The kitchen is the centre of the home. It’s the room we gravitate to, particularly when we’re hungry. Food is stored here, prepared here, served here and often eaten here. It’s where the dirty plates and cutlery return, and where scraps and rubbish are dealt with. It’s a zone of constant cleaning but also the space for creative culinary expression. Keep it clean and hygienic because it’s never a good idea to poison your guests or the children!
I can still picture my grandmother cleaning the oven. She used to wrap a tea towel over her face in an attempt to block the fumes created by the cleaning agent, caustic soda. It used to stink the kitchen out for a couple of hours. Methods aren’t as drastic now, though I prefer to use bicarb and vinegar to clean the oven rather than proprietary products.
Be careful when cleaning ovens because most are made of enamel and steel. Enamel is essentially very tough glass fired onto a steel base and will scratch if you use abrasives and scourers. If you can, wipe the oven every time you use it and clean it properly every couple of uses. Just make sure it’s cool enough that you don’t burn yourself! Remove the oven racks, rack supports, element and light cover and sprinkle the surface with bicarb, then splash some vinegar over the top. There will be a fizzing when the two come into contact. Scrub with a sponge or nylon brush as soon as this happens. To clean the sides of the oven, use one damp sponge dipped in bicarb, and another sponge dipped in vinegar. Apply the bicarb sponge first, then place the vinegar sponge over the top of the bicarb sponge and press the vinegar through both sponges. Once you’ve cleaned, rinse with water. If there are stubborn stains or burns reapply the bicarb and vinegar several times and use a nylon brush to scrub. In order to see what you’re cleaning on the oven roof, place a small mirror at the bottom of the oven.
Clean all the bits you removed with bicarb and vinegar. Let them stand before washing in the sink with detergent and water.
If you inherit a very scratchy oven, sand it gently with damp 2000-grade wet-and-dry or have it re-enamelled.
Q: ‘I’ve got a huge scorch mark on the oven glass,’ says Natalie. ‘Is there anything I can do?’
| Problem: | Scorch marks on the oven glass. |
| What to use: | Bicarb, vinegar, nylon brush. |
| How to apply: | Sprinkle bicarb onto the scorch mark at about the same thickness as you would sprinkle icing sugar onto the top of a cake. Then splash it with an equal amount of vinegar. While it’s fizzing, rub it with a nylon brush then rinse. You may need to repeat this several times. |
The griller is really just a small oven and should be cleaned the same way. For day to day cleaning, take the removable parts of the griller out and wash with detergent and water. Most stains should come off. For any stubborn stains, use bicarb and vinegar as described for the oven.
I almost burned the house down when I was fourteen. It was just like that ad on TV when the woman leaves some chips cooking on the stove while she answers the phone. The pan ignites in flames and she exclaims, ‘Oh my goodness, the chips!’ It was a bit like that with me. I was making choko chips and answered the door. I was only gone for about two minutes and in that time the plastic on the extractor fan was in flames and the wiring in the brick wall was also alight. Never leave a cooking fry pan!
Wipe the area every time you use it with either bicarb and vinegar or hot water and detergent. Gas jets should be removed and cleaned in water and detergent. Don’t use a scourer because it will scratch the surface. Make sure all the jets are clear before putting them back.
| Problem: | Smoke marks on splashback. |
| What to use: | Ash, bicarb, vinegar, cloth. |
| How to apply: | Use ash from a cigarette or from the fireplace. You need enough ash to make a thin covering over the smoke mark. Rub the ash over the mark and then clean it off with bicarb and vinegar on a cloth. |
| Problem: | Candle wax on stovetop. |
| What to use: | Ice cube, flat-bladed knife; or plastic/wooden spatula, detergent, cloth; old stockings. |
| How to apply: | Chill the wax by placing ice on it, then scrape as much of it away as possible with a flat-bladed knife. If you’re removing wax from an enamel stovetop, use a plastic or wooden spatula. Then mix cold water and detergent on a cloth to remove any remaining wax. You must use cold water because hot water will soften the wax, spread it and make it harder to remove. If it’s really hard to get off, rub the wax with an old pair of stockings or pantyhose. If you are melting candle wax on the stovetop, use a double boiler and always heat and stir slowly. |
If you think about all the fumes and particles sucked up by the rangehood, it’s no wonder it needs to be cleaned. Most modern rangehoods have stainless steel filters that can be put in the dishwasher or scrubbed in the sink with detergent and a nylon brush. Use bicarb and vinegar if the build-up is really stubborn. Charcoal filters should be washed backwards—that is, where the smoke comes out—and need to be replaced from time to time. Check the manufacturer’s instructions. Using the extractor fan is the best way to minimise stains on cupboards and odours in your house. The cupboard above the stove always ends up greasy. Store canned goods here instead of plates or glasses that need to be washed to get all the grease off. And don’t leave boxed goods here because heat and grease affect cardboard and can penetrate the packaging.
