What room in your house must be extremely clean? Most admit they want a pristine kitchen and bathroom if not an altogether healthy environment for family and pets.
However, like football, cleaning becomes a game of inches, which means every nook left un-swept poses a threat to health. You may get a little squeamish by reading about the following kitchen staples that often go un-cleaned and continue to lurk, riddled with bacteria and dirt. Are you losing the game against dirt and grime?
Can Opener
Would you want a person sticking their finger in your cheese dip or soda? Of course not, so why would you allow a can opener, a device that dips itself in your cans of food and drink, to go un-cleaned? It’s commonly overlooked and a question that goes unasked in many households. In addition to dirt and dust from drawers, you’re combining and contaminating foods with each subsequent use, inspiring salmonella or E. coli.
Reusable Bag
Going green and purchasing a reusable (and recyclable?) bag from your grocer is a great way to support the environment, but you’re posing a threat to your family if you continue to use the same bag without a wash. Each time you throw the bag atop the grocer’s table, the floor, the bus stop bench, etc, you’re collecting bacteria that finds way in and around the vesicle.
Knife Block
Would you stick your knife or fork in a dark wall crevice? Of course not, there could be dirt, debris, and bacteria in there, the same that breeds in knife block crevices. In addition to allowing dirt and debris to build in the crevices, those who don’t wash their knives with each use contaminate the block and other foods the knife touches.
Spatula
Licking the spatula creates a wonderful memory and picture opportunity, but it also breeds mold and E. coli. In addition to properly cleaning the handle and face of the spatula, scrub where the two parts join, an area not always addressed well by dishwasher machines.
Dishwasher Door
Apparently, a bunch of brainy scientists conducting a study of households found many people maintain icky dishwasher doors. Use a solution consisting of one part white vinegar and three parts water to scrub away at door handles and tiny crevices. Use a toothbrush (not yours!) to scrub away at caked-on grime and detergent. Remember cleaning is a game inches!
Faucet Head
Would you clean every inch of a drinking cup aside from the part you place your mouth? It’s astounding to think of how many people clean the top, side, underside, and base of the faucet while neglecting the fountainhead, where their drinking, cooking, and cleaning water comes. Even the best kitchen faucets need a sterling cleaning every now and again.
Blender Gasket
As mentioned, proper cleaning is a game of inches, and that means paying attention to the smallest of corners and the minutest of parts. Many do well in cleaning the base and inner portion of the blender but neglect to address the rubber piece that stops liquids from pouring out of the base. Rubber attracts mold and E. coli, and subsequent use inspires ongoing contamination and opportunity to get sick.
Kitchen Sponge
The sponge is a wonderful tool for those who want to pre clean dishes or prefer to hand wash flatware and cutlery. However, those who wash dishes need to maintain the cleanliness of a surgeon. A doctor does not leave instruments out to collect germs nor cleans them with a dirty sponge before operation. Switch sponges regularly or soak in a water and bleach solution to maintain optimal sanitation.
Broom
Oh the irony! A device meant to rid your kitchen floor of debris can help inspire future breakouts of bacteria and germs. Like a dirty toothbrush you would keep away from your mouth, a used broom collects the very dirt it pushes out, which it then reintroduces to surfaces time and time again.
Ceiling Fan
Imagine standing, or worse, cooking, in a room filled with bacteria, germs, and dirt whirling about in the air, microscopic bacteria unseen by the naked eye. It would be pretty disgusting yet a real likelihood if you have not given the ceiling fan a thorough clean in recent history.
Go forth and properly clean these previously unforeseen kitchen staples. You’ll feel much better and avoid a recipe for sickness and poor health. Staying vigilant and leaving no kitchen inch un-cleaned keeps families and pets happy and healthy.
Hayden Lewis runs a small cleaning business, and is always looking for ways to clean better and faster. When he finds something, he likes to write about it to post online. Look for his articles on a number of today’s websites and blogs.
