| Cleaning Away <
Kitchen Cleaning The kitchen can be the hardest to clean because of grease, food bacteria, and burnt-on messes in the oven and on your stove top. With a few basic cleaning products you can get your kitchen clean and sanitized. Start with a good dish soap that has a grease-cutting agent and is also anti-bacterial. Two products that work well and are multi-purpose are Dawn and Palmolive. Wiping down counter tops, stove tops, and refrigerator doors every day after doing the dishes will help with grease build up and bacteria. Clean stove top and oven spills as soon as they happen to lessen the time it will take to clean them up. To prevent spills in the oven, purchase an aluminum oven sheet from the grocery store in the same aisle where other foil pans are found. Buy two so you always have one on hand. Each one last up to 6 months of regular use. Place the aluminum oven sheet on the shelf below the dish you are baking. DO NOT put the oven sheet on the bottom of your oven because it will prevent baking. Replace with a new one as needed.
If a spill does occur on the stove top or oven and you did not have time to clean it up, place a moist cloth over the spill for at least 20 minutes to loosen it up. Then take baking soda and sprinkle liberally onto a wet kitchen wash cloth. With the wet cloth and baking soda, scrub to remove the spill. Wipe the clean surface with warm, soapy water to get off baking soda residue. Your surface will be clean and shiney. Baking soda is a must have in the kitchen to keep your surfaces, stove top grates, and inside the microwave clean. Use it for any stain or stuck on mess. It works quickly and easily and will not scratch surfaces. Salt is not a good abrasive because it breaks down too quickly. To clean any kitchen floor surface the one product I have found to do it all is Mr. Clean. It is anti-bacterial and a grease cutter. It will not leave streaks or a film on your floor and removes scuff marks. It will clean lanoleum and lamenated wood floors. Fill a one gallon bucket with hot water, add about 4 oz. of cleaner and clean away. Other products either leave a film or have oils that can make your floor slippery and that can be dangerous in the kitchen. This product can also be used to clean kitchen garbage pails. To clean the inside of the kitchen sink and sanitize and remove stains an abrasive product with bleach or chlorine works best. If you have a stainless or colored kitchen sink, the best product to use is Soft Scrub. It is abrasive, but gentle enough not to cause scratches. If you have a white kitchen sink, the best product to use is Comet. It is strong enough to remove any stain and restore the clean, white look. Caution should be used when working with both of these products. They both contain a form of bleach or chlorine that will take the color out of clothing. Also, do not mix either with dish soap because it will cause a fume-like reaction that can be dangerous. To clean the inside of the microwave and refrigerator use dish soap, warm water, and baking soda. The baking soda is a freshner as well as an non-abrasive cleaner to remove stuck-on food. There are four types of scrubbers to use for any job in the kitchen. The first is a cotton wash cloth for wiping down surfaces and doing dishes. Cotton is absorbent and drys quickly. The second is a sponge with a nylon net covering the sponge. I have found the Dobie sponge works great on everything. The sponge is absorbent and the nylon netting works as a gentle abrasive for all surfaces, dishes, cookware, and pots and pans. The third is a small plastic sraper typically sold to clean stoneware. Because it is plastic, it is safe to use to scrape up any stuck on food from surfaces, dishes, cookware, and pots and pans. The fourth is a squeegy mop made from natural sponge, not synthetic. The natural sponge absorbs water better and dries quicker.
First, you need a good dish soap. Consider using a dishsoap that is also a grease-cutter. This will save time when washing frying pans, baking dishes, and counter tops. A dish soap with grease-cutting power can also help break down grease that goes into the garbage disposal and down the drain. Also, consider a dishsoap that has anti-bacterial properties to help with germ killing. For the dishwasher, a liquid dishwasher soap is a little gentler on your glassware. Powdered dishwasher soap can be abrasive to your glassware and baking dishes eventually making them dull from excessive etching. Before putting dishes in the dishwasher, scrape off excessive food. We've all pulled out the butter knife or used our trusty fingernails to scrape away those stubborn, stuck-on messes. But, there is a better way. An excellent tool for scraping away the mess on pots, pans, bakeware, ect. is a plastic scraper that is typically sold for cleaning stoneware. It is flat and typically has a rounded side for corners and pots and a straight side for sides and flat surfaces. You can find them at any bakeware store. They work great for any scraping job in the kitchen and last forever. So put away the butter knife and file your nails, this little gadget will do all the work for you.
When the dishes are ready to be washed and dried, first make sure they are rinsed well with hot water. Whether washing by hand or the dishwasher, the final rinse should be with hot water and rinsed thoroughly to remove any soap residue. The hot water is a little added protection to be sure germs and bacteria are rinsed away and helps with drying.
Vinegar. Vinegar is a great to have in the kitchen. Put some in a spray bottle, sprintz on your meat cutting boards to sanitize. Rinse and wipe dry with a paper towel. The acidity of the vinegar kills the germs. If you have copper bottom pans. Make a paste of 1 cup vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, and enough flour to make a paste. Spread the paste on the copper bottoms of your pans. Let sit 5-10 minutes. Rinse off. Copper is shiney.
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