How Do I Clean My Cleaning Implements and Appliances?
Cleaning up around the house is an important part of maintaining good health and hygiene, but where do you turn when your cleaning supplies need a wash? Sponges, dishwashers, and rubber gloves can all pick up odours and contaminants. Ignoring this build-up is highly unsanitary, preventing proper cleaning around the home and spreading more germs in the process.
Steamatic’ professionals would like to present some tips for those who need to clean their cleaning implements. Read on to learn how to remove odours and bacteria from vital cleaning implements and appliances around the house.
Save stinky sponges.
Removing odours from sponges is easier than you might think, but the smell is the least of your problems when talking about a stinky sponge. A pungent sponge indicates the presence of large amounts of bacteria, which means a stinky sponge is unfit for dishwashing. If your sponge stinks, you need to replace or clean it right away. Otherwise, every wash is just smearing germs into wet dishes that will later be eaten off of.
To clean your sponge, run it through the washing machine. Alternately, you can run it through the dishwasher on the top rack. If neither of these options are available to you, soak your sponge in a bucket of water containing 2/3 cup of bleach for every gallon of water.
Sponges need to be changed often, regardless of how much effort you put into sterilization and cleaning. However, you can extend its life with a wash every few days.
Deodorize and disinfect the dishwasher.
Most people don’t even realize that they need to clean their dishwasher. After all, the dishwasher runs through multiple soapy cycles in a day’s work. You would think that this is enough to keep it clean, but the dishwasher needs to be maintained just like anything else around the house. Failing to do so will expose your family to bacteria-laden food particles.
Here are some simple steps you can take to keep your dishwasher clean:
- Scrape all food from plates and silverware before placing them in the dishwasher rack. This can seem like a wasted effort to some, especially since high-powered modern dishwashers will clean food-covered plates, but that food does not just disappear. Instead, it usually gets trapped in some internal components where it festers. This smells awful, and contaminates the clean your dishes are getting with every wash.
- Occasionally take the time to scrub the seals on the inside of your dishwasher door. Wash them with an old toothbrush dipped in some dish soap and warm water.
- Clean the trap from the dishwasher as often as you care to.
- Fill a mug with distilled white vinegar and plate it upright in the top rack. Now run a hot water cycle. This will run vinegar and water through your machine to disinfect and deodorize any problem areas. You can also sprinkle baking soda at the bottom of your dishwasher and run the same cycle for a similar effect.
Rid your rubber gloves of bacteria.
Rubber gloves are worn for some dirty jobs, so you will need to have some cleaning techniques handy if you don’t want to spread germs or chemicals around the house. Follow these simple instructions:
- Wash the outside of your gloves using a liquid detergent mixed into warm water. Pay special attention to any areas with textured grip, as these spots are prone to clinging to bacteria.
- Flip your gloves inside-out now, and do the same cleaning treatment that you used to wash the outside. Cleaning the inside of the gloves is even more important than cleaning the outside because it protects your hands.
- Rinse the gloves off and hang them to dry where air is allowed to circulate.
Additionally, you can always throw your rubber gloves through your washer.
Using these simple cleaning techniques, you should never have to worry about spreading germs with contaminated cleaning implements again! We hope this helps your home cleaning and maintenance efforts; if you need any heavy-duty help in future, you can see if our services are right for you at https://www.steamatic.ca.