Cleaning/Kitchen Habits

[goingonabearhunt1]

Inspired by all the recent threads about differences in kitchen/cleaning habits and what people find gross/fine.

My DM and DSF do a lot of things that I personally find gross but they always tell me I'm being ridiculous/germs are good for you etc etc.

Examples:

-Using the same cloth to wash up and wipe all kitchen surfaces (often spots of floor also)
-Never cleaning the top of/inside the bin so it's just pure filth
-Using the same bowel of manky washing up water to wash a whole load of plates etc and not rinsing anything in fresh water
-Not using any kind of spray/soap on kitchen surfaces, just damp cloth (my DM thinks disinfectant is bad for you)

I never know whether I'm fussy or they're really gross. I mean it could be worse; I have lived with housemates worse than that but now I live just with my DP, I'm happy I can clean things the way I want, makes me feel a lot better about eating at home! I guess there must be some kind of happy medium between spraying dettol on everything every 5 seconds and being gross?

Does anyone else have this issue with their relatives? Do you just try not to notice it when you're at their house? That's what I do.

And is it true that we really need this many germs? Surely there's plenty everywhere anyway without trying to create more? And FWIW I don't have a particularly good immune system so not sure my DM's whole theory worked there.

[Katy07]

I only use a damp cloth on kitchen surfaces - I figure I've survived just fine for this long without spraying everything & it was the same when I was a kid. I seem to have a really good immune system. I wouldn't use the kitchen cloth on the floor (paws don't get wiped well enough at the door!) & I use a dishwasher, but I do try and keep the bin reasonably clean.

[Gottagetmoving]

I have a relative whose kitchen cleaning habits are a bit gross...Uses tea towel to wipe up spills ( even on the floor) and then dries dishes with them..Bin overflowing and never cleaned. Washing up sponge is filthy.
Another one is absolutely obsessed with hygiene..usues anti bac on surfaces and only uses disposable kitchen towels to wipe surfaces. Everything spotless.
Both have kids.
The 'dirty' one's kids are very rarely ill - the 'clean' one's kids are always getting tummy bugs and being ill,

Personally - I am between the two. I will use the cloth I wash up with to clean surfaces, but I do spray the surfaces with anti bac cleaner.
I rinse plates before I wash them and after.
I think we are probably too obsessed with germs these days but I don't think its wise to ignore basic hygiene

[Kelsoooo]

I think I'm happy medium.

I rinse everything after washing.
I use surface cleaner on my sides.
I have a bin that takes carrier bag size bags, so that's emptied frequently.

But, I use the same cloth for wiping the sides as I do washing up - I figure I rinse it thoroughly. If there has been a bug of somekind and I'm using bleach and dettol - then I use a different cloth that gets binned after.

I actually rarely wash my kitchen floor. Mainly because I broke the mop and keep forgetting to buy a new one, I clean spills with papertowels.

Kids very rarely get ill, and my house looks and smells clean, so it's working for me.

My make up brushes are a different story entirely.

[MrsPear]

See I wash up and dry dishes then spray surfaces with kitchen cleaner not anti bac and wipe surfaces with the same cloth - and rinse under hot tap to give the surfaces a rinse- then it goes in the washing machine for the next 60 wash. Is that not clean
Bin emptied and wiped over daily - usually use the tea towel that has just been used for dishes and sides!
Washing up done under hot tap and rinsed too.

These threads always make me wonder and look round my home ...

[Zarachristmas]

I use dettol on kitchen surfaces and a hot damp cloth. I change the cloth daily. Wouldn't use it on the floor.

I use a separate sponge for washing up and a separate bottle brush for the toddlers bottles. I wouldn't use any of these on the floor and they're changed regularly.

I always clean the sink and draining board daily with flash. Most things get washed in the dishwasher anyway.

The bin gets washed out when it's mucky and the lid cleaned with dettol and hot water.

Floor is swept daily and mopped weekly.

We are still always getting ill in our house with coughs and colds so who knows.

[goingonabearhunt1]

Yeah I think I'm somewhere in the middle as well getmoving. I don't use antibac all over everything but I will spray a bit once a day ish maybe. I also don't clean my floor that much.

And I don't use disposable wipes for everything, that always seems a little OTT.

I will admit to having a bit of a cloth fixation though due to my DM using the same one for ages!

[Zarachristmas]

I'm also funny about tea towels. Clean one each day and only used for drying dishes or worktops. If one gets dropped on the floor I just chuck it in the wash.

I wash my hands a lot too. Still get ill so maybe there's something in the germs and immune system.

[Gottagetmoving]

gopingonabearhunt1 I wash my kitchen floor once a week unless someone risks me killing them by treading mud through the kitchen.

Sometimes I know my wipe down cloth could do with a wash but I ignore it because no one has ever got ill... yet.
I grew up in a house where hygiene was not a priority. My Dad thought it was 'soft' to be fussy about cleanliness and had a 'survival of the fittest' attitude,..which we used to argue about.

