25 Cleaning Supplies For Commercial Kitchen – Ultimate Cleaning Guide
When working in a busy restaurant, there are a lot of challenges in a day but one of the major ones is keeping the kitchen clean! When orders coming non-stop, additional requests coming in, and someone cuts their finger, it can get really hectic in a kitchen, however, the kitchen must be relatively clean at all times to avoid chaos.
There are tips and tricks to make it happen a lot easier, you will need efficiency, cool nerves, organization skills, and the right supplies!
We have listed the most important supplies below to help you keep your kitchen cleaner, organized, and therefore the more comfortable place to work.
We have 4 categories that will help you to keep more on track, and those are
- Daily Cleanings
- Weekly Cleanings
- Monthly Cleanings
- Yearly Cleanings
Let’s get started with Daily Cleanings and see what is essential to clean every single day and certain supplies that will make the job much easier!
Daily Cleanings
Many restaurants work in 3 shifts (morning, middle, evening) and the days cleaning should be evenly distributed for all 3 shifts, so you can ensure maximum cleanliness.
Clean The Grill
The best way to clean and brush a grill out of burned and stuck ingredients is a Grill Brush. With a grill brush, you can effortlessly clean a grill even when it’s burning hot! Grill Cleaner will be useful when thoroughly cleaning the grill when it’s not hot.
Wash And Wipe All Surfaces
One of the most important things is that the surfaces are clean and not filled with dirty supplies. When everything isn’t greasy and you have a lot of space, the working environment is better and so will be the quality of everything. Also, the walls should be wiped where ever there are dirt and splashes.
Essential items that every restaurant should have to make this happen are Color-Coded Microfiber Rags, Centre Pull Disposable Cleaning Towels, Commercial Grade Steel Scouring Pads, And Commercial Grade Stainless Steel Cleaner. With these supplies, you will never have to worry about greasy and dirty surfaces.
Read also: Stainless Steel Countertop Cleaning Guide: Fast & Efficient
Cover All Containers Inside Reach-In Cooler
You can do this simple step with lids that fit into the containers, or with Plastic Wrap. We recommend one with a slide cutter for easy, fast, and waste-free use.
Sweep The Walk-In Fridges And Other Storage Areas
The floors, walk-in fridges, and other storage areas must be kept clean throughout the day, so someone won’t slip on something and the overall cleanliness is on point. Wide End Floor Broom will do the trick perfectly in a commercial kitchen. To keep brooms, mops, and brushes we recommend a convenient Mop And Broom Holder that will help you keep everything organized and in one place.
Wash The Floor
Washing the floor needs to be done every single day for sanitary and safety reasons. The best time to do this is in the evening when the hurry and rush have started to slow down.
Ultimate tools to wash a floor are certainly a Quality Microfiber Mop With Reusable Pads, Floor Scrub Brush, and a Neutral Ph Floor Cleaner.
Clean And Empty The Dishwasher
Depending on the restaurant’s size, this might be needed to do a couple of times a day or at least before the last worker goes home.
The dishwasher needs to be emptied from water, all the parts need to be washed, and the inside of the dishwasher Brushed and rinsed carefully with water and Commercial-Grade Dishwasher Cleaner.
This step should NEVER be neglected because at some point the inside will rust, mold, and in the worst case the dishwasher could get broken, and the repairing costs could and probably would be thousands of dollars.
Read also: How to Clean a Commercial Dishwasher? Money Saving Guide
Take Out The Trash
This part is quite simple, take out all the cardboard, trash, and other waste to the right bins for recycling. Also, wash the trash cans with proper cleaner and hot water.
Be Sure That Everything Is Ready For The Next Day
Check that everything is done and clean. It’s always a good idea to prepare for the next day for example mixing the dry ingredients of the breakfast porridge, cutting ingredients, and assembling the needed equipment to a ready position.
Weekly Cleanings
There are important weekly tasks as well that needs to be done at least once a week, some of the tasks need to be done multiple times. A good idea to make weekly cleaning happen is to make a week-list and rotate them in a way that each shift gets the same amount of work.
