The kitchen is the heart of your house. And like most people, you probably try to clean it on a regular basis.

However, there are things in your kitchen that are easy to overlook and can pose serious health risks. Kitchen cleaning mistakes are common and can lead to buildup of grime and stains or even food borne illness.

If you want to get serious about your kitchen cleaning routine, we’ve compiled a list of five common kitchen cleaning mistakes and how to avoid them.

1. Not Cleaning Knobs and Handles

Your kitchen is full of appliances: refrigerator, microwaves and ovens, coffeemaker, and probably even more than that. And all of these appliances have various knobs, buttons, and handles that are touched on a daily basis.

Imagine cutting some chicken, and then reaching for the stove knob because you need to turn down the burner. If you forget to thoroughly clean the knobs afterwards, you risk cross-contamination.

Not to mention the grime and grit that build up over time if you neglect cleaning. This is probably one of the most common kitchen cleaning mistakes, so make sure to do your due diligence.

2. The Kitchen Sink

Believe it or not, the kitchen sink is probably the dirtiest place in your kitchen. You wash your dishes, your hands, thaw meats, and all kinds of other potentially germ-spreading activities.

Just rinsing the sink with water isn’t going to cut it either. Make sure to regularly swab down your sink with bleach to kill all the germs. And never wash chicken in the sink!

3. The Disposal

You may not really think of your disposal as something that gets gross. Food and other garbage gets washed down, ground up, and whisked away.

And since we wash water and soap down the disposal constantly, its clean right? Not exactly. Bits of food can get stuck in the disposal and start to stink.

To clean the disposal, grind up some lemons and ice cubes. This will dislodge debris and clean up the gross old wet food smell.

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4. Appliances

Appliances, especially things like coffee makers and ovens, can eventually build up deposits and gunk that will start to smell or even affect taste. This is a common kitchen cleaning mistake, and easy to fix.

For coffee makers, run a mix of water and white vinegar through it. If it’s been a long time since you’ve cleaned it (or never), give it a couple of rounds.

And for cleaning ovens, the self-cleaning mechanism doesn’t always do the job. Use baking soda and water to scrub, and also make sure to thoroughly soak and scrub the racks.

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5. Dish Rags and Towels

When was the last time you washed your dish rags? If you’re not washing your kitchen fabrics on a regular basis, they pose a high risk of spreading food borne illnesses, or at the very least, getting really gross.

Make sure to wash your kitchen laundry after a day or so of use, especially if you leave rags in the sink.

Parting Words on Kitchen Cleaning Mistakes

If you’re working on doing better with your kitchen cleaning, make sure to stick to a regular cleaning schedule. This will help make fewer kitchen cleaning mistakes and will make using your kitchen much more enjoyable.

Looking for more kitchen and cooking tips? Check out our articles, and feel free to contact us!