Kitchen deep cleaning: the range, the oven and the fridge
Grease on the grates, crumbs under the fridge drawers, a film on the tile behind the stove. Each kitchen item below links to a photo or clip from our jobs, followed by what to sort out with the fridge first.
Five stations of a kitchen and what each one gets
Every item below appears in a photo or a short video from one of our kitchen jobs, so you can check it before you book.
The range top
- Grates lifted and cleaned
- Burner caps
- The cooktop under and around the burners
The oven
- Burnt food off the oven floor
- The heating element
- The door and the knobs outside
The range hood
- The grease filter
- The hood above the burners
The fridge, when you ask for it
- Glass shelves taken out and washed
- Drawers pulled out, the bays under them wiped
- Door bins taken out and wiped by hand
- The steel doors outside
Backsplash, counter and sink
- Backsplash tile and the grout lines, with steam
- The counter, around the small appliances
- The sink and the faucet
Which booking puts which part of the kitchen on the list
The kitchen is part of all three visits below. What changes is how far into the appliances the clean goes.
| Booking | In the kitchen | Choose it when |
|---|---|---|
| Regular home cleaning | The kitchen gets its share of every visit. Each visit follows a plan made for your home, so if the kitchen needs the most time, that is where the time goes. | The kitchen is in fair shape and you want it kept that way, with a one-time visit or a clean every week or two. |
| Deep cleaning | The oven inside, the grates and burner caps, the range hood filter, every surface and ledge. The fridge too, if you ask for it. | Grease has built up on the range, or nobody has done the appliances in a long time. |
| Move-in or move-out | The same list as a deep clean, done in an empty kitchen, so nothing is cleaned around. | The keys are about to change hands and the fridge and oven should be ready for the next person. |
Grates and burner caps are the part you see every day
This is a gas burner on one of our jobs before cleaning: crumbs around the cap, a brown ring where spills cooked on, grease along the grate. A wipe of the cooktop leaves all of that, because the grime sits under the grate and around the cap.
On that kitchen the burners, the cooktop around them and the tile behind the stove were cleaned with a steam cleaner. The 51-second clip on our before and after page shows the stovetop, the burners and the hood. If the oven is due as well, it goes on the same visit as part of a deep clean.
“I was very pleased with how thorough they were—even the tops of the refrigerator and baseboards look spotless!”
Getting the fridge ready for its clean
The fridge is the one item that needs a bit of planning on your side. The fridge jobs in our photos were emptied before the cleaning started.
- The day before
Eat down the leftovers
Use up open containers and throw out what has turned. A fridge with less in it empties in minutes.
- Before we start
Food goes into a cooler
Milk, meat and anything else that needs the cold go into a cooler with ice packs. Drinks and jars can sit on the counter.
- While it is empty
Shelves and drawers come out
Glass from a cold fridge should warm to room temperature before warm water touches it. Maytag's shelf care page warns that a sudden change in temperature can break it.
- Afterwards
Check the dial, then refill
Before the food goes back, make sure the fridge is set to 4°C (40°F) or lower, the setting Health Canada recommends to keep food out of the range where bacteria grow fast.
The backsplash and the counters under the cabinets
Grease from the range drifts onto the tile behind it and settles in the grout lines, where a sponge glides over it. On our jobs the backsplash is wiped tile by tile, and on one kitchen the grout lines were done with steam. Counters are cleaned around the kettle and the toaster rather than only in the open spaces.
We use eco-friendly products. Living in a condo with a small galley kitchen? Our condo cleaning page covers the building's booking and elevator rules, and the bathroom deep cleaning page covers the other room people usually book with the kitchen.
Kitchen questions people ask before they book
Do I have to empty the fridge myself?
The fridge jobs you see on our site were emptied before cleaning began, so shelves, drawers and door bins could all come out. Say you want the fridge done when you ask for a quote, and tell us how full it usually is.
Do you use steam on a gas cooktop?
On one of our kitchen jobs the burners, the cooktop around them and the tile behind the stove were cleaned with a steam cleaner. The stovetop video on our before and after page shows it from start to finish.
Is the range hood filter part of a kitchen deep clean?
Yes, the filter is on the list of a deep clean. Between visits, our article on cleaning a range hood filter explains how to wash it by type: mesh, baffle or carbon.
What should I tell you so the quote fits my kitchen?
Whether the range is gas or electric, whether you want the inside of the oven and the fridge done, and how long it has been since the last proper clean. A photo of the stovetop and the inside of the oven, texted to (647) 507-8440, tells us the most.
Tell us what is in your kitchen
Gas or electric range, a hood, a fridge you want done? Mention it and we quote for that kitchen.