Boil Out The Deep Fryer
If you have a busy restaurant with lots of frying food, then this part is best to do 2 times a week, however, if your use a deep fryer only sometimes then it’s ok to do once a week.
To clean a deep fryer you will need Fryer Boil Out Powder, Fryer Brush, and a Fryer Cleanout Rod.
Pro Tip… When filling the fryer again with new oil, be sure that the drainage handle is at a CLOSED position. Stating the obvious but I personally have been cleaning oil from the floor too many times.
Clean The Ovens (See Specific Instructions For Particular Oven)
Clean the oven thoroughly with the instructions that the specific oven has. Don’t go solo and spray something in the oven that shouldn’t go in there, that can potentially make some irreversible damage.
Empty Reach-In Coolers And Clean Them
This simple task doesn’t need huge instructions, simply empty the coolers and clean them with light cleaner and water, you can also place them into the dishwasher.
Run Hood Filters Through The Dishwasher
Too many restaurants clean the hood filters too rarely which will result in poor air quality, greasy selling and walls, and hotter air temperature. So overall it makes everything worse.
When cleaning the hood filters you will need a Powerful Hood Filter Cleaner, be sure to spay it everywhere and let it sit a while so it will come off easily. After the filters are cleaned the dishwasher needs to be cleaned extremely carefully and the water changed so strong chemicals won’t linger in the water.
Clean All Fridges, Freezers, And Shelves
It’s really important to clean all the shelves and floors of walk-in fridges and other storage areas. Imagine if the fridges have months worth of stains, leaked sauces, and rotten ingredients on the floor, not hygienic to say the least. Not everything needs to be done on the same day, it’s smart to organize them for different days.
Read also: How to Clean a Restaurant Walk-In Freezer
Clean Floor Drains
If you ever have smelled a disgusting smell in the kitchen, there’s a chance it comes from the floor drains. It’s important to use a Commercial Floor Drain Cleaner and a Flexible Drain Brush for the drains at least once a week. Again, depending on the kitchen there’s no harm to do this multiple times a week.
Delime Sinks And Faucets
In most cases a dish soap and warm water will be enough for this task, however, if there are unusual amounts of grime that just won’t come off, try to mix white vinegar with water and see if it comes off.
Read also: How to Clean a Pull Down Faucet’s Aerator
Monthly Cleanings
Monthly cleaning tasks should be evenly distributed also, so no other shift takes it harder than the other.
Empty Grease Traps
Emptying the grease traps isn’t the most pleasant thing to do, but nonetheless, it’s extremely important. It’s a good idea to also wash them while you’re at it with Grease Trap Cleaner.
Wash Behind The Hot Lines
This task is really important to do every month. If neglected forever it will be a major safety risk and fire hazard.
Empty And Clean Ice Machine
Emptying and cleaning an ice machine needs to be as well. However, depending on the ice machine and situation it might not be necessary to clean it every single month. You will also need Non-Toxic Ice Machine Cleaner for proper cleansing.
Wash Ceiling And Walls
Throughout the month walls probably have been cleaned at least from some areas, however, the ceiling shouldn’t be forgotten! With a Long Ceiling Brush, you will easily brush and clean the ceiling out of grease and dirt. Keep in mind that not every part of the ceiling needs to be cleaned, only the cooking area ceiling will be a necessity to clean.
Yearly Cleanings
Check Fire Extinguishers Condition
You should be aware of the local regulations about Fire Extinguishers and how often they need to be changed. This might be once or twice a year.
Clean Ventilation Hoods
This should be done 2-4 times a year depending on the ventilation system and the kitchen. Be sure to check the instructions on how to do it or hire a professional rather than do it yourself if not sure exactly what to do.
Inspect Fire Suppression System
Simple task to check if your fire suppression is in order.
Conclusion
With this checklist and supply recommendations, you should have a good general idea of what to include in your kitchen’s cleaning rotation! We are certain that if you make an organized list of everything and spread them out through the working shifts, the cleaning in your work environment will flow more than smoothly.
Feel free to comment about your workplace’s cleaning routines, habits, and practices, and let’s talk about it!