Did you read that germaphobes? Up to ten million bugs on our hands at any given time.

Finger lick'n good.

.........and that's not counting the big'uns that live in your eyelashes......

I'm moderately concerned about clean (although don't come and look at our place just this very moment, ok? give me a day or two's notice?), but I'm related to a couple of hyper-clean freaks, and they can really provoke me to rebellion when they come sniffing about our place, especially the kitchen. Their places are always antiseptic -- it's hard to believe people actually live there, certainly hard to believe anyone ever relaxes there.

I like relaxing. Relaxing probably means tolerating a few microbes. Or something.

There have been lots of stories suggesting that our hyper-clean houses may explain some of the rise in incidence of allergies, although I can see there must be many causes for those stats.

Raw poultry is about the only thing that makes me instantly manic about washing everything in sight, anything that may have made the slightest contact with the bird.

Otherwise, I think it's not a bad thing to encourage our systems to toughen up a little by harbouring some of Tommy's wee animalcules.

[ October 28, 2002: Message edited by: skdadl ]

My pet peeve? Folks who still use a dishcloth or even worse, a sponge and .... keep using it. They don't disinfect it, or toss it in the wash and use a new one. THOSE things are bacteria maternity wards, and I've watched folks wipe their counters with them after washing all of ther dishes. Yuck.

I use vinegar. Soemtimes I'll sprinkle baking soda over the countertops and then spray it.... but that's more for my own amusement.

quote:

---

THOSE things are bacteria maternity wards, and I've watched folks wipe their counters with them after washing all of ther dishes. Yuck.

---

You shouldn't re-used a sponge or dishcloth.

Once you've washed a sink full of dirty dishes, toss it in the hamper.

Otherwise you use it once, okay.... There's a small amount of bacteria on there from the food, and a warm, moist environment. If left alone, they will multiply at a facsniating rate in the sponge or dishcloth. Then, you use it again to wash the dishes, providing the bacteria with more food and moisture. Then you wipe your counter with it. See what I mean?

I use a stiff plastic scrub brush to wash the dishes, it has soap in it, and bacteria can't take root. Rinse it with super hot water, or spritz it with my vinegar bottle. Then I wipe down the counters with a paper towel and compost it. Or, I use one of those blue j-cloths and toss them in the hamper to wash them at the end of the week.

Don't forget the fridge, microwave and stove handles.

quote:

---

There's an old saying that each of us is supposed to eat a peck of dirt in our lives -- the implication being that a little dirt is good for us. (Does anyone remember how big a peck is? I think it's quite a quantity.)

---

According to this page, skdadl, there are various definitions... but it looks like a unit of volume equal to 1/4 of a bushel.

Now, how much is a bushel, you may ask?

Well, for ale, beer, or porter, 8 gallons (Imperial, of course); or for flour, 56 pounds.

quote:

---

The upset guest told me she'd just read an article on how unsanitary wooden kitchen implements were. A butcher block might look elegant, but it was unhealthy, as were bread boards and meat planks of the sort I cherished. "Think of all those pores and nicks," she continued. "It makes sense that germs would thrive on wood. You never can get it really clean."

It did make sense. Soon I too saw articles exhorting cooks to avoid porous, organic, and germ-encouraging wood in favor of inert sterilizable plastic. Sadly I replaced my cherished wooden things with inorganic, impervious plastic, stuff so hostile to bacteria that nothing seems to cause it to decay.

Science giveth bad news, but sometimes it taketh away again. Recently, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have concluded that wood is good---and plastic is unhealthy.

---

The peck of dirt thing... I keep telling that to my MIL who freaks out when the wee grils kiss the dog and the cats on the lips (I did as a kid and was darned healthy) or eat what they find on the floor before I get to it. I figure I'm a reasonably good parent because I don't let them play in the toilet (usually).

Okay, I'm exaggerating. But I go by the "clean enough to be healthy, dirty enough to be happy" rule at our house. I wash the dishcloths now and then, and the dishes are put through the dishwasher and the dishcloth and sponge get scalded with the kettle when there's a bit of hot water left. Nobody's ever gotten sick from eating out of my kitchen. I just don't have the time or the energy to be disinfecting everything all the time.

