Nothing quite screams clean like a kitchen filled with sparkling white appliances. Unfortunately, exposure to light, coupled with the heat produced during the cooking process, can slowly yellow your appliances over time. A spritz with your favorite cleanser may not be enough to even put a dent in your yellowing fridge or stove, leaving you at a loss regarding how to make your appliances white again. Before you toss out everything in that unnatural and unpleasant shade and head to the appliance store for replacements, consider this easy way to restore your favorite kitchen devices to their original shining white.
Prep Your Appliance
Prepare you appliance for a deep cleaning by wiping it down. Moisten a clean washcloth until damp and wipe the surface of your appliance. Be sure to clean the entire surface area, including the corners and edges. Removing any topical dirt, dust or grime left by general use will allow you to focus on removing the deeper-down stains during your next cleaning step.
Prep Yourself
Strong cleaning solutions often omit a strong odor and can irritate your skin, and bleach is no exception. Before mixing your cleaning solution, put on a pair of kitchen gloves to protect your hands from harmful spills. Consider wearing a mask or opening a window to help ventilate the room to help prevent breathing in fumes that can irritate or harm your lungs.
Prepare the Solution
Pour 4 cups of water into a bucket. Make sure the water is warm but not hot. Next, add a half cup of bleach and a quarter cup of baking soda to the bucket. Use a wooden spoon to mix the cleaning elements together. Continue stirring until the baking soda is fully dissolved in the solution.
Soak Your Sponge
Immerse a kitchen sponge into the cleaning solution. Wait for it to become fully saturated, then remove it and gently squeeze it over the bucket to remove any excess solution. Use a soft kitchen sponge as opposed to the type used for scouring purposes, such as a Brillo or steel wool sponge, since harsher sponges can leave scratches on your appliance’s finish.
Clean Your Appliance
Use the sponge to scrub your yellowed appliance. You may need to use extra pressure while cleaning to remove any deep stains. Be sure to clean the entire surface area of the appliance. If your sponge begins to dry out, dip it into the solution in the bucket again and then continue cleaning.
Let the Solution Soak In
Wait 10 minutes to give the solution time to work. The baking soda in your solution contains abrasive qualities that help break up stains, while the bleach oxidizes dyes in stains to remove the unwanted color. Together, these two cleaning agents should be able to successfully remove the yellowed layer on your appliance.
Rinse Off Your Appliance
Leaving the solution on your appliance can erode the finish over time. After the 10-minute soak time, use a clean, soft kitchen sponge, soaked in clean warm water, to rinse the solution from the appliance. Be sure to clean the solution off thoroughly by wiping down the entire surface area of your appliance, including the edges and corners.
Dry the Appliance
After a thorough rinse, use a dry towel or cloth to thoroughly dry your appliance. Removing any remaining moisture from the surface will not only keep drips from slowly running off your appliance and pooling onto your floor, it will also remove any trace amounts of solution that may be leftover from the cleaning process.
Clean Your Supplies
After using a bleach solution, it’s important to clean your supplies to avoid getting bleach residue on other items in the kitchen or elsewhere. Wash any sponges you used with soap and water and then wring them out and let them dry. Thoroughly wash and rinse out the bucket that contained your solution, and don’t forget to wash your hands as well!
Repeat As Needed
After giving your appliance sufficient time to dry, give it a careful inspection to ensure the entire surface looks clean and white. If you notice any patches of yellow or other discoloring left over, repeat the steps above to remove them. Use this cleaning routine on all your kitchen appliances whenever needed to help restore them to their original white brilliance.