To not wipe worktops every day?

[fascinated]

Just that, really.

Prompted by the d&v thread. Obviously if I’ve cut meat or esp chicken on them they get wiped with washing up liquid, but I don’t shine em, bleach em, or antibac them ever. They get a rub down with regular washing up liquid when they look dirty. Can be days! Minger?

How often do you wipe them?

I would like to say I clean around the house once a week. But when I'm honest with myself it's about once a month, or when visibly really dirty!
I can't say I'd ever have thought about getting ill from inside my own home. We had noro a couple of weeks ago because DS picked it up at nursery.

I would think that your physical health affected how likely you were to get ill? 🤷🏻‍♀️

I wipe after cooking (and during, if there are spills) with a cloth wring out in hot, soapy water.

I only use anti-bac once a week, or thereabouts. I never get ill, DP occasionally gets dodgy guts, but he has even less regard for use-by dates than I do and a poor sense of smell, so probably eats things that have proper gone off!

I’d love one of those germ tester /sampler machines! Maybe I should retrain and try and get a job in Environmental Health - imagine being the food safety inspector for your local council!

My standards aren’t high, I wipe with a cloth soaked in washing up liquid and water whenever there’s something visible on the worktops, never use bleach or antibac, and as a family we’re hardly ever ill. I attribute that to the resistance we’ve built up, but tbf we eat a lot of fruit and veg and exercise a fair bit too.

Maybe we can all pitch in for one of those germ machines, I’m intrigued as well

ArnoldWhatshisknickers I am such a messy cook too, one meal and my kitchen looks like it’s never been cleaned!

plus how do you manage not to spill flour when kneading dough, or rolling out pastry or pasta?)

Ha ha! Brilliant!

What do people mean by wipe down though? My food prep area gets a quick wipe each time it’s used. The whole kitchen probably only gets a deeper clean with products once a week when the cleaner comes.

Right!? It’s like when I used to watch Gordon Ramsay and his hotel programme, he had one, was amazing sometimes! Off to google....

Mine are spraying with diluted disinfectant and wiped with a cloth everyday and after every use but that’s just me, I’m sure it wouldn’t be gross to leave it a few days

Is it that bad to be using chemicals ? I clean my toilet with Harpic toilet cleaner about 3 times a day because I love the smell of it I go through around 5 bottles a week

Omg what???? 5 bottles a week. That is insane

I wipe every day I thought that was normal?

Now I feel like I’m a bit of a clean freak unnecessarily 😬 I anti bac and polish with microfibre cloth twice a day morning and night 🤭 DH has said before that it’s not necessary but I can’t help myself lol

The loo can go days without bleach but I wipe down the kitchen counter at least twice a day because I'm a messy cook. Just with a wet dishcloth though, antibac is vile stuff. Haven't had d&v for 20 years, and that was from a restaurant.

Anti bac doesn't clean your work surfaces. Hot soapy water does..

If you are just spraying anti bac on a dirty surface and wiping it you may as well not bother.

To effectively clean you need to first clean your surface with hot soapy water to clean grease and dirt, then once it's clean you can spray your anti bac, leave to activate then wipe. The anti back only kills bacteria to a safe level and again it doesn't actually clean your surface...

When it needs it. Probably once a day but it depends what we've been cooking.

I do think you're better off eating a dose of germs than a dose of chemical spray though, which you'll end up consuming or inhaling.

Are the people who spray three times a day also the people who change pyjamas daily/clean toilets daily/mop and hoover daily etc? Sounds exhausting, how is there ever time for anything else?

I do as little housework as I can get away with. Life's too short!

I can't help it it was my craving with my son in pregnancy the smell of Harpic I'm now due another boy and it's the same again I even took a bottle with me to labour ward and done the toilet there. Once the baby is out the craving goes I can't help it I just love love love the smell of it and scrubbing the toilet it's so satisfying

@ClientListQueen yeah that's not gross if you're wiping after, I also don't wipe down the kitchen if I haven't used it because it's still clean. Just some of these comments are like they think you don't need to give the area a quick wipe after using a chopping board.

@fascinated don't even get me started about shoes indoors especially carpet 😷
I only scrub the bathroom once a week and before people come round to make it look like I don't use it 😂
And I actually do wipe down my phone with a Milton wipe every now and then because the phones being more disgusting than a toilet is true and gives me the boak.

I think all scientists would agree that in terms of cleaning surfaces (and hands etc) Hot water and soap is the best. Not anything ‘antibacterial’. Anti bacterial products don’t kill certain viruses (norovirus) and they also get rid of any good bacteria so if you have the spray on your hands that will affect your bacterial balance . You can’t really come up with a good argument for them? I’d like to see one anyway.

I'm mostly vegan now so I don't think I need to go mad with my work tops.
I never use antibacterial products or bleach. Just washing up liquid and water. The cat is too old to jump up there.
I use a large chopping board to cut up all food and then wash it.
The only time I have ever got sick is at someone elses house.
I am clean but not bleachy or obssessive.

I have three children and don't use antibacterial spray. I clean surfaces with hot water and washing up liquid, including boards used for meat and fish (I scrub with a wire brush). We are rarely ill. No need for anti bac sprays, I hate seeing people use them. My sis uses them all the time and her kids are sick far more frequently.

First worktop clean of the day done

It'll be the only one too, won't be home all day, so it can wait until tomorrow.

I "wash up" after every meal, so I always have a quick wipe around with the hot soapy water before I use it to wash up. So, every day, at least once. That keeps it superficially looking clean.

Once or twice a week I do it properly with a surface cleaner, which I also do if there's been any raw meat etc touching the work top, but I also have a worktop saver, chopping boards, etc., so don't really do anything directly on the work top itself.

The anti back only kills bacteria to a safe level and again it doesn't actually clean your surface...

Of course, the soap and hot water has already done that. So the antibac is entirely pointless in cleaning terms.

Every night spray with Method, can’t leave it part of closing up the kitchen

I spray and wipe with Dettol anti bac spray after lunch and dinner every day