I'm surprized. Though, I had always thoughts that some good hot water would be fine enough... I'd use a wooden board if I had one.

quote:

---

I think some of the cheerios have more or less permanently afixed themselves to the floor under Ms T's chair...

---

In our kitchen, it's the cat food ... Actually, all over the house, it's the cat something or other ...

quote:

---

In our kitchen, it's the cat food ... Actually, all over the house, it's the cat something or other ...

---

When Renzo was younger, sponges were his favourite toy. He fished them out of the sink. I'd even find them - damp - in my bed!

His other favourite toy was even more disgusting. He would fish tampons out of their box if I left it on the dresser or left the drawer I kept them in open, and play with them until the cello was off and the string made a perfect mouse tail. I'd let him do that all he liked, since obviously the thing had to be discarded, but hide them in a hurry if anyone happened to visit me. Somehow the association of even unused tampax lying around on the floor in accumulated dust with a dollop of cat hair was unsavoury to say the least...

My dad owns a bakery. The main table, where almost every dough, pastry, pie fill - whatever at some point rests is the old style chopping block material. The oh-so-clever food inspection folks tried to tell him that he had to replace the top of it with a plastic top. He told them that he thought they should perhaps go back and research that tip - cause his chopping block style table was far more sanitary than any plastic one. It gets scrubbed down at the end of the day with water and vinegar solution (a pretty healthy one at that) and at the end of the week with water and bleach solution.

quote:

---

The peck of dirt thing... I keep telling that to my MIL who freaks out when the wee grils kiss the dog and the cats on the lips (I did as a kid and was darned healthy) or eat what they find on the floor before I get to it. I figure I'm a reasonably good parent because I don't let them play in the toilet (usually

---

quote:

---

My grandkidlets get kissed by the dawg and kiss the cats.
So far no rabies.

---

Still you should be careful.

quote:

---

Those kids can carry all sorts of things you know

---

I know, the youngest kidlette whacked the dawg over the head with one of those long handled rolling toys.

She has a few knick-knacks, but nothing like the amount of them that most old ladies her age has. After having quintuple bypass surgery a few years back (yeah, quintuple - I'm not sure how that's possible but apparently it is), she used to feel terrible about the state of her house. I never knew what she was talking about, though, because it looked absolutely spotless to me.

Oh, and laundry! Don't get me started on the deeper philosophy of folding clothes JUST SO. My friends think I'm anal about folding clothes because I fold my underwear. Um, no. My Oma is truly scary that way. You could measure the right angles of her folded laundry with a square.

And ironing! She irons EVERYTHING. She gets casual shirts out of the dryer - immediately after the dryer is finished - and they're perfectly fine. Nope, she has to iron them. I'm not sure whether she irons her sheets, but it wouldn't surprise me. (Of course, Andrean irons her sheets, hee hee.)

My grandparents moved out of their house into a seniors' apartment a couple of months back. We went in there to clean up. The place was spotless except for a bit of dirt on the floor from the movers.

My grandmother now has a cleaning service come in once a week or so to do the heavy cleaning. She never thinks they clean well enough. Her cleaning is a family giggle and always has been. I remember one time my grandparents came for a visit back when they were well and lived out of town. We spent about 2 days scouring the house from top to bottom. There was one light fixture in the hallway above the door, and since the house was a split level bungalow, the ceiling was at the top of one and a half stories instead of just one storey. And on that light fixture, there was a spider web that we kept putting off cleaning.

quote:

---

My grandmother now has a cleaning service come in once a week or so to do the heavy cleaning. She never thinks they clean well enough.

---

My grandmother checks the amount of fluff in the vacuum cleaner after the cleaning lady leaves to see if she's vacuumed thoroughly.

quote:

---

My grandkidlets get kissed by the dawg and kiss the cats.
So far no rabies.

---

I wash dishes with a scotch brite pad. It tends not to get clogged with food because I pre-rinse dishes. (and so does Emily, who is in charge of dinner dishes) At the end, I rinse it, and shake it dry, and leave it out to dry further while I clean up everything else.