[goingonabearhunt1]

Yeah sounds similar to my house growing up getmoving So my DM/DSF think I'm uptight about cleanliness.

But then I read some of the threads on here and I'm a filth wizard in comparison with a lot of MNetters!

I guess it just depends what you're used to and like pps say, a few germs won't kill us.

[Gottagetmoving]

Ha ha,..My Dad would be shocked to see how clean my kitchen is,..and yet I have a sister who would reckon my kitchen is not clean enough.
I think whatever you are comfortable with is the right way.

[Ramona75]

I never use dishcloths. They are a breeding ground for germs and stink. Just get some really chunky kitchen towel and use that to clean up with. Works a treat and keeps my germ OCD at bay:-)

[c3pu]

I wipe the sides down with the same cloth I use to do the dishes with, but after I've done the dishes. It then goes into the wash on the next 90 degree wash.

I don't use anti bacterial sprays on the kitchen worktop, just give the cloth a good rinse in clean water and some dish detergent, and rinse regularly as I go. My view is that if it's good enough for the dishes etc it's good enough for the sides. Not dead yet.

Bin gets cleaned regularly, with the same cloths... gets chucked in the next 90 wash tho etc...

[Trifleorbust]

I think I am pretty gross, reading this. My habits are the same as those I grew up with. I wash up in a bowl of water (the horror!), I use the same cloth to wipe surfaces, I do clean the bin but I don't throw the cloth away, I don't always disinfect surfaces. And I am rarely if ever sick. Never had food poisoning (in fact, am close to thinking it is fictional). Never had a serious tummy bug. My DP and DD have colds and I am fine (3 weeks after giving birth). So I would argue yes, germs are good.

[YelloDraw]

Nah, those are gross and i'm pretty lax!

[Notso]

I don't use antibacterial spray in the kitchen at all. I only use it in the bathroom if someone has a bug.
One cloth for dishes and a different one for surfaces.
Washing up liquid and hot water for cleaning surfaces, sometimes I use a bit of kitchen spray on the hob or on a stubborn stain.
I wipe the bin with the surface cloth then put it in the wash or kitchen roll if it's really manky.
We have a dishwasher but often do glasses and pans in the sink, I change the water regularly and always rinse before washing and after washing.

My parents use one cloth for everything, wiping bins, dishes, children's hands and faces, the floor etc. It's rinsed frequently in hot soapy water and bleached often. It doesn't bother me too much as their house seems cleaner than mine.

None of us are especially ill. Kids all have 99-100% attendance, DH has had two sick days in 12 years. We've managed to contain swine flu and e-coli to one member of the household.

[Gymnopedies]

This is my understanding. There are good germs and bad germs. Bad germs like e-coli typically give you diarrhoea for a day or 2. Those germs can live everywhere but particularly where there is food (reusable grocery bags, kitchen counter, raw meat, etc...) and in poo. So what really protects you is washing your hands after using the toilet and before eating, as well as using clean plates and storing/handling/cooking food correctly.
Good germs are the things like lactobacillus in yoghurt, they will compete against bad germs and be overall helpful for you.

[ZouBisou]

I use the washing up sponge to clean surfaces too, usually with kitchen spray cleaner. I probably don't change the washing up sponge often enough either, certainly not more than once a month.

I rarely clean the bin unless it is actually looking/smelling dirty. I think our cleaner probably does it occasionally though, at least the lid part.

Most washing up done in dishwasher, but the bits done by hand I use running warm water, washing up liquid and always rinse as well.

[SerialReJoiner]

I'm pretty lax. I don't spray surfaces but I do use washing up liquid instead. I will chuck the sponges in the microwave for 30 seconds or do a load in the dishwasher with the bin lid and sponges. I don't like a minging bin lid, but my tolerance level of grossness is probably higher than others. Tea towels get rotated frequently, so I try to make sure I have a large stack of them. I use dish cloths but again wash them frequently (probably once a day or every other day if not used heavily).

I don't clean frantically, though, and little spills or crumbs don't always get cleaned up immediately. Floors are swept when crunchy, and mopped very rarely. Spot mopping/quick wiping of a mess happens as and when necessary though!

We don't have many sickness bugs but I don't know if that's down to our germ quotient. We don't eat or serve meat so I feel quite comfortable about the level of cleanliness in the kitchen. I'd probably be antibac-ing more if there was raw meat being prepared.

[LaundryQueenHatesIroning]

I use hot water, zoflora and washing up liquid on the surfaces with a dishcloth, then use same water and cloth to do bits on the floor then the bin. Then the cloth goes in the wash. I have cats which walk on surfaces and a crawling baby though. I can forgive less hygiene on surfaces in general though.

My pet hates are people not rinsing dishes, it can't be good to swallow all that washing up liquid residue! I'm sure it's probably carcinogenic.

People drying their dirty hands on a teatowel and then drying dishes with them

And people insisting they only need to wash tea towels on a 30degree wash with non bio and putting the same tea towel in with their underwear. And then dry dishes with them seriously puts me off ever eating at anyone's house.