Some Hygiene Tips To Keep Your Kitchen Scrupulously Clean

Lack of hygiene can also cause more serious illnesses and even death, so it is crucial to take all possible steps to keep your home as clean as possible. We don't actually see germs and bacteria, even though we know they exist, and this is where the old expression "out of sight, out of mind" comes into play. We simply forget that they are there.

Yet they most certainly are there – all around us – and especially in places such as the kitchen. You may think that you take steps to keep your kitchen clean, but it is a fairly safe bet that you don't do everything you could to maintain it.

For instance, how often do you change your tea towels? You would be absolutely astounded at the number of germs that can inhabit a tea towel. You might think that tea towels are only drying up kitchen equipment and plates that you have just washed, so you might only change them once a week or ten days. In fact, they should be changed at least every three days, or sooner if you have a large family. The same thing goes for aprons and oven mittens. All should be washed using a disinfectant and hot water.

You should wash all fruits and vegetables thoroughly. A good tip is to soak vegetables in water with a pinch of salt – preferably sea salt – for half an hour before use. Then rinse them thoroughly under running water. This removes any traces of pesticides, insecticides, and fertilisers, that the farmer has sprayed on to them. Sometimes a crop can be subject to thirty or more different sprays while it is growing.

You should also keep the lid on your rubbish bin closed and empty the bin frequently. This is especially true if you have food waste in there, as most of us do, because it is a breeding ground for germs and bacteria. In addition, you should wash the bin every week.

Another thing that you should do is to wash up after dinner. You shouldn't leave dirty dishes and plates in the sink overnight as this also becomes a breeding ground for germs. In fact, the kitchen sink is actually one of the dirtiest places in the house! Yes, after dinner all we want to do is sit down and watch the telly, but it only takes ten minutes to do the washing up. Stainless steel sinks can also get very dirty with food and tea stains and should be cleaned with a scouring pad after use.

You should also clean all your kitchen appliances once a week as these are often overlooked and can become another breeding ground for bugs. This is especially true of the oven which, unless you are fortunate enough to have a self-cleaning one, can get very greasy in a short space of time. In addition, you should regularly clean all your kitchen cabinets. We don't consider this, but they can accumulate grease spots from the chip pan ventilator sending it into the air, and over a period they accumulate dust in the same way as the rest of the house. While doing that, it is also a good time to wash and dry kitchen utensils that are in the cupboards that you don't use very often.

You should also have at least two chopping boards, one for meats and one for fruit and veg. It is better if they are made of plastic because wooden ones can absorb all sorts of things. If you have ever watched a butcher at the end of the day he puts a lot of effort into cleaning his chopping board, but most of us don't do the same.

While taking care of all the above, it is also a great idea to use hygienic PVC wall cladding on your kitchen walls. You can get PVC wall cladding in a great range of colours in addition to white. This is the easiest type of surface to wipe clean and it should be installed by professional hygienic wall cladding installers. This will ensure that there are no small gaps or faults where bacteria and bugs can thrive. Wipe down all your wall cladding at least once a month, and more often where it is behind the cooker.

CleanClad are hygienic wall cladding suppliers & installers as well as suppliers of hygienic PVC wall cladding. They carry stock in a huge range of pastel and gloss colours in addition to plain old white. The company also installs wall cladding and ceiling cladding anywhere in the UK.