By Melissa

July 1, 2008 1:12 PM | Link to this

Softscrub with bleach is my favorite cleanser of all time for both kitchen and bath. Bleach will kill anything, right? And, I don’t use a wooden cutting board so I can really scrub the cutting board after using it. I don’t use a sponge for every day wiping down of the kitchen - I use a fresh dishcloth.

By amy

July 1, 2008 2:04 PM | Link to this

Before and After every meal I spray all surfaces-Counters, sink, and TableTop with Antibacterial Cleaner such as 409, then wipe them off with a few paper towels. Call me wasteful, but I don’t care. Sponges are gross and nasty. I do not use them, I use a brush to clean dishes in the sink, (the heavy duty dishes/pots),then the rest of the so-so dirty dishes go in the dishwasher. Once it is filled up then I run the dishwasher. Usually only do 2 loads a week.

By JJ

July 1, 2008 2:29 PM | Link to this

I use Lysol Antibacterial Kitchen on the counters when I am cleaning. I even spray my sponge with it after every use. I gave my countertops a nice Soft Scrub bleaching this past weekend. I do that about once a week.

I put my sponge in the dishwasher when I run the dishes. Hot water kills the bacteria. I purchase new sponges about every two weeks.

By fer

July 1, 2008 2:42 PM | Link to this

Unless people are falling out sick at one’s house, then I don’t see what the problem is. The world is full of germs! Clean meat on a plate or a plastic cutting board and then put it in the dishwasher. Also throw the sponge in the dishwasher every time you run it.

By arlene w.

July 1, 2008 3:13 PM | Link to this

I always use Clorox in the sink and on the counters. And whenever I wash fresh meat, I do the same. When I clean chicken, I wash it with a little liquid soap, and thoroughly scrub anything the raw chicken touches, with Clorox. Also, my cutting board is lucite….which does not hold the bacteria and germs as a wooden surface would.

By JJ

July 1, 2008 3:21 PM | Link to this

Arlene, easy, easy, you only need to hit the “Post” once. Sometimes it takes forever, but you have to be patient.

By Mr. Clean

July 1, 2008 3:28 PM | Link to this

What’s that Arlene? Would you mind explaining yourself once more?

By HONEYCLOUD

July 1, 2008 3:33 PM | Link to this

i always keep plenty of paper towels around for spills and i keep a spray bottle of 2 parts water/2 parts clorox mixture on hand to use as a final wipe down after cleaning the surfaces with a sponge and mild cleanser. i throw the sponge in the dish washer to keep it fresh. you dont have to spend alot, just clean smart. Another good one is to take time to spray around the crevices and grooves of the sink/fawcett area with a butter knife wrapped in a good thick paper towel. if you do it often you wont have to worry about build up.

By R

July 1, 2008 4:21 PM | Link to this

I clean with soap and water.I’m 65 so I guess it works.Wooden cutting board though.They are a lot safer than any composite.People need to do the research on this.For whatever reason bacteria does not live long even on a badly scarred wooden board.I lay it to the fact that the board probably soaks up soap when it’s washed.Scarred plastic boards harbor bacteria and are impossible to sanitize.

By Sylvia R. Williams

July 1, 2008 4:47 PM | Link to this

After every meal I wipe down all surfaces countertops and sink. Sometimes the strainer will have trap food under it and I think that is germy. Food that is built up in a microwave is nasty and has germs. Food that is not properly stored in the refrig carry germs. I wipe down everything because you can get sick off all the microscopic germs.

By Elbow Grease

July 1, 2008 5:13 PM | Link to this

I never use anything but soap and water to clean my kitchen counters, sinks, etc. I don’t want to make myself safe from germs only to contaminate myself with chemicals. I don’t use paper towels, but I go through a lot, a lot, of dishcloths and rags for wiping down and mopping up. Also, I don’t cook meat, which I feel like makes us less susceptible to harmful germs. Basically, though, I’m not that worried about “germs.” I feel like most of them are harmless, and if I try to attack them, they might try to attack me back!

