It’s sometimes hard to remember the worktop has a practical purpose other than making your kitchen look gorgeous – either way stains and spills are not helping.
Every day: Naturally you want to keep food-preparation areas scrupulously clean, so wipe down work surfaces before and after every use. You can use an antibacterial spray, but warm water and washing-up liquid is enough if you are thorough.
Ceramic tiles: Clean up the grouting with a solution of one part bleach to four parts water, using an old toothbrush to scrub between the tiles. Stains can be tackled with an all-purpose kitchen cleaner, but be careful of abrasive cleaners on glazed tiles.
Laminate: Stubborn stains can be cleaned with cream cleaners or a paste of bicarbonate of soda with a few drops of chlorine bleach.
Solid wood: Regular oiling is required to prevent the wood soaking up water – follow manufacturer’s recommendations carefully. Firm rubbing with a cloth and a washing-up liquid solution should clean up the wood, but take care not to allow spills of tomato sauce, curry etc to sit on the surface as they can be tough to remove.
Stainless steel: Fingermarks can be removed with a microfibre cloth or try a dab of baby oil on a clean cloth. Avoid any abrasive materials, which could scratch the surface.
Granite: Hardwearing and resistant to stains, washing-up liquid is all that’s required here. Avoid any abrasive materials, which could scratch the surface.
I love a clean house. We have 2 cats who are NOT allowed on kitchen surfaces but we all know that cats do what they want when you are not looking. So, before I cook, I take my dish rag and run it under hot water with dishwashing liquid. I carefully add a splash of my mixture of 1 gal. of water to 1 Tbsp of household bleach to the dish rag. I wipe down all the kitchen surfaces with the rag. I also use that method as I'm cooking to catch spills and again when I'm finished cooking. I don't sit down to eat until the kitchen is clean, and as many pans as possible are clean. I enjoy eating much more, knowing the kitchen is clean. When we're finished eating, all that's left are the dishes we ate from. They're rinsed and put in the dishwasher. I can spend the rest of the evening doing whatever I like.
Posted by La-toya
If your laminate work surfaces are worn from too much scrubbing, apply a light coat of stainless steel polish and buff dry (after cleaning, of course!). Stainless steel polish is made to be used on food preparation surfaces, so it's non-toxic. The polish keeps your work surfaces smooth and easy to wipe down. Plus, stains won't set in as quickly!
Posted by frencil
Apparently you can remove rust stains from plastic work surfaces with lemon juice - didn't work when I tried it but maybe I needed a higher concentration of juice...
Posted by gandolph
Always check manufacturer's instructions first. Always try a test patch first. If you are unsure as to whether the item you are cleaning is suitable for our instructions, take professional cleaning advice first.
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