Pots and pans can be made of stainless steel, aluminium, teflon, enamel, copper, cast iron, tin or glass. The best way to wash them is with detergent and water. Don’t put pots and pans in the dishwasher if the handle is wooden, plastic or bakelite because it will fade and crack. Stains will come off more easily if you put a small amount of water and a drop of vinegar in your pots straight after using them.
If you have cast-iron pots, never put them in the dishwasher because they will rust. Instead, wash them by hand and dry them in the oven. Set the oven on its lowest temperature and allow it to warm, then turn it off and leave the cast-iron pot inside until it dries. Re-season cast iron with a little olive oil rubbed around the base with a paper towel, then let it heat through on the stove for a couple of minutes before wiping again with the same paper towel.
I have a very strong grip so I’m always breaking the plastic handle on lids. And there’s nothing trickier than trying to remove a hot lid without a handle. An easy replacement is a brass or ceramic cupboard doorknob with a screw-and-nut back.
Q: ‘I cook everything in my old wok,’ says Graeme. ‘It’s got to the point that if I can’t cook something in the wok, I won’t eat it! But it’s accumulated all this build-up which, despite some concerted scrubbing on my behalf, just won’t shift. Is there anything I can do?’
| Problem: | Burnt pan. |
| What to use: | Bicarb, vinegar, nylon brush. |
| How to apply: | Sprinkle bicarb into the pan then sprinkle vinegar over it. This will make it fizz. Scrub with a nylon brush while it’s fizzing. You may need to repeat this two or three times for bad burns. |
| Problem: | Egg stains in the pan. |
| What to use: | Rubber gloves, eggshell, aluminium foil, vinegar. |
| How to apply: | Put on rubber gloves. Then place half an eggshell together with a strip of aluminium foil and 1 cup of vinegar into the stained saucepan. Leave for half an hour and the egg stain will wipe off. The reason this works is that the calcium in the eggshell leaves a chalky deposit that absorbs the egg. I learned this from great-aunt Letitia’s wonderful notebook. |
| Problem: | Dent in a pan. |
| What to use: | Wooden spoon, hammer. |
| How to apply: | Place the edge of a wooden spoon on the pointed side of the dent, then tap a hammer lightly onto the other edge of the wooden spoon until the dent smoothes out. If the bottom of the pan has a dent, place one block inside and another block underneath the pan, then hammer the blocks and it will smooth out so you can cook evenly again. This technique can also be used for teflon pans. |
Q: ‘I picked up some old bakelite canisters at a second-hand store,’ says Jane, ‘but they’ve got some scratches on them. Is there anything to be done?’
| Problem: | A glued pot handle has cracked and come loose. |
| What to use: | Butcher’s twine, heat-resistant superglue. |
| How to apply: | Strap the handle with butcher’s twine then cover the strapped handle with heat-resistant superglue. This forms a seal that is hygienic and non-toxic. It can loosen again if washed repeatedly in a dishwasher or if it’s left soaking in boiling water. |
Whether it’s grinding coffee or making bread, there’s an appliance for everything! Most appliances can be cleaned with detergent and water either in the sink or with a sponge. Clean them as soon as you can because when food sets it becomes much more difficult to remove. Pull the appliance apart as much as possible but never put electrics in water. If there’s staining on plastic surfaces, wipe with glycerine first, then use bicarb and vinegar. To remove rust marks on plastic, use a paste of glycerine and talcum powder.
I drink massive amounts of tea every day so I’m very used to cleaning the kettle. For general cleaning on the outside, use bicarb and vinegar. Apply with two sponges, one with bicarb on it, the other with vinegar on it. Start with the bicarb sponge then rub the vinegar sponge over the surface.
