The One Spot In Your Kitchen You Never Thought To Clean

When it comes to cleaning your kitchen, you most likely already have a plan of attack to ensure every surface, appliance, cupboard, and cranny stays clean. Not only does wiping down your cooking space make it more appealing, but getting rid of grease and other messes helps keep it smelling fresh. As oil, spills, and other detritus builds up, it can coat everything from your counters to the ceiling, which can result in your kitchen holding on to odors from previous meals. Many items and areas in this room are a no-brainer when it comes to cleaning, but there might be one spot you didn't even realize was contributing to these smells.

Your light fixtures are incredibly important for keeping the kitchen well-lit and welcoming. While appliances like your refrigerator, oven, and stove can hold onto grease after you're done preparing a meal, it is actually your lights that could be contributing to those lingering odors. Lampshades and frames should be cleaned regularly, notes Destination Lighting, however, it's what sits inside them that needs the most attention.

It can be easy to forget about your kitchen's lightbulbs — until a bulb goes out, most homeowners forget about how useful these small but mighty items are. Not only do they help us accomplish everything we need to do when the sun goes down, but they provide a warm, inviting ambiance where families and friends can join together in a kitchen to eat and catch up. However, if you don't clean your lightbulbs regularly, their surfaces can hold onto grease, oils, and food residue.

Depending on what you are preparing, oil and fat can turn into vapor, which will cause a sticky residue to form on surfaces including your light fixtures. Lightbulbs emit a small amount of heat and whenever they are turned on, the grease will warm up and give off an odor. Your surfaces might be immaculate, but hidden spills or messes can continue to give off scents long after you've cleaned the rest of the room. According to House Logic, dirty bulbs also produce less light, only allowing 30% of their glow through and consuming more energy, which you'll have to pay for.

Cleaning your kitchen lightbulbs shouldn't be a stressful endeavor that you avoid. A ladder or stool might be necessary, but cleaning the bulb itself is relatively simple, and using a dry cloth to wipe off excess oil and dust is all you really need. Green Newton explains that it is important to make sure your lights are turned off before cleaning the bulbs, and let them cool down before touching them. Take a clean, dry towel or microfiber cloth, then wipe it around the entire glass surface a few times. Try to check for stubborn grease stains after a few rubs around the bulb, taking time to work on these before finishing up.

Water and moisture can damage some lightbulbs or the fixture, so sticking with a dry cloth is the safest option. However, if you can't seem to remove caked-on dirt or oil, you can always take the bulb out of the fixture and then use a damp cloth on the tricky spots.