Kitchen Hygiene

the beer revolu

For all the germ phobic people.
You do know that we carry over 2 kg of bacteria (germs) around in and on our bodies?

Wheety

donalh087 wrote: »

Are there any 'friendly' antibacterials? She hates the place 'smelling like a swimming pool'.

Milton have a spray cleaner which is not as bad as some of the others. It is anti-bacterial though.

Springfields

Buy 7 of those old fashioned white dishcloths. Use a fresh one each morning. At the end of each day hang it over the tap so it's dry by morning. Once dry put it aside to be washed at the end of the week with the tea towels or whatever. If you are using a clean one each day germs will be minimised and you can.also rinse it out in hot soapy water during the day. Using loads of disposable cloths and dumping them is so eco unfriendly as well as a waste of money
Those disposable wipes basically never decompose so would steer clear.
White vinegar infused with lemon and mixes with water is an excellent cleaner as well as a natural antibacterial product.

leahyl

Day Lewin wrote: »

The "wipes" are basically throw-away plastic. Wasteful and polluting.

Ordinary cloths are fine if laundered regularly - a clean one every day or two, throw used ones in the hot wash. Or soak them overnight in water with a teaspoon of bleach.

And I've trained myself not to worry about "germs" as long as we are all strong and healthy, which we are. Meaning, "germs" aren't doing us any harm!!

PS The very old person wouldn't have so strong an immune system and need more careful hygiene.

This is what my mum does. She wouldn't dream of using a new cloth every few days. Can you imagine the money you'd be spending

Also, I must have one of the strongest immune systems going cos I can barely remember being sick more than a handful of times in my life....touch wood it continues! Our kitchen is clean but we're not obsessive about it.

kylith

caviardreams wrote: »

The environmental aspect puts me off these as handy as they are. It seems like a lot of unnecessary waste. I think the washing the cloths regularly option is the best one personally.

I got a roll of reusable bamboo 'kitchen paper'. Because there's 80 of them I don't mind going through 4 or 5 in a day, and they can just be thrown in the wash with everything else. I like them so much that I bought a distinct roll to use for the baby.

Dial Hard wrote: »

Who in god's name puts their tea-towels away wet? Enough people that it's an issue, clearly, but I'm always left a bit "Huh?" by these kind of things.

Same with the report last week that baby wipes are the no. 1 cause of drain and sewer blockages in the UK and Ireland, my immediate reaction was "Who the hell flushes them???" Again, the answer is clearly flippin' loads of people but I was kind of floored because it would never even enter my brain to flush one and I don't know anyone else who does either.

I dunno, maybe I'm just incredibly out of touch with reality.

I don't think people can be blamed too much for that because a lot of them are labelled 'flushable' which I think would be reasonable to assume that it breaks up quickly and is safe to flush. Unfortunately it seems that the 'flushable' refers only to 'physically able to be flushed down the toilet'. As above I have reusable wipes for the baby, much more efficient, cleaner, and biodegradable when they eventually wear out.

Wipes of all sorts should be banned and I hope they’re next on the list after single use plastics.

We now have wipes for bathrooms, kitchens, cars, makeup, eye makeup , baby wipes , toddler wipes, arse wipes instead of toilet roll........the list is endless.
One wipe and they’re thrown in the bin! These do NOT degrade or break down. They cause huge fat bergs in drains as fat,detergents and other waste from household drains clings to them. Same when they’re flushed down toilets, only it’s worse !

We are ruining our oceans and environment in our obsession with sterile cleanliness. How did we survive years ago before wipes became a lazy necessity ??

caviardreams

kylith wrote: »

I got a roll of reusable bamboo 'kitchen paper'. Because there's 80 of them I don't mind going through 4 or 5 in a day, and they can just be thrown in the wash with everything else. I like them so much that I bought a distinct roll to use for the baby.

Wow I have never come across this before but googled and it looks super - is there any brand you would recommend, I am definitely going to get some!

iamwhoiam

caviardreams wrote: »

Wow I have never come across this before but googled and it looks super - is there any brand you would recommend, I am definitely going to get some!

They look great ! Any idea where to buy them please

caviardreams

caviardreams wrote: »

Wow I have never come across this before but googled and it looks super - is there any brand you would recommend, I am definitely going to get some!

