Is Your Kitchen Clean?

Out of all the rooms in your house to keep clean, the kitchen has to be one of the most important for obvious reasons - your health depends on it. Kitchens can be tricky to clean properly because there’s lots of sneaky hiding places for yucky bacteria. Put these places on your cleaning checklist next time you tackle your kitchen:

·         Dish Sponge. You may be making your dishes dirtier in the process of washing them! Sponges are great breeding grounds for bacteria as food gets stuck inside the little holes and rots. YUCK! The solution is to change your kitchen sponge on a regular basis, about once every month or so.

·         Door/Drawer Handles. Dirty hands and sticky fingers leave their mark but not always in an obvious way. Don’t forget to disinfect all the knobs and handles in your kitchen from your refrigerator and oven handles to the knob on your junk drawer.

·         Kitchen Drain. Because of all the food debris and residue, the drain is another breeding ground for bacteria and odor. Even simply pouring 3-4 cups of boiling water down the drain once a week will help keep it clean.

·         Refrigerator. The place where you store your food should obviously be cleaned on a regular basis, even as often as weekly. Get rid of expired foods or old leftovers and be sure to wipe down shelves and drawers, especially if there were spills or any rotting food. A mixture of white vinegar and water is an ideal cleaning solution for the kitchen because it’s natural with no added chemicals. For a more thorough cleaning wipe down jars and condiment bottles that are handled often and don’t forget to wipe the top of the fridge where lots of dust gathers.

It pays not to cut corners when cleaning one of the dirtiest rooms in your house! All it takes is common sense and a little elbow grease to help keep your family healthy.