How to Build a Cleaning Schedule for a Commercial Kitchen (Indian Examples)
Daily, weekly and monthly cleaning tasks for Indian commercial kitchens - tandoor, kadhai, exhaust hoods, grease traps - and how to make staff actually follow them.
6 min read · Updated 8 November 2026
A cleaning schedule answers five questions for every task: what is cleaned, how, how often, with which chemical, and by whom. Without it, cleaning depends on whoever is on shift - and the hood filters, grease trap and walk-in chiller walls get forgotten.
Clean, then sanitise
Food-contact surfaces need two steps. Cleaning with detergent removes grease and food residue. Sanitising then kills remaining bacteria - but sanitiser cannot work on a dirty surface. Follow the label for dilution and contact time.
Typical frequencies
- After every use: chopping boards, knives, mixer jars, prep tables, kadhai and pans.
- Daily: floors, drains, gas range grates, bain-marie, tandoor surround, bins, hand-wash basins, toilets.
- Weekly: hood filters, chiller shelves and walls, dry-store racks, oven interior, fly mesh.
- Monthly: freezer defrost, ice machine sanitising, wall tiles, light fittings and fly-killer trays.
- Quarterly or half-yearly: professional exhaust duct cleaning, water tank cleaning, drain jetting.
Making it stick
- Print a weekly sign-off sheet that shows which days each task is due.
- Ask staff to initial the task when it is done - not at the end of the shift.
- Colour-code cloths, mops and buckets by area.
- Have a supervisor inspect and score areas at closing.
- Review completion weekly and coach the team on gaps.
Tip: Monthly tasks are easy to forget. Fix them to a calendar rule such as 'first Monday of the month' so the schedule shows them automatically.
Chemical safety
Keep a chemical register with the product name, use, dilution, contact time and PPE, store chemicals locked and away from food, keep safety data sheets available, and never mix chemicals.
This guide is general information to help food businesses improve their practices. It is not legal advice. Always check the current FSSAI requirements that apply to your licence or registration.