Yes they’re brilliant ! I got them last year and they lasted forever. I got mine online (forget the site) . Just google them .

kylith

caviardreams wrote: »

Wow I have never come across this before but googled and it looks super - is there any brand you would recommend, I am definitely going to get some!

iamwhoiam wrote: »

They look great ! Any idea where to buy them please

I have these ones.
And (I think) these ones.

I can't say that there's much difference between them. The second ones seem to have held up better*, but the first ones are used as baby wipes so they get washed a lot more, and they seem to get softer the more they're washed. They're very absorbent, and I can't see myself going back to paper.

*by which I mean 'less felted'

twignme

[QUOTE=kylith;109570450

I can't say that there's much difference between them. The second ones seem to have held up better*, but the first ones are used as baby wipes so they get washed a lot more, and they seem to get softer the more they're washed. They're very absorbent, and I can't see myself going back to paper.

*by which I mean 'less felted'[/QUOTE]

They look brilliant, and the comments on Amazon support what you are saying. I will certainly be ordering some for myself today.

Atoms for Peace

Always have to laugh at hygiene threads. Bacteria can make you sick in the short term, yes, but only a tiny proportion if your healthy, but the over use of chemicals in the long run could cause sickness of the terminal kind.

iamwhoiam

Dial Hard wrote: »

Who in god's name puts their tea-towels away wet? Enough people that it's an issue, clearly, but I'm always left a bit "Huh?" by these kind of things.

Same with the report last week that baby wipes are the no. 1 cause of drain and sewer blockages in the UK and Ireland, my immediate reaction was "Who the hell flushes them???" Again, the answer is clearly flippin' loads of people but I was kind of floored because it would never even enter my brain to flush one and I don't know anyone else who does either.

I dunno, maybe I'm just incredibly out of touch with reality.

I have been in houses where tea towels were left in ball on the sink and not hung up somewhere where the air could dry them quickly .

Sardonicat

Some people fold their tea towels and leave them on the counter top

dartboardio

Sorry to be the odd one out but im happy to use a new J cloth every few days. 90 cents for a pack every couple of weeks in with the shopping

Just like im happy to use regular disposable coffee cups

Day Lewin

dartboardio wrote: »

Sorry to be the odd one out but im happy to use a new J cloth every few days. 90 cents for a pack every couple of weeks in with the shopping

Just like im happy to use regular disposable coffee cups

This may be "kitchen hygiene" but it's not "Planet hygiene" - quite the opposite.

iamwhoiam

dartboardio wrote: »

Sorry to be the odd one out but im happy to use a new J cloth every few days. 90 cents for a pack every couple of weeks in with the shopping

Just like im happy to use regular disposable coffee cups

But they are full washable . I use a packet of J cloths over and over . I change it almost every day but throw it in the machine . I am guessing I get about 10/12 washes before it thins out . Then I use it for grubby things for another few washes

harr

Use the green/yellow sponges here with hot water and washing up liquid to wipe the counter tops.
Dry off with a tea towel which is changed daily, would get 3 or 4 days from a sponge once I give it a good rinse after using.
The key is using very hot water when wiping down the counter tops.

Gael23

dudara wrote: »

Wipes are an environmental disaster. It’s just akin to throwing away plastic.

Neither am I a fan of overuse of anti-bacterial sprays etc. I believe they’re more damaging in the long run as they could impede the development of natural immunity. Hot water and soap are the best cleaning agents for the majority of dirt. Every so often you do need to bust out the Jif or Cillit Bang, but that should be the exception.

There’s nothing wrong with using cloths as long as they’re regularly rinsed out in hot water and allowed to dry. Leaving one to sit in a damp pile is obviously not a good idea.

I use a spray most days and then Jif on everything once a week or so.

splinter65

Watched a programme on BBC (Panorama) and those antibacterial wipes you love and the antibacterial spray are no more effective them if you were using tap water. They’re also bad for the environment. Very hot water kills germs. Soap and hot water removes grease.
For any one over 40, a question.
Your mother didn’t have anti bacterial anything. How did you survive?

harr

splinter65 wrote: »

Watched a programme on BBC (Panorama) and those antibacterial wipes you love and the antibacterial spray are no more effective them if you were using tap water. They’re also bad for the environment. Very hot water kills germs. Soap and hot water removes grease.
For any one over 40, a question.
Your mother didn’t have anti bacterial anything. How did you survive?

