The kitchen is usually considered the heart of the home. More than just a place to prep pasta or bake baklava, it’s where we tend to hang out, catch up and connect with family and friends.
But it turns out that your kitchen may be harboring a dark secret. According to a 2016 article by Business Insider, kitchens are actually the dirtiest room in the average home. Why is this? What makes kitchens so disgusting?
Says microbiologist Philip Tierno of the New York University School of Medicine, “You have a drain that’s there, you have countertops, refrigerators, appliances—all of which have been cross-contaminated with debris.” In other words, it’s the combination of organic debris from food, plus bacteria carried in on hands and feet, plus the incubational effects of dark, damp environments that are to blame.
Well, not to worry. Today I’ll cover a few of the places bacteria may be lurking in your kitchen, and give you some tips to get it safely clean and guest-worthy.
Dirty dishes, food particles—even raw meat juices: all of these and more can add up to a bacteria overload in your sink. In fact, kitchen sinks often contain more bacteria than a toilet bowl! (I know, “Ewww!” right?)
Drawer pulls and doorknobs are a natural breeding ground for bacteria that’s been passed along from dirty hands. And it can linger there, waiting for the next person to come along and pick it right back up, so you don’t want to take chances.
Grease, crumbs and food dropped in or near your stove can also be a breeding ground for bacteria. Not a pleasant thought, considering so many of your family’s meals are prepared here!
Sponges are great for quickly wiping up spills and messes, but most can be a hotbed of bacteria. If you’re a sponge person, make sure yours is as clean as possible:
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Great blog today. I clean behind my fridge, but not the stove.
The more i look at this the more i want to join!
Robyn Mullen, you won’t regret it. Being educated on better options AND offering them to people is very rewarding and empowering. No wonder the businesses that are growing are Green and Alternative Health! Even the younger generation has learned and doesn’t want to repeat history but rather utilize the gifts of the earth well!
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Mahalo! I will be cleaning behind the stove more often!!!
I clean behind frog more often than stove as I can’t move it as easy! Thanks for sharing this great information!
Great tips- DEFINITELY need to pull out my stove and clean behind it! Ah! Not looking forward to that!
oof–I need to up my stove and oven cleaning game! That’s the one tips here I am definitely NOT consistent about!
To clean my garbage disposal I run the water, turn it on, add about a tablespoon of salt, then two ice cubes. This gets the grime off the blades without my fingers anywhere near them.
We love this idea! Thanks for sharing, Kim!
This post has actually inspired me to go clean my kitchen! haha! I actually really enjoy these deep cleaning and micro cleaning tasks… kind of cathartic in a weird way, lol