We all know that the kitchen is usually the busiest room in the house. From cooking to cleaning, it can be hard to keep up with all of this work. This is where your kitchen becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and other health hazards if not properly maintained. In order to prevent these problems from occurring, here are some easy ways you can keep your kitchen clean from health hazards.
Keep a cleaning rota
The best way to ensure that everyone knows what they should be doing is to draw up a cleaning rota. This doesn’t just apply to the kitchen either, also think about bathrooms, floors, and other areas. It helps if you can split it, so each person has different days for certain tasks. This means one resident may clean the kitchen once a week, another day is for the bathroom. Your schedule might look something like this: *Monday – Laundry, floors, and ironing *Tuesday – Bathroom *Wednesday – Kitchen and dusting *Thursday – Vacuum and clean couch.
The reason it’s important to have a rota is that if one person has nothing to do one week, they will take it as “I don’t need to clean” and the dirt starts to build up.
Keep everything organized
If you’re the type of person that likes to keep everything neat and tidy, then this is for you. If not, try to at least do the dishes immediately after use, so it doesn’t block up other plates or cutlery. Always ensure that wherever you place things back, they stay there, so if one person puts them in the dishwasher and another person puts them in the sink, it’s going to be a pain to collect all the items and put them back.
You could even consider some colour coded chopping boards for added kitchen hygiene. That way, if someone who is vegetarian uses one board for vegetables, then you can use the other color-coded board to cut meat.
Clean up as you go along
This does two things. It stops you from forgetting about little bits of food that are waiting to decompose and makes your kitchen smell like a dumpster. Secondly, it means you don’t have to do as much on cleaning day. A few examples of what you could be doing are wiping up spills immediately, throwing away the scraps of vegetables that you don’t use, and having a bin right next to the hob for scraps of food.
Vacuum regularly
It should be at least once a week, if not sooner. This is particularly important when you have animals, especially cats. If they are scratching their claws on your carpet or sofa, then you can bet that it will end up in the oven if left long enough. The same goes for hair and animal fur. You don’t want to be cooking with hair in your food, trust me.
Wipe surfaces down regularly
Wipe surfaces down with a damp cloth or microfiber cloth. This will remove any bacteria that may have been accumulated from the day before. Just ensure you don’t use bleach, strong chemicals, and strong detergents, as they can ruin your surface and make it less hygienic.