I figure bacteria are like any other form of life. You may not kill them if you dry everything, but they certainly can't reproduce without moisture. So, everything get dried. Counter, sink, even the drain plugs. I store all that stuff, the dry pad, the plugs in a wooden box beside the sink. When you're done, it just makes everything look a bit nicer. No dish washing liquid bottle hanging about either; I have a blue cermic pump bottle for that.

It's a good thing.

Once in a blue moon I'll take all the utensils from the drawer out and put them in the sink with bleach, along with the plastic thingy that holds them.

I don't worry about the microwave. I figure any nasties get cooked anyway. Emily did clean it out a few weeks ago though. I know because the sound of the sand blasting outfit woke me up.

Some things are more expensive if your dwelling is a bit run-down. I have no major problems, it's a nice flat with no mould (had that problem where I lived before) and good windows for insulation, but the linoleum in the kitchen is worn-out and the landlord refuses to replace it, so I have to wax the damned thing all the time. Expensive as well as time-consuming.

(edit to add) A practice that really annoys me here in Québec is the fact that MANY people don't rinse their dishes after washing them, but just wipe them off. Revolting.

[ October 29, 2002: Message edited by: lagatta ]

http://stretcher.com/stories/02/02jun17t.html

I found this site really helpful, lots of links too.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?J56332642

Another theory is that by ending our millenia old symbiotic relationship with the tapeworm, we are subjecting people to inflammatory bowel disease.

When I took over the generalship of the kitchen, after my ex left, I instituted some new rules. I got rid of or hid all the dish washing tools when not in use, so that the counter looks clean and organized. I introduced the idea of rinsing dishes after they are washed. I noticed that plates and glasses shine now.

I'd be tempted to let the dishes air dry in the wire rack, (we had a plastic one before...good gosh, those things get gross and need constant bleaching) but I can't stand to look at the dishes on the counter. I'd rather the job be done. So, I bought about ten dish towels (all the same colour, matching the decore--such as it is-- of the kitchen) and every time the dishes are done, a clean dish towel is used.

Sometimes I will dry pots or frying pans on the stove over low heat. This morning I checked a pot to make sure that it wasn't too hot to put away. It was-- and I have several small blisters on the palm of my hand to prove it.

quote:

---

It tends not to get clogged with food because I pre-rinse dishes.

---

Wow, really? But doesn't it look weird when you set the table with wet dishes?

(snerk)

When I wash dishes, I run them under hot water from the faucet. That way any lingering yucky stuff is killed off and they air-dry faster. Dishcloth gets replaced when I think it needs laungering. I have enough laundry with a teenager and a toddler, and no one's died yet from a dishcloth that's been used for more than one dishwashing/counterswipe.

I always let them air dry. Lazy, and I find they stay really nasty after wiping several with a tea towel. And I don't tend to hang around in the kitchen watching dishes dry after the washing-up!

I always rinse them off under the tap. Can't stand our common local habit of just drying them after washing them in a basin, without rinsing. (Black Dog, you can add that one to poutine).

[ October 30, 2002: Message edited by: lagatta ]

While we're on the subject of disgusting household chores, how does one get the stain out of an old toilet bowl? Yes, of course I've poured bleach in it and let it sit all night, and scrubbed it. Helps a bit, but... unless I want to make it an archive of social history. It was certainly there when I arrived.

Does this relate to the saying about "piss and vinegar"?

The brown stain in the toilet bowl (aside from the ones we won't talk about) are from lime deposited when the water evaporates. The vinegar disolves it to some extent, and to a greater effect losens the bond between it and the porcelin.

Scrubbing it away without use of vinegar is time consuming and labour intensive. If, however, you ever want to get the water out of your toilet bowl for any reason, there's a tap, usually located under the toilet tank. Typically, it's chrome and oval shaped. You can turn that off, and this shuts off the supply of water to the tank. All you need to do then is flush a couple or three times, and that will empty the tank, and the bowl.

If the tap is stuck, which most of them are because they are seldom used, don't apply too much brute force; you could break a pipe and that would be a mess and a half.

I live in the Glebe in Ottawa.

I presume that it is sunny but cool in Ottawa today too. Usually you get the same weather as we do, a couple of hours earlier.