How your bread bin could be making you secretly sick without you even knowing…
WE’RE ALL guilty of leaving certain areas of the kitchen alone, hoping on some level that they just clean themselves.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the case and those hard-to-reach areas will collect grime and dust until you finally tackle them.
But what areas are we actually talking about here?
Queen of Clean Lynsey Crombie, who is a bestselling author, influencer and TV personality, has spoken exclusively to Fabulous to dish the dirt.
Here, she tells us all the areas we tend to neglect – and exactly how to get them sparkling again.
Bread Bin
This is a classic, but doesn’t make it any less true. People often forget to empty it, clean it and bring it back to a hygienic state before reloading it with bread.
Lynsey explained that there could even be “mouldy bread sat” in there, which causes “horrible smells” while breeding bacteria.
“Check this weekly and wash out with warm soapy water,” she said, explaining that there’s a simple solution to this problem.
Cooker hood filters
Lynsey explained: “These often become sticky and hang onto old cooking smells.
“Do the sticky hand test on this at least once a month, if your hand sticks to it, it is time to clean.”
‘How,’ you ask? Simple, you simply soak them in a bowl of warm, soapy water “with a dash of white vinegar”.
After leaving for 30 minutes, simply wipe the grime off and give it another rinse.
Kick boards
This is one for the pet owners as the hair can easily cling onto the kick boards and fester bacteria.
Lynsey said this is also a forgotten area when it comes to food splatters and spillages.
“A good ‘hand and knee’ clean with warm soapy water should be done seasonally but in-between, use a baseboard buddy and clean over with hot water,” she advised.
Lynsey continued: “If your kitchen cabinets don’t go to the ceiling then they are likely to be covered in a thick layer of sticky dust.
“One way to prevent this build up is to line the tops of your cupboards with newspaper or kitchen roll and change monthly or alternatively due to the stickiness get up there with a bowl of warm soapy water with a dash of white vinegar and a few good quality microfibre cloths.”
Kitchen plug hole
“These can stink, and they take a lot of waste,” Lynsey said.
This is why it’s important to clean it out every single week.
The best way to do this is to “pop a large scoop of bicarbonate of soda down there, leave for 15 minutes then flush out with boiled water from your kettle”.
Dish clothes and sponges
Lynsey shared: “These hold more germs than your toilet seat!
“Ensure they are cleaned regularly, pop in the dishwasher or soak in boiled water and disinfectant.”
Washing up bowl
“Always check the bottom as they can be covered in odd bits of food, grease and tea/coffee,” Lynsey warned.
She added: “Flip it over and give it a daily scrub with washing up liquid and a dish brush.”
Fridge seal
The fridge seal is easy to forget about when doing a deep clean of the kitchen, but if left untouched for too long it is a sure way to build up mould.
Lynsey said this can lead to unpleasant smells, too.
“Cover a blunt knife in a wet microfiber cloth, add some white vinegar and then place in-between the rubber seal gaps and clean away,” she shared.
Under the fridge
“A haven of odd bits of food that have fallen out as you get food out,” Lynsey said of the bottom of a fridge.
“Use a flat head mop tool and regularly sweep under to remove those odd bits.”
She added that high contact areas such as light switches, cupboard and fridge handles, oven fan buttons and more should be cleaned weekly with disinfectant.
As for her favourite product to tackle any grime in the home? White vinegar is the answer.
And luckily for all of us, it costs just £2 from B&Q.
Lynsey Crombie is the UK’s No1 home expert, best-selling author and TV presenter. @lynsey_queenofclean