Your Kitchen Cleaning Chemical Guide

It seems like there’s no end to the list of kitchen cleaning hacks, hints, and homemade solutions out there on the internet. While there are plenty of great tips to find, there’s also a lot of confusing, misleading, and potentially dangerous misinformation, too. We’re here to set the record straight today, so before you hop on the latest viral social media trend, check out AppliancePartsPros.com’s guide to kitchen cleaning solutions.

Next up, we’ll review a few common myths and misconceptions about cleaning, and then we’ll send you off with some surefire tips for effectively cleaning your kitchen.

Are baking soda and water really a super cleaner when mixed together?

No. When combined, vinegar and baking soda foam up and then turn into salt water. While those few seconds of foaming action may help to loosen up surface grime, it’s no more effective than using just baking soda and water, and then scrubbing with a brush or coarse sponge. The salt water left behind when vinegar and baking soda are combined is just that – salt water, not a miracle cleaning solution.

That said, on their own, vinegar and baking soda can both be effective at what they do – vinegar as a gentle, acidic disinfectant and baking soda as a mild abrasive for loosening up caked on grime. We’ll get into that in a bit more detail later in the article, so keep reading!

Is combining common cleaning products bad?

Don’t combine cleaning products without thoroughly reading their labels, first! In the last few years, videos of folks cleaning sinks and toilets by layering different types of cleaners right in the basin or bowl have become fairly common – sometimes even viral sensations – but it’s not something you should be trying at home.

Even common, everyday cleaners contain chemicals that, when combined, create harmful, toxic substances like corrosive acid, chlorine, and chloramine gas. Side effects of inhaling or coming in contact with the compounds created by combined cleaning chemicals run the gamut from nausea and dizziness to permanent nerve and liver damage.

Protect your home and your family. Before applying more than one chemical cleaner to anything, do your research. Make sure there are no potentially hazardous reactions from the combinations you want to use, and ensure that applying extra chemical cleaner won’t cause the thing you’re trying to clean to corrode, deteriorate, or break. When switching up cleaners, be sure whatever you’re cleaning has been thoroughly rinsed before applying a new chemical.

Which cleaning products should never be combined?

We can’t provide an exhaustive list of all brand name cleaners here, but here are a few common household cleaning chemicals that, for your safety, should never, ever be combined:

• Bleach and ammonia are two common ingredients of many household cleaners. Combined, they release chloramine gas, which can burn your lungs and throat if inhaled.
  
• Bleach and vinegar will also create chloramine and chlorine gas when combined, irritating or burning skin, eyes, throat, and lungs.
  

• Bleach and rubbing alcohol create trichloromethane, which will, at best, leave you dizzy and nauseous. In high volumes, it can cause fatal damage to your internal organs.
  

• Hydrogen peroxide and vinegar when mixed create a corrosive acid that can cause serious damage to you and your possessions.

As a general rule, you simply shouldn’t combine cleaning products – especially not with bleach. If you want to swap products, be absolutely sure that whatever you’re cleaning has been thoroughly rinsed, and any traces of the previous product are gone, before using a different product.

Useful Cleaning Chemicals for your Kitchen

When cleaning your kitchen, opt for food-safe cleaning products wherever possible, especially when cleaning the things that come in contact with your food – appliances and flatware. Before you use any cleaning chemical, you should thoroughly read the label for instructions and warnings. The wrong product can potentially damage your appliances, countertops, or kitchen plumbing.

Baking Soda

Baking soda makes for a perfectly safe gentle abrasive that can be used to help lift stubborn, stuck-on crud off of your appliances.

• Sprinkle it on a surface like a glass stovetop and lay a hot, damp towel over it to loosen up grime.
  
• Mix it with enough water to create a paste, and apply it to stuck-on food stains in your appliances, sink, or on countertops to add a bit of extra scrubbing power while cleaning.
  
• Add baking soda to the bottom of your dishwasher before running an empty cycle on the warmest setting to help freshen it up.

Vinegar

White distilled vinegar diluted with water is often hyped up as a miracle cleaner and disinfectant. When it comes to actual results, though, your mileage may vary. In high concentrations, it can effectively cut grease and disinfect surfaces, but undiluted vinegar is also more likely to discolor surfaces and corrode materials like metal and rubber.

• When cleaning, stick with white distilled vinegar or cleaning vinegar. Don’t use cooking vinegars like apple cider or white wine vinegar.
  
• Be extremely careful about what you combine with vinegar. Never combine vinegar and bleach or vinegar and hydrogen peroxide.
  
• Vinegar can damage and discolor stone surfaces, cast iron, aluminum, and other common materials you find in the kitchen. Before spraying anything down, test a small patch to see if you notice any damage or discoloration.
  
• Vinegar can be combined with water at a 1:1 ratio to clean glass, floors, sinks, and laminate (not stone or wood) countertops. Bear in mind, though, that other common cleaners – even dish soap diluted in water – may be more effective.
  
