Some consider the kitchen to be the heart of the home – the perfect place where families get together and share memories that will last a lifetime.. my neighbour considers the kitchen the perfect place to cook macaroni and cheese, in his underwear, at 11:30 on a Saturday night..and not close the blinds…

Whatever the kitchen is for you, there’s little doubt that it’s the epi-center for nasty bacteria in your home…..so this week I wanted to talk about a few areas in the kitchen that are particularly nasty, and of course – I’ll show you how to clean them 🙂

KITCHEN SINK

Sinks are harbingers of all kinds of things nasty.  You rinse pretty much everything in the kitchen sink, from dirty hands to raw chicken and everything in between. So, to keep it clean, here’s what you need to do…

Spray your sink generously with an all-purpose cleaner with disinfectant of your choosing, a great DIY version contains about 1 cup of water, a few drops of dish soap and a half-cup of rubbing alcohol.  You want it to be sopping wet.  Then, sprinkle baking soda around your sink and leave this for 3-4 minutes.  With a clean, wet sponge, use the abrasive side to scrub the sink, faucet and drain area well.  Rinse with hot water and dry with a microfiber cloth.  If you want to be extra cautious, as a final step you can mist the sink with rubbing alcohol, it’ll dry on its own very quickly.

COUNTERTOPS

When you think about it, countertops are also pretty gritty.  When you prepare food, bacteria-carrying fluids can dry and potentially get into other things you prepare, or on your hands which you’ll then use to prepare something or devour something, AKA hand utensils. That’s why your mama always told you to use cutlery.

Anyway, to clean your counters, you want to use an all-purpose disinfectant spray and a microfiber cloth.  Start by removing all items from the counter, yes I know this is a lot to ask, but it’s the right way to do things and that’s what you guys want to see.  The recipe of water, dish soap and rubbing alcohol is safe for granite and marble counters too, bonus!  Spray the entire countertop with the cleaner, generously and let it sit for about 5 minutes and soak.  Now I should mention, someone asked in a recent video how to remove turmeric stains from a laminate counter.  For almost any stain on a laminate counter, use good old baking soda and sprinkle some over the affected area.  After 5 minutes, use a microfiber cloth to clean the counter in a ‘s’ pattern, and for any stained areas, use a sponge to scrub away the stain.  Give it a final buff to remove streaks.  Now, you can replace everything. Voila, clean counters that you can literally eat off of!

Don’t forget to check out Maker’s Clean line of premium products. From microfiber cloths to the Maker’s Mop, they have a great line of high-quality products that will help you take your cleaning game to the next level!

CUTTING BOARD

It’s not hard to believe that this thing made my list – I mean, my cutting board has all sorts of food on it and wooden cutting boards are very porous, which it not a good combination at all!

Glass cutting boards are the most sanitary because they are non-porous.  Plastic and wood are more porous and therefore more susceptible to absorbing and harboring bacteria.

Clean plastic cutting boards by spraying them with an all-purpose disinfectant cleaner, leaving it to sit for 5 minutes, and then washing clean with hot water.  Remember to dry it well.

For wood cutting boards, we’ve created a video that you can see here, which reviews exactly how to clean, disinfect and care for your wooden cutting board.

THE GARBAGE CAN

When you take away the garbage bag from the garbage can – do you find that the smell completely goes away? If it doesn’t, there’s a good chance your garbage can needs a cleaning, and luckly, it’s super easy to do..

All you need is some all-purpose disinfectant, spray the garbage can and leave it for 5-10 minutes and sprinkle in baking soda for extra deodorizing power.  Make sure it’s really dripping wet!  Then, rinse if you can using warm water and then wipe it out using paper towel, until it’s dry.  Once completely dry, replace with a clean bag.

For more cleaning secrets check out our E-Book Bundle! It has 3 e-books (The Complete Guide to Essential Oils, My 3 Wave Cleaning System, 50 DIY Cleaning Recipes) and will get you started with all your cleaning needs!

SPONGES, CLOTHS & BRUSHES

After a good kitchen cleaning, you’re left with that wonderful sense of accomplishment for a job well done – and you’re also left with some really grimy sponges, cloths and brushes.

To clean your sponges…simply soak in a solution of 1 part rubbing alcohol and 1 part water for 10 minutes, then rinse and dry.  When you are done using your sponge, make sure you rinse it very well and then make sure it dries thoroughly.  You may want to get a sponge holder like we have, just to make sure it dries.  Bacteria likes moisture, so the wetter your sponge, the more opportunity bacteria have to grow.

Cleaning cloths should be rinsed with hot water and soap after use and hung to dry.  Again, a wet anything is going to harbor bacteria and lead to odours.  Every 2-3 days, launder the cloth.  Tea towels should also be changed out every couple of days.  Think about the daily routine of a tea towel, you’ll understand why it’s so important to clean them.  We have a pile of cleaning cloths and tea towels in our basement by the washing machine and launder them every week or so.

And  your brushes can be cleaned by soaking in a sink filled with water and a cup of rubbing alcohol.  Leave this for 10 minutes and then rinse well and dry.  Your brushes scrape off all kinds of gross things, so ensuring they are bacteria-free means anything you clean with them will be truly clean, not just look that way.  We clean our brushes every week or so, depending on use.