By john

July 1, 2008 5:13 PM | Link to this

Jeanne you might want to tell everyone that they may burn down their house if they place a dry sponge in microwave and heat it. I know you mean well, but you should fix your story so no one gets hurt. Last year after a the news widely reported you could sterilize sponges in the microwave, many people caught their microwaves on fire because they placed dry sponges in the microwave to be sterilized. If you are going to use the microwave make sure the sponge is dripping wet.

There are two ways to kill germs, heat or chemicals. If you look at the bottom of your dishwashing machine it has a heating element that basically sterilizes the dishes by cooking them once they are cleaned. As for killing germs with chemicals, save yourself some money and do what the health department makes restaurants do. That is use a few drops of bleach in some water to wipe down areas that have been dirtied. Restaurants are required to have a container with a bleach water solution with rags available to sterilize the kitchen area. Your kitchen sponge can be sterilized by either method, the bleach solution or by immersing it in boiling water.
Save yourself the money on all those antibacterial products and just use a diluted bleach solution, like the health department makes restaurants use.

By Tommy

July 1, 2008 7:34 PM | Link to this

um, my as* is totally clean…

By CoCoMarie

July 1, 2008 8:16 PM | Link to this

I wash my hands frequently with water as hot as I can stand it and soap. I scrub the sink out every night with SoftScrub with bleach. I throw the dishcloths in the washer to wash with hot water and bleach. I wipe the kitchen counters with a little bleach and water, then throw those cloths in the wash. I rinse the cutting boards with a little bleach and water and put them in the dishwasher. I am careful never to put cooked meat back into a container that held raw meat. I am ultra careful with raw chicken and pork. No nasty sponges in my kitchen, ever. No germ on the planet can survive bleach and hot water and fresh air. Let those dishes air dry before you put them up.

By CoCoMarie

July 1, 2008 8:20 PM | Link to this

And for good measure, I pour about a half gallon of boiling water out of the teakettle down the sink every evening.

By T-Town

July 1, 2008 8:39 PM | Link to this

I recently bought a steamer. I use the steamer to clean my kitchen, bathrooms, etc. It’s does the job with no chemicals.

By FCM

July 1, 2008 10:19 PM | Link to this

Probably not as clean as I would hope it is….a couple of gremlins that leave PB & J out or spill things on the floor help with that. Not that I don’t clean it, I do…but there is time between their DIY job and my finding the mess.

I keep Clorox wipes on counter and in both bathrooms for swipe and dashes. I have a scrubbie for rinsing the dishes that get run with the dishwasher. I use paper towels on the counters with the Lysol spray for daily cleaning….I use a sponge but toss it immediately for the deep clean.

I run vinegar through the coffee maker and then dump it hot down the sink…I buy the big cheap bottle at Publix or Walmart….I buy the big Clorox at Walmart too….that goes in the toliets/bath more than the kitchen.

Speaking of coffee makers…you didn’t mention them, but I found that is THE best harborer of mold in house!!! I run bleach through the machine once a month followed by several pots of water that is then used to wash bathrooms or kitchen floors (the hot water not the bleach water). Followed by the vinegar rinse and more hot water…just to make sure the bleach is gone. It is time consuming and it is not water friendly, but it has made a difference in health.

By Heather H

July 2, 2008 6:24 AM | Link to this

I let my dogs lick the plates and forks before putting them back in the cabinets. They also lick the tables and floors for me, so I never have to sweep or wipe the tables down. I heard dogs have really clean mouths!

By robo

July 2, 2008 6:57 AM | Link to this

This blog has terrified me so much that I am moving foodservice into the bathroom. It makes sense, because the bigscreen and the computer are already in there, so we can now live cleaner in the one-stop bathroom.

“Move over honey and light a match, pheweee, is that yesterday’s chili I smell? I have to chop some onions, and I don’t want to miss my shows.”