You’re in your kitchen cooking dinner and drop a spoon, which slides under the oven. In your own worst kitchen nightmare you peer under the oven and slide your hand around in the gunk and dust. You emerge and realize your kitchen cabinets are glossy with oil and food splashes, the rim of your sink has started a film collection, and your walls are no longer white. It’s time for a deep-clean. When you jump in to exorcise your kitchen’s demons, take this checklist along for backup.

Gather your supplies

If 70s movies taught us anything, it’s that no exorcism is complete without the right tools. Before you begin, collect your sponges, cloths, paper towels, sprays, toothbrushes, scrub brushes, cleaners, dusters, and gloves.

Clear your floors, countertops, and kitchen cabinets (and the fridge, too!)

If you’re going to scrub, you need to get everything out of the way. This means taking small appliances off countertops, taking dishes and other items out of your cabinets, and taking anything off the floor (including moving furniture), as well as emptying out the fridge. This is also a good time to inventory dishes and accessories you don’t need or don’t use, and cooking supplies and food that may have expired. Remember not to empty the fridge until you’re ready to actually clean it.

Wipe the cabinets down (and out)

The first cleansing action you should take during your deep-clean is to wipe out your kitchen cabinets and wipe down their fronts; start with the top cabinets and work your way down. This gives your cabinets time to dry before you load anything back into them. Never put your food, small appliances or dishes back into wet or damp kitchen cabinets…that will lead to a whole other type of exorcism.

Scrub your counters

Scrubbing your counters is an important part of deep-cleaning your kitchen. Get into the corners with a small toothbrush, and go around the edges of the sink. Then wipe your counters down with disinfecting wipes. These actions help get rid of anything leftover after all of your cooking adventures.

Clean up and replace small appliances, food containers and other wares

Before you put anything back into your kitchen cabinets or on your counters, clean them up. Small appliances get as grimy as the rest of the kitchen, and so do food containers, both of which will reintroduce the demons you’ve spent hours getting rid of.

Mop the floors

In what seems like a never-ending list of actions to give your kitchen back its original shine, you’ve finally reached the end. Sweep and mop your floors to a clean, crumb-free shine.

Now, celebrate a job well done with a movie that doesn’t remind you of the demons you’ve just slayed.