This week’s comment question is an important one, because it’s a poll and we want the Clean My Space Nation to tell us what is the one room in your home that you LEAST like cleaning? Which room do you just dread the most?

5nastykitchen

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Melissa Maker is an entrepreneur, cleaning expert, founder of Toronto’s most popular boutique cleaning service, and star of the Clean My Space channel on YouTube (but she still hates to clean!). Every week, Melissa delivers new videos dishing expert advice on cleaning products, tools, DIY substitutes, and practical, timesaving solutions to everyday problems. Melissa has appeared on the Today Show, and has been featured in InStyle, Real Simple, and Better Homes and Gardens.

39 COMMENTS

  1. Rubbing alcohol kills bacteria by friction or rubbing. It is not a disinfectant. I do not understand why soaking it in something would be effective.

  2. The bathroom used to be the worst. I use Kaboom on the toilet and in my shower. I spray them both before I get into the shower. I clean the toilet with the brush inside the toilet, then use toilet paper on the outside, then flush it all down. Now for my shower, get in brush it all, spray it down and take a nice clean shower. It’s easy to do when it gets done often. Kaboom contains bleach so everything cleans easily. Be sure to wear old clothes or none at all.

  3. I think the worst room to clean is the living room. Everything gets dropped from shoes to empty drink containers.

    We have cats and they track litter everywhere. And the dust that builds up on the books and knock knacks.

  4. Bleach is a much more effective cleaner than alcohol. Only bleach will kill *everything*. That’s why it’s it’s used to clean biohazard materials. Also, why not just use cleanser to clean the sink? Many brands even contain bleach. And you should perhaps point out that the trash can should be cleaned before the sink…

  5. I also hate the bathroom- the shower and tub are the worst. BUT I learned a great hack! Use a used dryer sheet in the shower to clean soap scum and mildew off tile and glass shower doors! I like to bring a glass of wine in the shower with me after a long day and a few dryer sheets and take out my frustrations on the grout ????

  6. Your cleaning tips are wonderful. I find the kitchen the the most rewarding room to clean. However, bathroom gets cleaned only because it must be kept clean.

    • Put ammonia in a spray bottle and burner pans in a large zip lock bag. In a well ventilated area, Generously spray pans with ammonia seal bag and let sit over night. Rinse off and dry.I did this recently…IT WORKS!

  7. Hi Melissa,
    In the garbage can I put two plastic bags. That way if the first bag gets some liquids… I have the second one to protect the garbage can.
    Love your blog…
    Kiss com Portugal…
    Teresa
    (Sorry about my bad inglish…)

  8. I hate cleaning bathroom, its such a small enclosed area, that I start to feel claustrophobic,
    when the smells from cleaners etc, seem to have nowhere to go & just hang there.
    l

  9. The bathroom is the worst room to clean. The tub, shower stall, tiles, ugh… also the toilet and all those awful hard water deposits that are so hard to clean off the faucets. So much scrubbing and those awkward positions! Just makes all my joints hurt thinking about it. Feh.

  10. That’s easy… The bathroom! When I was single and lived alone it wasn’t so bad. I knew it was my mess (which was never really a ‘mess’) and I didn’t mind cleaning it. But I now live with a man… And he seems to be seriously challenged in the aim department. Plus we have a toddler in the house so I’m obscessed with keeping everything clean and sanitary for her sake, because she doesn’t quite understand that it’s gross to walk over and touch the toilet just yet. Anyway… I hate cleaning the bathroom. To be honest, I end up wiping it down with disinfectant wipes almost everyday because I can’t stand the thought of what my daughter might touch in there. Then I do a more thorough scrub down every weekend. I have a problem, I know.
    I’m new to your blog and YouTube channel but I have to say I’ve quickly become a fan! I love your personality and sense of humor! Looking forward to what’s to come!

    • Also, I’d LOVE it if you could do a post on how to clean a jetted tub. What I normally did was run bleach and hot water through the jets about once every few weeks, in addition to my normal tub cleaning routine. But then my daughter started developing these skin infections (they looked like pimples) and we couldn’t figure out where they were coming from. We eventually came to the conclusion that it had to be caused by the tub because the infections were more prominent on her lower body, where she soaks in the water during her bath. Since then I’ve been running bleach through the jets every week. I even add pots of boiling water because the tub is so big that by the time it’s filled enough to start the jets the water isn’t ‘hot’ anymore. But I’m worried about the amount of bleach I’m using, etc. so any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

        • I fill the tub with hot water, one cup of bleach and one cup of dishwasher soap. Run the jets for 30 minutes. Drain tub. Refill with hot water and run jets for another 30 minutes. (Time consuming, but it beats having to have the tub repaired.) I have sensitive skin, but have had no problems using this method.

  11. Dear Melissa! The room I detest to clean most is my bathroom. I clean it thoroughly once a week and wipe the shower door and bath tub every use but the tiles can get very dirty. Also I find soap scum around the basin floor.

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