Some of the Dirtiest Kitchen Tools and Appliances

Posted by Jane Wilson on July 3rd, 2017

The kitchen is my temple, and I like to spend lots of time around it, testing out my new recipes and eating delicious meals with my family. But the kitchen also contains lots of hidden dangers, which can harm our health and well-being. Even though food is nice and delicious, after some point it starts to rot and go bad, which creates a direct danger to our health and lives. But to prevent these unpleasant situations, first we need to learn which are the dirtiest kitchen tools and appliances. This way we'll know where to pay more attention and clean more regularly. Here are the tools and appliances, which require regular attention.

Cutting boards. Yes, the cutting boars can turn into one of the dirtiest things in your kitchen, if you don't maintain them properly. We cut all things on them, so it's natural that after some time we create small cuts on the surface. And it's almost impossible to remove all the small particles from inside them, so they just stay and rot in there. To avoid this, you'll have to change your cutting board every few months. The wooden boards should be hand washed after each usage, using warm soapy water and a hard-bristled brush to get inside those small cracks and cuts. The plastic cutting boards can be also put in the dishwasher. If you want to avoid the germ contamination and use your cutting boards for longer, you should consider using one board for raw meat, fish and other products, and one board for all the ready products, fruits and vegetables.

Sponges. According to a recent study, the sponge is practically the dirtiest thing in your home, because it gathers lots of germs and food particles which rot inside the pores. Turns out it gathers more germs than any other part of your home. If you want to make sure your sponges are completely clean and safe all the time, you should do a few things. One of the things you can do, is to put your sponge in a microwave oven for about 2 minutes. Just make sure the sponge doesn't contain anything metal, because then the consequences will be very bad. Wait for the sponge to cool before you start using it again in the kitchen. You can also run your sponge through the dishwasher, if you feel it's dirty. But the best and most efficient way to avoid issues with your sponge is to replace it with a new one regularly.

Kitchen towels. We use our kitchen towels for all kinds of activities, most of which are not very hygienic. For instance, we use them to wipe our hands, remove things from the oven, wipe the counter tops, dry dishes, wipe wet plates, and many other things. This very easily leads to cross contamination, and dangerous germs start developing in the towel. Therefore, housekeeping experts advise to use one kitchen towel for each task. This way you'll have one only for hands, one for the clean but wet dishes, one for removing stuff from the oven and so on. If you want, you can use different colours for the different activities. This will make it easier to remember which one is which.

The dishwasher. The dishwasher is something we use to clean our dishes, but we often forget that the machine needs cleaning too. The dishwasher gathers lots of food particles and other dirt, while it cleans our dishes. But if you don't remove them from there and clean the dishwasher, they will start to rot, and soon the machine will make the dishes more dirty than clean. Therefore, you should run an empty dishwasher on the long program, so all the germs can be killed. You can also add some vinegar inside, which will disinfect everything and make it hygienic once more.

The sink. The sink is also a place which gathers lots of food in it, so you should pay extra attention to its well-being. Make sure the garbage disposal is always empty and scrub the entire area with detergent at least twice a month. This will help you keep the hygiene at a good level.