There is no end to kitchen cleaning, especially when you and your family are working or studying from home for an extended duration. This is the time when a lot of food is cooked. Using your kitchen frequently may leave it messy, but it’s important to keep it clean and hygienic.
Leading international and national health organizations advise that high-touch surfaces be cleaned and disinfected regularly. In this article, we will tell you how to keep your kitchen clean and sanitised.
1) Get Rid of Leftovers
Make sure you never leave leftover food in your kitchen uncovered or in an open area. Always store the leftovers in your refrigerator and discard all expired edibles.
2) Clean Groceries
If you have bought fresh groceries, make sure you set them aside. Then, disinfect hard, non-porous surfaces like plastic packs with disinfectant wipes before storing them. Thoroughly wash fruits and vegetables under running water. Always wash your hands after handling food packaging, after removing food from the packaging, before you prepare food for eating and before you eat. You can use soap or an alcohol-based sanitiser such as those available from Lifebuoy.
3) Wash Utensils
After cooking, wash the utensils you used to prepare food in. To clean them, you can use water and dishwashing liquid. Vim Liquid is one that is easily available in the market. Use a scouring pad, scrub the utensils thoroughly and rinse with water. For any tough stains, drop the utensils in a tub of warm water and wait for 30 minutes. Then repeat the cleaning process.
Read our article for tips on deep cleaning different types of utensils such as stainless steel, aluminium, non-stick, etc.
4) Clean the Gas Stove
To clean stains on your gas stove, soak a sponge or a cleaning rag in water and scrub the stained area of your gas stove with it. Then, pour 2-3 drops of dishwashing liquid directly on the stove surface and start scrubbing with a sponge. Wash off the soapy residue with plain water.
This article shares some more tips on deep cleaning cooking stove.
5) Clean Countertops, Cabinet Handles, Floor
After cooking each meal, it’s important to clean your kitchen countertops. Place spice jars, cutlery and other things back in their designated places before you start cleaning.
Besides countertop, you must also clean and disinfect your kitchen cabinets, refrigerator door, handles, knobs and so on. They are all high touch surfaces i.e. touched by most family members frequently. Also broom and mop your kitchen floor thoroughly and discard your garbage daily.
After cleaning these high touch surfaces with a regular household detergent and water, you can disinfect them for better hygiene. For disinfection, you can use Domex Multi-Purpose Disinfectant spray. It contains Sodium Hypochlorite as recommended by leading health organisations for disinfecting surfaces at home. It safely kills germs on frequently touched surfaces in rooms and leaves behind a pleasant fragrance. Always test on a small hidden area and rinse to check compatibility first. Recommended to use as per the usage instructions on the pack.
Keeping on top of your kitchen cleaning might sound tiresome in the beginning, however a systematic routine can help you break the tasks into small manageable chores. Try these tips today!
You may also find this guide for keeping the kitchen squeaky clean handy.