My mother had the one tea towel thrown over her shoulder most days and that was used to wipe everything including our dirty faces and hands.
All tea towels were boiled once a week in the big ham saucepan on the solid fuel stove.

iamwhoiam

harr wrote: »

My mother had the one tea towel thrown over her shoulder most days and that was used to wipe everything including our dirty faces and hands.
All tea towels were boiled once a week in the big ham saucepan on the solid fuel stove.

My mother had cut up tea shirts or old towels and hot soapy water or carbolic soap . The kitchen was spotless but not disinfected . We very rarely got sick and were far healthier in my opinion

Gael23

I do use bleach wipes around toilet seats to avoid contaminating cloths but thats about the only time.

.......

splinter65 wrote: »

Your mother didn’t have anti bacterial anything. How did you survive?

Eh of course they did - do you think that 40 odd years ago we were in the middle ages or something?

We had Dettol and Milton and bleach and a variety of other anti bacterial products. I personally used to love how the Dettol went white when you poured it into hot water. Milton has been around for about 100 years.

Are you a teenager who thinks everyone over 40 is ancient and lived like Peig Sayers?

.......

....... wrote: »

Eh of course they did - do you think that 40 odd years ago we were in the middle ages or something?

We had Dettol and Milton and bleach and a variety of other anti bacterial products. I personally used to love how the Dettol went white when you poured it into hot water. Milton has been around for about 100 years.

Are you a teenager who thinks everyone over 40 is ancient and lived like Peig Sayers?

I think Splinter65 was being sarcastic :rolleyes:

splinter65

....... wrote: »

Eh of course they did - do you think that 40 odd years ago we were in the middle ages or something?

We had Dettol and Milton and bleach and a variety of other anti bacterial products. I personally used to love how the Dettol went white when you poured it into hot water. Milton has been around for about 100 years.

Are you a teenager who thinks everyone over 40 is ancient and lived like Peig Sayers?

Nobody ever used Dettol in the kitchen because of the lingering smell. Milton was for sterilizing baby’s things and again, was never used around food because of the odour. All bleach does is whiten stains, it doesn’t get rid of things. I’m 54. In our kitchen there was Fairy Liquid, Jif/Ajax/Vim and Brillo pads. None of which pretended to be anti bacterial.
If you want to pretend that your kitchen is a germ free zone because you spend a fortune on “anti bacterial” wipes then go ahead. But your wrong.

Sardonicat

Not one person on this thread has claimed they live in a germ free zone due to anti bacterial wipes. Not one. In fact, the only person who claimed to use them instead of cleaning cloths was me. And I explained why I regrettably do that . And dettol (personally I love the smell) and Milton were used around my home. As well as bleach, which does kill germs, BTW, and I'm only a little younger than you.

.......

splinter65 wrote: »

Nobody ever used Dettol in the kitchen because of the lingering smell. Milton was for sterilizing baby’s things and again, was never used around food because of the odour. All bleach does is whiten stains, it doesn’t get rid of things. I’m 54. In our kitchen there was Fairy Liquid, Jif/Ajax/Vim and Brillo pads. None of which pretended to be anti bacterial.

Just because no one in YOUR home used Dettol in the kitchen it does not mean that EVERYONES home was like that. We all loved the smell and it was used liberally.

Milton was used just as often and not just for sterilising babys things.

splinter65 wrote: »

If you want to pretend that your kitchen is a germ free zone because you spend a fortune on “anti bacterial” wipes then go ahead. But your wrong.

Do point out to me where I said ANTHING about antibacterial wipes?

And maybe wind your neck in a bit eh? No need to be so confrontational - we are not hammering out a nations peace treaty here, its a discussion about kitchen hygiene. Given the age you claim youd imagine you would have learned how to have a civil discussion at this stage.

Faith

Mod note: Alright, let’s all take a deep breath. Threads like this can get very heated because it’s easily to feel attacked or shamed for your choices, or disgusted by the choices of others. But at the end of the day, it’s your kitchen and your choice, and there’s strong arguments both for and against very strict cleanliness.

I’m not convinced this is the right forum for this discussion, but I’m willing to let the thread keep going for a while. PLEASE stay civil and respectful or we’ll have no choice but to close it. Thanks.

odyssey06

iamwhoiam wrote: »

My mother had cut up tea shirts or old towels and hot soapy water or carbolic soap . The kitchen was spotless but not disinfected . We very rarely got sick and were far healthier in my opinion

Likely the hot soapy water was the key, whether it was regular or carbolic soap, but just noting that carbolic soap is a disinfectant.