Natural Disinfectants in the Kitchen
December 6, 2008 by Marye Audet
Filed under Home & Living
I have noticed lots of people who are all about natural cleaners elsewhere get all freaky when it comes to the kitchen. All of a sudden a look of panic crosses their face and they pull out the trigger bottle of clorox.
People are admittedly afraid of words like e Coli and Salmonella. No one wants to deal with a bout of that! With all of the awfulness and filth of conventionally factory farmed meat there is real concern about these bacteria being in your food. Even if you are vegetarian some farms use the manure from factory farms and there ya go…the cycle continues.
And yeah, I realize that organic meats can have the same bacteria…just a bit more unusual.
Anyway, while those things are very scary they are not indestructible. They are especially not as indestructible as the soap manufacturers would have you believe. Keeping safe in the kitchen with natural products is very do-able.
- Washing hands with hot, soapy water is just as effective against these bacteria as antibacterial soaps containing triclosan.
- Wash hands after handling meat and eggs, every time.
- Have separate cutting boards for vegetables, meat, and other products.
- Replace cutting boards when they become scratched. Bacteria can get into the scratches and is hard to remove.
- Soak leafy greens and then wash them several times.
- Use 3% solution hydrogen peroxide and white vinegar to disinfect surfaces. Keep them in separate spray bottles and spray first one and then the other on the surface. This can be used on fruits and veggies as well.
By using common sense and some natural ingredients you can have a bacteria free kitchen naturally.
Image:morguefile
I use plain vinegar all the time. Undiluted lemon juice will kill just abaout everything, too. Did you know that even a dilution of lemon juice will /kill/ HIV?
Lemon juice is even used for birth control. I keep it around to make sure my kitchen counters don’t get pregnant.
Julie..you crack me up….have that baby would you?
I am going in on the 16th, just a bit over a week to have it removed. Sort of like a growth, which if you could see me, you would swear it was. Can we all say ‘beached whale’?
He does keep trying to kick airholes and such. I have never had so many contractions and false starts. Bleh!
Awww…my midwife says no such hting as false starts..just warm up exercise..
If it helps you any mine were all 21 days late to the day.
The 16th! I’m behind. Good luck Julie, in case I miss telling you later. Also, Cedar was born exactly on his due date, which there’s a less than 10% chance of – he must have heard me say the date nine million times. PS Marye – good post, I linked it.
PS again, I wish lemon juice killed spiders – all of them.
Thanks Jennifer! None of mine hit on their due date. Two were early, two were late. This one is a scheduled, so he is coming 5 days earlier than his actual date.
@Marye: 21 days. Good grief! I’m just glad they’re taking him, I had enough of regular labor and after the last one, I can’t do labor anymore. S’ok with me.
thanks jennifer.
julie…let me know o.k.?