• If you have a glass cooktop, it can be effectively cleaned and degreased with vinegar.

Dishwashing Detergents

The dish soap you use in your sink and to wash your hands after food prep is a gentle cleaner that can effectively be used on most surfaces in your kitchen. It may take a bit of elbow grease to get rid of tough stains, but it’s a great go-to household cleaner.

• Dish soap can effectively cut through grease on more than just pots and pans. You can use it on glass and traditional cooktops, as well.
  
• Dish soap can be safely used to clean your refrigerator interior, including shelves and bins – just make sure your glass or plastic shelves or bins are room temperature first.
  
• Don’t use dish soap as a substitute for automatic dish detergent in your dishwasher. You’ll wind up with a sudsy mess that might spill out while your dishwasher is running.

Oven Cleaners

In the right oven, a purpose-made oven cleaner is extremely effective at busting baked-on grime. Just make sure yours is the right sort of oven.

• Oven cleaner shouldn’t be used in self-cleaning ovens, which have special enamel coating on the inside. Consult your oven manual before using a chemical cleaner, and go by what the appliance manufacturer says, not by what’s on the label of the cleaning product.
  
• Most oven cleaners contain lye, which will not play well with your skin. Be sure you are wearing gloves, at minimum, when using oven cleaners. Eye protection and long sleeves are a good idea, too.
  
• Make sure you’re using it in a well-ventilated area. Open nearby windows if you can.
  
• When using an oven cleaner, get kids, pets, and people with breathing problems out of the room. Oven cleaner fumes can be extremely dangerous to animals and people with asthma.

Bleach

Diluted bleach can be used to disinfect some surfaces in your kitchen, but take care when using it. Read the instructions on the label, and be very careful that it’s never combined with other cleaning products.

• Never mix bleach with other cleaning products or disinfectants.
  
• To properly disinfect your kitchen, ensure that the household bleach you use is unscented and contains 5% to 9% sodium hypochlorite. Be sure to carefully check the label of the bleach product before use as other types of bleach may not be effective for disinfection purposes.
  
• Wear rubber gloves when working with bleach, at a minimum. Consider eye protection, as well. If mopping with it, you should also wear shoes.
  
• Ensure the area where you’re cleaning is well-ventilated before using bleach. Open nearby windows to allow fresh air in, if possible.
  
• About a tablespoon of bleach thoroughly mixed into a gallon of water should suit your needs for disinfecting things like your countertops and refrigerator.
  
• Keep in mind that bleach can and will discolor and corrode materials commonly used in kitchens, like plastic and laminate. You can test a small patch of something to see if it will discolor, but if you still have concerns, opt for a gentler disinfectant.
  
• According to the CDC, solutions of bleach and water lose effectiveness after 24 hours, so always start with a fresh bleach solution when disinfecting.

Ammonia

Ammonia is a common ingredient found in many cleaning products and is great at breaking down fats and oils, making it an excellent grease fighter. Like bleach, though, ammonia can be incredibly harmful if handled incorrectly. Be sure to follow bottle instructions carefully and wear safety gear like gloves when using ammonia.

• Never combine ammonia with chlorine bleach or other cleaning products.
  
• Wear gloves when using it to avoid skin irritation, and be sure to read the instructions on the bottle thoroughly. Follow manufacturer guidelines for correct dilution ratios.
  
• An ammonia soak can get oven and gas cooktop grates looking like new. Be sure to thoroughly rinse these items before reinstalling them after a soak.
  
• While ammonia can be used as a glass cleaner for windows, you should not use it on glass cooktops! It can discolor and streak the glass. Stick with vinegar or a specially formulated glass cooktop cleaner, instead.
• Don’t use ammonia in gas-powered ovens. Mixing ammonia with gas or open flame can be dangerous.

Drain Cleaner

If you’re fighting a clogged sink, you may want to jump right to a drain cleaner. In other parts of the house, that’s a good solution, but take care before you use a drain cleaner in the kitchen.

• Read labels thoroughly. Some drain cleaners may damage or corrode garbage disposals, so if your kitchen sink has one, you may not be able to use most drain cleaners.
  
• Avoid using drain cleaner in dishwashers as it can harm the dishwasher’s interior and leave hazardous residue on your dishes and cutlery. Instead, if your dishwasher is not draining properly, locate the blockage and try using a plumbing snake to remove it from the dishwasher’s drain hose. If the clog is in the kitchen plumbing system, you may need to use a drain cleaner in your sink to fix the problem.

Disinfecting Wipes

Disinfecting wipes are a great way to clean and disinfect countertops after cooking, but be sure to read the label. If a disinfecting wipe is bleach free, it probably contains ammonium chloride, which will react when combined with bleach and can potentially produce chloramine.