If you haven't already read part 1 of this series, you can start here.
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Part 5: Kitchen Cleanup
Tiny kitchens get messy much faster than larger spaces, since all the mess is concentrated in a smaller area. But that also means a small kitchen is faster to clean.
Kitchen Towels
We don't have a paper towel holder in our kitchen, and suggest you nix yours, too. That's not to say you shouldn't have paper towels. They're great for cleaning up greasy or gross messes that you can't use a cloth towel for. Keep them under the sink so they're not the first thing you reach for.
Use cheap, washable flour sack towels to clean up most kitchen messes. For heavier duty cleaning, dark colored bar mop towels are a great choice. Don't use cloth towels for cleaning big greasy or oily messes if you're drying them in a machine, since drying oily rags in a machine is a fire hazard, even after they've been washed.
For cleaning surfaces, a refillable spray bottle with a weak solution of castille soap, baking soda, and a few drops of essential oil makes a great nontoxic cleaning solution. A second bottle with a dilute bleach solution (1 tbsp bleach per gallon water) is good for sanitizing surfaces when necessary. While popular, white vinegar isn't very good at cleaning soil, and it'll make your entire house smell like a pickle.
Washing Dishes
Another great way to conserve both water and soap is to put a dishwasher in your kitchen. Yes, you can fit a dishwasher in your space if you have anything larger than a van. (That's not to say that you can't fit a dishwasher in a van. Only that you definitely can fit it in anything larger.)
A dishwasher uses significantly less water than hand-washing, and it saves a ton of work while you're at it. It gives you a place to store dirty dishes before washing them, so it can reduce the clutter in your tiny kitchen. We have the Fisher and Paykel dish drawer in our 180ish square foot renovated Airstream, and its one of our favorite things in the entire build. We use Seventh Generation Powder Dishwasher Detergent to keep our gray water biodegradable.
For hand-washing, in addition to a dish brush, a plastic dish scraper is indispensable for removing stuck-on food from dishes, and saving your fingernails. You'll also want a couple of dish bins—collapsible or otherwise.
For your cast iron cookware, you can't beat a chainmail scrubber. The smooth round edges of the chainmail rings are perfect for cleaning cast iron without damaging the seasoning. The silicone insert stays cleaner than a sponge, makes it easier to hold the scrubber and get into corners, and the whole thing is dishwasher safe. Allow your pan to cool after use, then put a little water in the pan and gently scrub away any deposits. Rinse and dry your pan, then apply a light coat of oil before storing,
Trash, Recycling, and Compost
If you have the option to build one into your space, a pull-out trash and recycling bin is essential for a tiny kitchen. But don't stop there. Adding a worm composting bin to your small space can drastically reduce the amount (and odor) of trash you produce, and it can be surprisingly low maintenance. Check out our primer on composting in small spaces for more ideas.
