuum crevice tools. To clean what's left behind, you'll need a gap cleaning tool. One option is a pipe cleaner set, like the CiaraQ bottle cleaning brushes set, which has a variety of sizes for hard-to-reach crevices full of gunk. Another option is a skinny crevice cleaning brush, like the SXhyf crevice cleaning brush. If you want to reach deep under cabinets or appliances, a better option may be a flat duster brush with a long handle, like the AURUZA retractable gap dust cleaner, which you can also use with water like a long mop.

Kitchens get lots of traffic, with people touching and dirtying many surfaces, like cabinets, walls, light switches, doors, and door frames. Hand oils, dust, and dirt often combine to create stains that don't come off easily with simple soap and water, which is where melamine foam sponges can come in handy. They're also great for scuffs, stovetop messes, oven grates, tile, burnt-on grease on oven glass, water stains, coffee stains, dried food stains, and more.

Melamine foam sponges are a chemical-free way to clean, as they have an open-cell foam structure that easily grabs and traps dirt. They also don't require much water to work, making them less messy than some other options. However, you'll want to test the sponge on a small area first to ensure it doesn't accidentally pull up paint along with the dirt. On a microscopic level, the structure is nearly as hard as glass, allowing it to gently scrape away debris like super-fine sandpaper. However, the foam's open-cell structure is full of air pockets, which keep it soft.

There are several brands of melamine foam sponges on the market, but one that's often used and well-loved is the Mr. Clean MagicEraser. As you use it to remove stains, you wear it down and it becomes smaller, much like a pencil eraser. So, if you have a lot of surfaces to clean, you might want to get a multi-pack.

Finally, once you've gotten all the low places in the kitchen cleaned up, don't forget to dust the tops of everything. For this task, you'll need a high-reach duster.

There are plenty of areas in the kitchen that need dusting. Not only might you need to dust the tops of cabinets or the top of the refrigerator, but you might also need to dust the tops of ceiling fans, air vents, and window sills, or get rid of cobwebs that are out of reach. Thus, we like the idea of a duster with a telescoping handle to handle a variety of distances. Plus, getting something like the Hohoky cobweb duster with a bendable extension pole and multiple heads in different sizes helps with a variety of tasks. All of the brushes are machine washable, too. In fact, if you get a set with flat brushes, it might double as a gap-cleaning tool for lower surfaces, rather than just hard-to-reach surfaces above your head.