How Clean is Your Kitchen?

We all worry when we go out to eat, is the kitchen clean? Do the employees follow good hygiene and cleanliness standards? Everyone worries about those things but restaurant kitchens are held to a much stricter standard than your average kitchen. Your biggest food concern may be right at home. Most of us know how to handle raw meat or to wash food before preparing, it’s the little things that cause the most problems. For instance, is your pet allowed in the kitchen while food is being prepared? Just quickly touching the dog, either a pat on the head or … Continue reading

Ways to Sanitize Your Sink

There’s nothing quite as gross as staring at raw chicken carcass in your kitchen sink. In fact, the mixture of raw meat and other items, which contain high levels of bacteria, often create conditions that make your kitchen sink dirtier than the average toilet bowl. Owners of stainless steel sinks should not be lulled into a false sense of security. While stainless steel contains iron and chromium, which resists corrosion and repels most stains, it is not impervious to bacterial growth. Kitchen sinks should be cleaned on a regular basis. For everyday cleaning you can use a host of commercial … Continue reading

Sanitize Your Sponges

That sponge sitting near your kitchen sink can be harboring huge amounts of germs. Bacteria, yeast, and mold can all live in a kitchen sponge — meaning that the cleaning you do can actually spread germs around! Health experts suggest cleaning your sponge at least once every week (though twice a week is better). The best way to clean your sponge? Use the microwave. Simply wet the sponge and microwave it for a full minute. A study from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland found that the microwave was the best … Continue reading

Four Things I Cut in Half to Save Money

There are many things in our home that we cut in half in order to save money. When we make those cuts, we never notice a difference. Using the recommended amount or the size something comes in isn’t necessarily the best idea, especially when something will work the same way, or sometimes works even better when it is cut in half. Your products will last twice as long! Laundry detergent I always use about half of what is recommended on those cap fill lines or the powder scoops. Why? I find that with a good detergent, the clothes get just … Continue reading

Where Germs Thrive in the Home (and How to Handle Them)

No matter how well you clean, there are some places around the house (or office) that tend to accumulate dirt and bacteria. You might know some of these already… or you might be surprised! Your mattress and pillows. The bedroom is a favorite spot for those evil allergy triggers: dust mites. Your mattress can also soak up sweat and other bodily fluid! The best way to keep your mattress and pillows clean is to bag them. A plastic cover (underneath your sheets and mattress pad) will keep the dust mites out. Wash bedding regularly in hot water to kill dust … Continue reading

A Healthy (and Sanitary) Kitchen

Where and how you store your stuff can make a big difference in how clean and healthy your kitchen is. Here are some tips to keep things sanitary — and help keep you and your family healthy. Don’t put your pocketbook on the kitchen counter. Studies from the University of Arizona have found up to ten thousand bacteria per square inch on the bottoms of purses! Think about some of the places you stick your pocketbook — under your seat at lunch, on the floor in the bathroom at work — do you want that on your kitchen counter? Don’t … Continue reading

Don’t Fall into The Paper Towel Trap: Sanitizing a Sponge

I must be a really bad parent, at least according to the paper towel commercials. You know the ones that tell you that the average sponge has 500 million little germs that are just waiting to get you sick; germs with gleeful grins full of big pointy teeth? Or how instead of cleaning up the counter, my particular sponge may be spreading bacteria all over the place where it sits and waits for my child’s peanut butter and jelly sandwich? It is a scary tactic that is worthy of a small dictatorship. After all, it hits me in the gut, … Continue reading