The kitchen is a breeding ground for bacteria and germs. When it comes to maintaining appropriate kitchen hygiene, extra care is essential. It is crucial to keep your kitchen germ-free to prevent the spread of germ-causing diseases.
So, here are the basic principles for getting rid of the germs and disease in your kitchen, brought to you by Maggy Maid house cleaning experts of Sacramento.
Follow These Simple Steps to Keep Your Kitchen Cleaner
1. Why You Need to Make Sure Your Kitchen has Adequate Lighting?
Your first step to keeping the kitchen clean is making sure you’re able to see when it’s not. Having adequate ceiling lighting and turn the lights on when you come into the kitchen to cook, even if you have a good amount of natural light coming in. If you don’t have lights over your stove or under the wall cabinets, you should consider installing and make sure to keep the bulbs fresh.
2. You Should Keep Your Kitchen Clean Regularly
Don’t wait for weekends to wipe off visible dust. Make wiping a habit. You can use a non-toxic cleaning spray or a microfiber cloth for cleaning. However, we recommend to just use an old cloth because its the easiest and quickest way; rinse it in soap water and wipe the dust off. Make sure to clean the gas stove, kitchen counter and sink after washing up.
We usually get free time between cooking meals; use this time wisely. Even spending just five minutes daily will be helpful to have a clean kitchen.
Read more in keeping your kitchen smell good: Ways To Get Rid of Smells In Your Kitchen After Cooking
3. Prioritize to Clean Your Utensils
Make sure that you wash the utensils properly before using them. Avoid leaving leftover food on the plate as this can clog the kitchen sink drain and you will have more cleanup to do. Always use hot water as it will break stubborn stains easily and will save a lot of time. If you have wooden utensils, you can use baking soda or salt and lemon. Keep the washed utensils on the shelf only when they are completely dry, wash and wipe the shelf at least twice a month.
4. Choose Appropriate Cooking Utensils
The utensils you use for cooking are very important when preparing food. Our grandmothers used iron, brass, bronze and copper utensils for cooking. The main reason being that during cooking, the elements of those metals added to the food and increase its nutritional value. However, nowadays, it’s the other way around as steel, glass and aluminium used can be hazardous for health as they contain harmful chemicals that can react with food.
5. Your Countertops Should Be Clear of Unnecessary Items
We know you love how your collection of olive oil and small-batch vinegars looks lined up next to the stove, or your mother’s vintage mixer, but the more stuff you have on your kitchen countertops, the harder it is to clean, and the harder it is to clean, the less likely you are to do it. Keep only the items and appliances that you use all the time on the counter, and clean around, behind, and under them regularly. Also—don’t forget your kitchen backsplash!
6. Keep Your Sink Clean After Washing Dishes
Just because your dishes are spotlessly cleaned doesn’t mean your kitchen sink is. Chances are the grease and grime you’ve washed off your pots and pans hasn’t all made its way down the drain. So it’s always worth the extra minute to ensure that you spray down the sink and the surrounding area with your favorite kitchen cleaner. Wipe and rinse the area with a sponge you reserve for cleaning the sink and counters—not the sponge you use to wash your dishes.
7. Regularly Change Your Dishtowels
Kitchen towels are a great way to dry kitchen items but it also helps to transfer nasty bacteria from one part of the kitchen to another. They often stay damp, used multiple times before they’ve had a chance to fully dry, and are also sometimes used for multiple jobs, that is, drying hands, drying dishes, wiping counters, or cleaning up spills.
To mitigate the spread of harmful bacteria via your kitchen towels, we highly recommend that you change them regularly, even multiple times per day. Also, we suggest using separate towels for drying hands and drying dishes. We like cotton towels for drying our hands and find that a good-quality linen towel is better for drying dishes since it won’t leave tiny threads all over your glasses. If you’ve used a towel for cleaning up a mess in the kitchen, throw it directly into the laundry hamper to be washed.
8. Always Wash Your Hands With Soap
It’s very simple and seems obvious, but a surprising number of people don’t regularly use soap to wash their hands. In the course of preparing a single meal, you’ll likely touch raw meat, followed by vegetables that you may or may not cook, and any number of surfaces and utensils. You might think to wash your hand with soap after touching raw chicken, but what about raw vegetables? Even organically grown veggies risk contamination from e-coli. To prevent foodborne illness from spreading in our kitchen, rinsing your hands isn’t enough. Remember to use soap every time.
By implementing these tips and techniques, you can create a cleaner and healthier kitchen environment for you and your family. Remember to prioritize regular cleaning and disinfection of high-touch surfaces, proper food storage and handling practices, and the use of natural cleaning agents to minimize exposure to harmful chemicals.
If you have any further questions or need assistance with kitchen cleaning, feel free to reach out to our team at Maggy Maid Sacramento. Let’s keep our kitchens clean and germ-free for a safer and more enjoyable cooking experience.
