Home Disinfecting: How to Keep Your Kitchen Clean

During this pandemic, how clean is your home? It might be close to impossible to disinfect and sanitize all parts of your home. Your daily activities might increase the risk of infection in your home. That’s why our professional sanitizing services are here to help you disinfect your home thoroughly.

Here at ServiceMaster by Wright, we prioritize your safety.  While COVID-19 continues to threaten everyone’s safety, we are doing our best to fight it off. Although we understand that you might want the help of a professional sanitizing company, we also understand that you might want to do it yourself. Therefore, we came up with some helpful tips in home sanitizing and disinfecting. First, let’s talk about the materials needed.

Materials Needed

·       Skin Protection

·       Rubber gloves

·       Face mask

·       Protective eyewear 

·       Disinfectant

·       Alcohol

·       Hand Sanitizer

·       Soap

·       Cleaning

·       Microfiber cloth/Cleaning rag

·       Paper towels

·       Disinfecting wipes/sponge

·       Mop

·       Detergent

·       Hydrogen peroxide

Disinfecting Your Kitchen

The kitchen is where the magic happens. This is the place where a lot of greases, oil, liquid, and other substances are present. Kitchen surfaces can not only harbor the bacteria we transfer from our hands and belongings but also foodborne bacteria so it's particularly important to disinfect items properly.

Disinfect the commonly touched and shared surfaces in the kitchen such as:

·         Countertops

Your countertops have the highest traffic in your kitchen. This is where you slice your fruits, cut your vegetables, and chop your meat. You also set things on them like your grocery bags or cooked food. Therefore, this place must be sanitized thoroughly.

Start by scrubbing down your countertops to remove dirt and grime. Ideally, use disinfecting wipes or if you want to save money, you can use a microfiber towel, dip it in your detergent with warm water solution and scrub down your countertops at least once every two weeks.

If you can’t find a good cleaner anywhere and you’re out of cleaning supplies at home, pick up a bottle of hydrogen peroxide instead. Spray it on the surface and leave it for at least one minute. Then use a paper towel or cleaning rag to wipe it off.

·         Faucets/Cabinet handles/Refrigerator doors

Spray the surface until thoroughly wet, making sure to cover the lip and base. Next, wipe with a clean cloth or sponge. Lastly, to sanitize, leave for 30 seconds and to disinfect, leave for 10 minutes.

·         Trash can lids

Your trash can be the dirtiest place in your kitchen.  A wet environment will promote mold and bacteria, that’s why it’s very important to keep your trash can dry. If you see that your trash can lid is wet, wipe the surface with a dry cloth. If dirt and grime are present, wash it with disinfecting wipes or soap with water. After washing, wipe with a dry cloth to prevent mold growth.

·         Kitchen floor

Whether from everyday spills, a pet accident, or other bacteria-inviting occurrences, it's important to put an end to potentially harmful bacteria before it has a chance to thrive on your kitchen floor. For heavy dirt and soil, use a scrubber to remove debris. For weekly disinfecting, you can use a mop. It’s better to use an EPA-registered disinfectant to help sanitize thoroughly.

Other tips for kitchen disinfecting:

•  Wash dishes and utensils in hot water after each use, or use dishwasher.

•  Wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds after handling any used dishes or utensils.

•  If using a dishwasher, choose the rinse cycle at the highest temperature option to kill the most germs.

•  Clean your kitchen daily and use the disinfecting products we mentioned in the first section of this article.