Your kitchen is likely one room you spend the most time in. Between cooking, cleaning, and entertaining, it’s a place that serves multiple purposes and likely sees a lot of traffic. The safety of your family is a priority, so that means getting serious about getting the contaminants out of the room and figuring out how to keep them out. There’s a lot more involved than wiping down the surface in keeping your kitchen a safe environment for all, but things like this do get better with practice.
Storing Food
Pests can be a nuisance, even for individuals who keep their houses spotless. You might need to get rodent clean-up services to remove pests from your home and resort to a professional to help you with that task. Pests can cause a lot of problems and make your space unsanitary and unsafe. One way to try to prevent them from making themselves at home in your pantry is by focusing on how you’re storing your food.
Pests are drawn to things they can munch on because they’re always in search of food. If you have things such as open bags of chips or cookies, or baking supplies without the lid properly secured, you may find little unwanted critters. The best thing you can do is to get air-tight containers for everything and keep your food secured inside.
Cleaning and Disinfecting
Your kitchen is an area where you want to spend a lot of time cleaning. The easiest way to sanitize your kitchen is with a mixture of one tablespoon bleach mixed with one gallon of water, or use an already-made bleach solution. You’ll want to spray each surface in your kitchen down with bleach and then use a cleaning cloth or a paper towel to wipe those areas down. Please make sure areas are thoroughly dried before using them again.
Areas you want to focus on should include counters, tables, light switches, doorknobs, kitchen tools, faucets, and the sink. It’s also a good idea to make sure items such as dishtowels, sponges, drapes, rugs, and reusable grocery bags get cleaned regularly as well. Just about any surface, you can see in your kitchen should get sanitized frequently.
Use Natural Cleaners
If you’re not a fan of harsh chemicals in your household, you can use natural cleaners instead. Not only are these good for the environment, but they’re safer to use as well. The good thing about eco-friendly cleaners is that you can easily make your very own, allowing you to customize them however you see fit.
A very easy-to-make kitchen disinfectant spray is made from water, white vinegar, a little bit of rubbing alcohol, and some essential oils for scent. Just keep in mind you shouldn’t use vinegar solutions on marble or metal surfaces. For those surfaces, you can mix a solution with rubbing alcohol, dish soap, and water.
Replace Non-Stick
Believe it or not, non-stick cookware is not good for you. It may be a nice convenience having that non-stick coating, but in reality, it’s bad for you. Teflon is a type of chemical coating usually made from plastic that gets sprayed on cookware to create a non-stick surface.
Unfortunately, Teflon can contain perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, which is linked to numerous health issues such as liver and kidney disease, low birth weight, and infertility. If you own a lot of Teflon-coated cookware, don’t worry because there are plenty of healthier options to switch to, some being cast iron, ceramic, and stainless steel.
Kitchens can get dirty and unsanitary rather quickly, and it’s up to you to do what you can to cut down the spread of bacteria. When handling food, it’s a good idea to always use proper steps to avoid cross-contamination, such as making sure you wash your hands after handling raw meat, using different utensils and cutting boards for raw and cooked foods, and properly rinsing produce before cooking.