Dial-a-Maid
As the heart of the home, the kitchen gets more use than any other room, says a 40+ year old Residential Cleaning Company in Evanston, Il. What really creates a challenge in the kitchen is bacteria. Your floor may be clean and shiny and your cupboards organized, but a truly clean kitchen requires daily diligence against germs.
It's virtually impossible to maintain a germ-free kitchen. However, you can get rid of 99 percent of germs with just soap and hot water. But you need to disinfect surfaces to kill the germs.
When you're done preparing food, be sure to clean and disinfect everything that came in contact with raw eggs, meat, poultry, or fish. Don't forget to include cutting boards, countertops, and faucets. Use paper towels to wipe up raw egg and juices from raw meat, fish, or poultry, and then discard the paper towels ( don't reuse them), Spray the affected areas with a mist of vinegar, followed by a mist of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide. Let the combination sit for a few minutes, and then wipe with a paper towel. You can also use vinegar or a natural citrus-oil cleaner to sanitize surfaces.
Sponges and dishcloths are among the worst offenders for spreading germs around a kitchen. If you use a cloth to wipe down a surface contaminated by germs, the cloth itself becomes contaminated and will contaminate other areas when used again. Do not use cloths or sponges that were used to wipe up raw meat, fish, or poultry. It's also a good idea to use a designated sponge ( in a different color from your regular sponge, so you can tell the two apart) for washing dishes and wiping counters that have come in contact with raw meat or eggs, to avoid cross-contamination. Replace sponges at least once a month.
The best thing you can do to keep countertops clean is to keep them dry. Bacteria are everywhere, and they love most environments. So wipe down countertops when you are done using them, and dry them with a clean cloth or paper towel afterward, says a 40+ year old Residential Cleaning Company in Evanston, Il. All of the above are in the book Cleaning Plain and Simple by Donna Smallin.