Q: ‘My stainless-steel electric jug has a build up of gunk from years of use,’ says Cecily. ‘What should I do?’
| Problem: | Scaling in the kettle. |
| What to use: | CLR; or bicarb, vinegar, nylon brush. |
| How to apply: | Put 1 teaspoon of CLR in a kettle full of water. Leave it for an hour, then rinse out with water. Make sure you clean it out well or your next cup of tea will taste a bit funny. You could also try bicarb and vinegar scrubbed with a nylon brush if the area is accessible, but generally the build-up happens under the element so CLR is the best option. |
Clean with bicarb and vinegar. Any areas that have contact with coffee should then be rinsed with a salt solution, which also makes the coffee taste better. The areas that come into contact with milk need to be cleaned with cold water first to remove proteins and then cleaned with hot water to remove fats. It’s not a good idea to use detergent because it curdles milk and makes the curds stick to the surface, encouraging bacterial growth.
Clean the inside of blenders by adding 2 teaspoons of bicarb and ½ cup of vinegar and then switching the blender on. Make sure you cover the blender first or you’ll be cleaning the whole kitchen. Then rinse out with water. I used to make pâté for restaurants, and one time I forgot to put the lid on the blender. It was like a volcano spewing hot liver around the kitchen. I was cleaning it up for weeks afterwards. If you’re blending anything hot, place a clean tea towel over the blender before you put the lid on. It protects the plastic in the lid from melting, stretching or shrinking and will lessen mess in the kitchen if the lid takes off because of too much heat inside. If the fit is poor, hold the lid with your hand while blending.
Clean the outside of a toaster with bicarb on one sponge and vinegar on another sponge. Wipe with the bicarb sponge first, then the vinegar sponge. For the interior, sprinkle coarse salt in the top of the toaster, cover the slots with your hand and shake it up and down a few times. This cleans it and helps prevent vermin. When you’ve finished, shake the contents into the bin. Make sure you get all the salt out or it may cause corrosion.
To clean an old stained flask or thermos, put 2 teaspoons of bicarb and cup of vinegar inside. Put the lid on and give it a shake, but not for too long or it will explode. Take the lid off, let it sit for half an hour, top it up with hot water and leave overnight. The next morning, give it a shake and rinse.
I love the microwave and it’s much easier to clean than the oven. The glass or china turntable can be removed and cleaned in the sink with detergent. Make sure it’s dry before you replace it or your rollers will rust. Remove the nylon turning ring and wheels and clean in detergent. Then dry them.
For the interior, sprinkle bicarb over first, then add vinegar and wipe with a sponge. For the sides and top, use the two-sponge method: wipe with the bicarb one first, then the vinegar one.
I think it’s worthwhile learning how to operate the microwave properly because there is an art to good microwave cooking. All microwaves come with an instruction manual and cookbook. If you don’t have one, contact the manufacturer and they’ll send you one generally free of charge. Also be aware that microwaves have different power settings so each machine will be different.
| Problem: | Food splattered inside the microwave. |
| What to use: | White vinegar, water, bicarb, large microwave-proof bowl. |
| How to apply: | Mix ½ cup of white vinegar, 1 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of bicarb in a large bowl. Put the bowl in the microwave without a lid on and cook on high for a few minutes, allowing the mixture to boil, but not boil over, for around 1 minute. While the microwave is warm and steamy, wipe the interior down with a cloth. |
Dishwashers may have saved many relationships, but they’ve ruined plenty of crockery, cutlery and glassware. I hate them because dishwashers clean by flinging small particles of soap, food and water at high speed, which virtually sandblasts your plates and cutlery. Bear this in mind when putting things in. Never put fine china, crystal, items with gold edging or good cutlery in the dishwasher. Some of the damage won’t be fixable, even by me. For other items, always rinse before putting them in. Heat-sensitive items should sit at the top; saucepans should sit at an angle towards the bottom centre of the dishwasher. And don’t overpack the dishwasher because china and glass can break if they bang together. Don’t put electrical parts in. And always use a good quality soap and rinse agent that dissolves well.
If your dishwasher has an odour, put bicarb in the detergent compartment and vinegar in the rinse-aid compartment and turn the dishwasher on for an empty run. This will clean the drainpipes at the same time. If the dishwasher really stinks, wipe the rubbers and interiors with vanilla essence. This removes the smell and acts as an antibacterial. If the rubbers become perished, they harbour bacteria. To help prevent perishing, rub the surfaces with dry salt and then vanilla essence.
I’ll never forget the state of my friend’s fridge when I helped him move house. It had been switched off for a few weeks and the door had been left closed tightly. When we opened it, mould was all the way to the door and filled every cavity. We ended up hosing it clean in the backyard.
