How often should you change your dishcloths? The 10 things in the kitchen you’re forgetting to clean

A cup of bicarbonate of soda and a cup of white vinegar down the sink once a week should keep your kitchen smelling sweet. Photo / Getty Images

Even the most meticulous amongst us can forget to target these key kitchen areas while cleaning.

You mop the floor before you stick to it and give the oven a good clean a few times a year. You’re no stranger to rubber gloves and antibac spray. You’re on top of things. No one’s calling the council.

But even in the best-run homes, there are parts of the kitchen that can get easily overlooked in our regular cleaning. The good news is that it requires little extra effort in our daily or weekly routines to keep them pristine.

Lots of the tasks I describe here are what I call “while the kettle boils jobs”; that is, you can do them in the time it takes to boil water. There is no white-glove test here, it’s not about perfection, more about creating a kitchen that’s a safe, efficient and enjoyable place to be.

We often talk about the kitchen being the heart of the home – and it often is – but what it also is, is the engine. All good things flow from there. Here’s how to tune it up so it runs as smoothly and happily as possible.

Handles

Anything you touch while you’re handling food needs very regular cleaning, ideally after every cooking session. Pay attention to appliances with touch pads such as microwaves and air fryers, and to fridge door handles in particular.

They need wiping down with a microfibre cloth and antibacterial spray or a dilute antibacterial cleaner daily. The good news is it only takes seconds.

Door handles are one of the worst culprits for bacteria. Photo / 123rf

While we’re here, don’t forget cupboard and drawer handles, particularly the kind of cup drawer pulls you tuck your fingers into to pull out the drawer. People often wipe over the top part of these and neglect to clean the insides, where your fingers go.

I know one kitchen designer who doesn’t like using them because he says no one ever cleans them properly and the thought of the bacteria building up on the underside of them makes him anxious, but that’s probably best left between him and his therapist. Just give them a quick wipe, inside and out, when you’re wiping down the cabinets or drawers.

Dishwasher seals

These can become very grimy. Warmth and moisture, combined with food scraps, create bacteria’s favourite buffet.

Get into the habit of wiping the seals down with paper towels or a clean tea towel regularly and once a week, give them a quick spritz with an antibacterial spray followed by a wipe with a microfibre cloth.

The forgotten bits of the fridge

While we regularly pay attention to the inside of the fridge, being vigilant about spoiled food, wiping down spills, cleaning out the salad drawer and so on, sometimes we neglect the exterior. The top of the fridge can become a bit of a dumping ground, so every month or so, remove everything from the top and give it a vigorous wipe down with a microfibre cloth soaked in antibacterial cleaner and then tightly wrung out.

Every six months, move the fridge out of its space, vacuum and mop beneath it, and vacuum the coils at the back of the fridge using the crevice tool on your vacuum cleaner. This will help your fridge run more efficiently and prolong its life.

While maintaining the inside the fridge is a given, many forget to keep the appliance's exterior clean. Photo / 123rf

Cutlery drawer

With your whole household opening and shutting it several times a day, it’s hardly surprising it can become crumby and sticky.

Once a month, take everything out, give the drawer a thorough wipe with a microfibre cloth and antibacterial cleaner, wash any cutlery dividers and let it all dry thoroughly before putting everything back.

Sinks

If you’re not already, get into the habit of cleaning down your sink each time you use it significantly. I’m not talking about just using a teaspoon or two, but when you’re cleaning up after dinner or after each significant period of food prep.

Obviously, wipe down the sink and the taps, but also wash the area around the sink and the splashback to remove any bacteria that may have, well, splashed on it while you’ve been working.

Don’t forget to clean the seal between the sink and the counter. It can get quite grimy, particularly with under-mounted sinks. If it’s quite dirty, dip an old toothbrush in antibacterial cleaner and give it a scrub before rinsing and wiping down.

Once a week or so, put a cup of bicarbonate of soda and a cup of white vinegar down the sink, leave it for an hour or so and then flush it with a kettle of boiling water. This will help keep your kitchen sanitary and sweet-smelling.

The cooker hood

These hard-working beasts can become horribly greasy and because they are above eye level, they can often be neglected. If you don’t want to give up precious sofa time to deep cleaning, give them a quick once over every week.

Cooker hoods tend to be neglected during kitchen cleans. Photo / iStock

Mercifully, most modern extractors have removable parts which you can put in the dishwasher. If you don’t have a dishwasher, just give them a soak in hot, soapy water, rinse and dry. Wipe down the external parts with a microfibre cloth soaked in hot, soapy water and then wrung out well.

Around the hob or hob top

I know you’re probably wiping up spills as they happen, but we often neglect the join between the cooker or hob top and the counter. It can get quite gummy with grease and crumbs.

Give it a scrub with an old toothbrush dipped in detergent – if you want, you can even get right into those crevices with a toothpick – before wiping it down.

The kickboard

We wash the floors and we wipe down the cabinets, but we often forget the kickboard, the Cinderella of the kitchen. It gets quite dusty and scuffed, from the unfortunate kicks that give it its name, and also from being bashed by the mop as we clean the floor.

Show it a little love, won’t you? Or at least – you know the drill - a microfibre cloth soaked in hot, soapy water and then wrung out well.

The compost bin

Many of us now have in-kitchen compost bins, or at least somewhere we save our kitchen scraps before putting them outside into large compost bins or for council collection.

When they’re emptied, get into the habit of washing them out thoroughly, including the lid and lid seals, as they can become quite smelly and a breeding ground for those tiny emissaries of Satan, fruit flies.

Compost bins should be washed out thoroughly after being emptied.

Your equipment

There is some terrifying, only slightly-made-up-by-me statistic that people only change their dishcloths at Christmas, Easter and for the King’s birthday. Honestly, this is the thing that’ll get me lining up for therapy alongside the kitchen designer drawer-pull guy.

Don’t do this to yourselves. Damp, dirty dishcloths are delicious to dangerous bacteria.

I use fresh dishcloths and tea towels every day – more, if I’m doing a lot of work in the kitchen. I also wash aprons and oven gloves frequently and put scrubby sponges, pan scrubbers and the old toothbrushes I use for detailed cleaning in the dishwasher to keep them hygienic.

And finally…

This isn’t so much about cleaning as it is about embracing life. Open the window. Whenever you can, open the window. Perhaps because I’m northern, I’m fanatical about ventilation. It will help keep your kitchen fresh smelling and wholesome, and it is also free.