I’m so dirty I should be dead!

Australia currently has an exceptionally high rate of allergies of all sorts in children. No one is quite sure why but one of the theories under review is that today's children are growing up in environments that are too clean. The widespread use of antibacterial products, sprays and wipes is thought to be one of the culprits. Kids need exposure to a range of "germs" in their early years that help to populate their gut bacteria and develop healthy responses to everyday bugs.

I have been using the same butcher block wooden chopping board for all foods for over 40 years and after use it just gets scrubbed under running water with a bit of detergent. No problems ever.

There is a world of difference between homes that are dirty and smelly and homes that are clean enough. Like all the recent advice about replacing pillows and mattresses after a certain time. It's all about selling more products not about healthy living environments.

I have been cooking for my family(ies|) since I was 8 years old and no one has ever had food poisoning. I don't use sprays or antiseptic wipes and find a quick wipe with a freshly rinsed dish cloth is enough to keep reasonable cleanliness. Most of the mess in the oven burns off eventually and have never had a problem with a knife block.

Cutlery drawers occasionally get tipped out to empty them of mystery bits that fall into them and similarly the toaster gets turned upside down and bashed when it starts to smoke. Oh yes a regular splash of household bleach down the kitchen sink if there is a hint of a smell!

The only regular clean is the powder/liquid drawer in the washing machine which in recent years grows black yucky gunge and needs a good scrub! Also my toilet is spotless due to DGC spills and accidents!

I don't know how we have all survived!!

Hilarious! Life is too short to bother with any of that.

Did Anthea Turner set that questionnaire

I think a lot of it is just using peoples fear of germs to sell ever more products.
Surfaces can no longer just be clean, they have to have 99 percent less germs, and so on. Ad nauseam.

I am in complete agreement MOnica

I hated the trend in restaurants that instead of plates, food was on a wooden block, they never went through the dishwasher in the kitchen. Now they are covered by plastic, but I do avoid restaurants that use them. I don’t have a knife block and my knives are clean but blunt.

I put my wooden chopping board about every 6 months in the dishwasher and never scrub it in between times. it is only for veg. We have another for bread and plastic for poultry which goes into the dishwasher.

Using all this disinfectent is bad for our rivers and the bacteria are back again in a few seconds apparently. It does us good to be in amongst all this bacteria because we have to become immune to it to survive.
I only hope that all these anti bacteria cleaning fiends don’t have dogs as the smell must be so unpleasant for them. I hate the smell myself.

By the way, I think those sanitising gels that are so popular nowadays probably help the spread of germs more than they prevent it. Why? Because they are sticky and sticky residues are left on everything touched by people who use them. I bet the germs that land on them are building up anti-sanitising strength.

We've overdone anti-biotics. Now we're overdoing sanitising.

I started reading it, scanned down and decided some people are bonkers terrified of life ?

Do people really have lives that contain empty time enough to even think about doing all that stuff?

Yeesh! Would we even have evolved if dirt is so bad for us? Mega eye roll ?

I read The Times 'quiz' this morning and failed miserably I am happy to say. Life's too short to obsess about a peck o' muck. This article was clearly aimed at women. Can you imagine any man reading it and fretting that he had not disinfected his bins and changed his hand towels daily? This is just another way of making women feel guilty for having better things to do. Don't fall for it, all that anti bacterial spray is bad for the environment and bad for our health. We need to use fewer to combat anti biotic resistance and maintain a healthy microbiome.

I ditched my wooden knife block for a plastic see through one with removable top and bottom - the top has multiple slots in it so houses a variety of knives and the whole lot goes in the dishwasher. I change tea towels most days and clean dishcloths with bleach on a regular basis. I don't have wooden chopping boards but use plastic ones in various colours - red being for meat which goes in the dishwasher after use. I can see when the cutlery drawer needs cleaning. I change the beds every other week and hoover the mattress every few months when I remember! Must confess to the toaster harbouring crumbs underneath it for a couple of days though.

Mostly my knives go in the dishwasher and live on a magnetic board which, I suppose should have a wipe every so often. The oven has been professionally cleaned recently and I have been known to take the shelves out and wash them thoroughly in the dishwasher. Ditto the plastic chopping boards after every use. So far, so good, but the cutlery drawer? That's a different story.

I like my wooden or bamboo boards and will continue to use them - they seem to be hygienic enough for us.
The thought of a bit of plastic getting into my food is enough to put me off using plastic ones.

I've got some Enjo cloths, you're supposed to be able to use them with just plain water.

I wash up, wipe up, a use a damp cloth everywhere else, or a spray of something if there's a grimy area.
Beyond that I've no interest.

Well said MOnica

I'm not allowed to use glass or ceramic chopping boards - apparently they 'blunt the knives'.

I do everything as instructed by DH as recommended yet my knives still become blunt.

I treat all the advice on how to clean all these kitchen and other appliances with the same contempt that I treat all the conflicting advice that comes from the health people on all the damage every foodstuff known can do to you.

It is all a deep and misogynal plot to make women feel inadequate and return to the kitchen.

No -one has ever developed food poisoning as the result of food emanating from my kitchen and until that happens I will continue in my clearly dirty, insanitary and unhygienic ways and spend my time doing thingsthat interest me far more.

Oooops cutlery drawer....oven, shelves......or not!!! ...or?✅

That's why I prefer the glass chopping boards. Must go and clean my cutlery drawer now!!!

But no more of them than get caught in scratches on a plastic chopping board, A study showed that more bacteria lingered on a plastic board than on a wooden one news.ncsu.edu/2014/09/cutting-boards-food-safety/ (and several others, just Google)

Interestingly, the type of wood makes a difference. Hardwood is better than softwood.

A wooden board can be sandpapered to smooth the scratches.

The tiniest bits of food can get caught in scratches on a wooden chopping board.

I thought that wood is a natural anti-bacterial? My chopping boards are bamboo and I give them a scrub in hot soapy water after use then leave them to drain and dry.

I don’t own a knife block or tea towels, prefer to let things drain dry or use kitchen roll if I must have something dried immediately.

I clean the cutlery drawer when upon opening I realise it’s needing a clean

I clean my wooden chopping board with soda bic and vinegar whenever I remember.

I’m not a fan of being obsessively clean as I personally think it’s important to build up immunities.