Sunday, January 10, 2010

Cleaning Kitchen Things - 5 More Top Tips

We all know how important hygiene is and it is nowhere truer than in the kitchen. I do not know the reason, either the bugs have got stronger of humankind has got weaker. Or perhaps it is a bit of both. Not so long ago, say between the First and Second World Wars, the average person had less access to all the cleaning gear we have now and so the human immune system just had to cope. Then we began to hit germs with all sorts of powerful weapons and they have responded by strengthening their immune system while we have weakened ours through lack of use.

At least, I think that this is the story in the West, I now live in Thailand and I am sure that their bodies can withstand attack from germs more than our can in general. However, time will tell as lifestyles are changing here now too as the relentless onslaught of advertising is making Asians ever more like their Western counterparts. So, here are my top five tips for cleaning in the kitchen without the use of over-harsh chemicals.

Tasteless: you know sometimes when you cut a slice of bread or cake on the chopping board, the bread or whatever tastes 'funny' - of something else? Usually, the foreign taste is onions, garlic, leeks or ginger. Well, instead of rubbing it with bleach or something else nasty, just rub in half a lemon or even the remnants of a lemon after a gin and tonic, leave stand for ten minutes and then rinse it off. The chopping board will lose its smell and will probably whiten (bleach) up too if it was discoloured.

Brown Cups: stained tea or coffee cups look horrible, don't they? Most people reach for the bleach again, but far too much bleach is being flushed into our rivers and seas. It does not do much good in a septic tank either as bleach will kill the organisms that break down the waste. So, how do you clean those horrible brown cups? Just put some salt on a damp cloth and scour. Very easy. Some people use denture cleaner, but I say that salt is cheaper and more natural.

Good News At Last: stainless steel sinks do not remain unstained for long, but there are plenty of sprays you can buy to buff them up with. However, the best thing to do is to leave the sprays in the supermarket and reach for yesterday's newspaper. Soak it a page at a time and use it to buff the metal. It will come up a treat.

Furry Kettles: if you live in a hard water area, you will already know about the problem of kettles furring up, but what do you do about it? Rush to the supermarket for a bottle of something nasty again? The cheapest and most eco-friendly ways are these: either fill the kettle with 50% water and 50% vinegar, boil and let stand overnight; or fill the kettle with cold water and freeze it solid, allow to melt and the fur will come away in the water.

Caramel Coating: it is far easier to clean caramel from a pan in plain cold water than in hot soapy suds with the rest of the washing up.



Autor: Owen Jones

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a lot of topics, but is currently occupied with Body Glove neoprene products. If you would like to know more about Body Glove Wetsuit Sale, please go over to our website for some impressive bargains.


Added: January 10, 2010
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

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