Most fridges are easy to look after, especially those with auto-defrost. Clean the fridge once a month with bicarb and vinegar. The best time to clean is just before you do your shopping because it’ll be fairly empty. Pull the shelves and compartments out and wash them with bicarb and vinegar. To clean the sides of the fridge, put bicarb on one sponge and vinegar on another and press the vinegar sponge through the bicarb sponge when cleaning.
To cut back on cleaning, put a thin foam rubber sheet in the bottom of the crispers. This stops food getting caught in the ridges and slows the rotting process because air circulates around the food. The foam can be washed as well.
Clean the rubber seal around the fridge door with a tea towel soaked in vinegar and bicarb. Then wrap the tea towel over a plastic knife and clean inside all the little grooves. If you can slide a piece of cardboard between the fridge and the seal, it’s time to get a new seal. You can buy seals at most hardware stores either sized to fit your model or by the metre. Put them on yourself with an appropriate adhesive.
The exterior of fridges, including stainless-steel ones, should be cleaned with bicarb and vinegar. Cockroaches are attracted to the warm motor in the fridge so scatter salt underneath. If you use cockroach baits, put one behind the microwave, one on either side of the bottom of the stove and one behind the fridge.
I cleaned an old freezer with fine-grade steel wool and accidentally left the steel wool inside the freezer. When I discovered it, it didn’t have any rust on it. I now store steel wool in a plastic bag in the freezer to prevent rust.
| Problem: | Odour in the fridge. |
| What to use: | Small divided dish, vanilla essence, bicarb. |
| How to apply: | Try to locate the source of the smell and remove it. Then fill each side of a small divided dish with vanilla essence on one side and bicarb on the other. Sushi condiment dishes work well for this. Place the dish in the fridge and it will absorb the nasty smells and deodorise the fridge. |
| Problem: | Defrosting the freezer more quickly. |
| What to use: | Sugar, rubber gloves, rubber spatula. |
| How to apply: | After turning the fridge off, sprinkle sugar over the base of the freezer. This speeds up the defrosting process. Use gloved hands or a rubber spatula to remove the ice. Never use a hairdryer or heater because it could crack the coils. Never use a sharp knife or you could pierce the coils and release the gas. |
An unglazed terracotta tile makes a great cooler. Soak one in water then put it in the freezer ready to use in wine coolers or eskies. It also helps the ice last longer. Make your own wine cooler with a clean unglazed terracotta flowerpot. Soak it in water and put it in the freezer until you need to use it. The evaporation keeps the wine chilly. Or create a disposable wine cooler from an old cask wine bladder. Fill the bladder with water and, with the tap on the outside, wrap it around an empty wine bottle. Then put it in the freezer. It’s great for picnics because you’ll have iced water on tap when it melts as well as chilled wine.
Just as you can age a tree by counting its rings, you can age a kitchen by the kind of benchtop it has. If it’s mission brown, burnt orange or avocado green it’s likely to be from the 1970s. Flecked laminate suggests the 1950s. And stainless steel screams 1990s! No matter the fashion, all of them need cleaning and maintenance. If your kitchen is well ventilated but you have persistent smells, it means you have a build-up on your surfaces or in your plumbing. Wipe the benchtop thoroughly each time you prepare food.
The best way to keep laminate clean is with bicarb and vinegar applied with sponges. If you get heavy staining with tea or scorch marks, put glycerine on the stain for about 5 minutes then use bicarb and vinegar. Never use abrasives.
Q: ‘I was on a health kick and decided to make beetroot soup,’ says Lisa. ‘But the lid flew off the blender and beetroot landed all over the laminate bench. What can I do?’
| Problem: | Beetroot stains on laminate. |
| What to use: | Vinegar; or glycerine, cotton bud or cotton ball. |
| How to apply: | If you are dealing with the stain while it’s fresh, clean the area with vinegar. If the stain has set, apply glycerine to the stain with a cotton bud or cotton ball; leave for a few minutes then remove. To prevent the problem, put a tea towel over the blender before putting the lid on. If the lid comes off, the tea towel will contain the mess. If the fit is poor, hold the lid on with your hand. |
Corian is a composite of many different materials including quartz, marble, granite, mica, feldspar and synthetics such as polycarbonate, epoxys or cement blends. Clean with bicarb and vinegar. If it has a polyurethane finish, use detergent and water.
Marble is often regarded as the glamour benchtop. But care should be taken when cleaning it because it’s porous. The best way to clean marble is by sprinkling bicarb over it and then splashing 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water on top. It’s important to dilute the vinegar because full-strength vinegar can react with the lime in the marble and create holes or a rough surface. If the surface isn’t sealed with polyurethane or other sealant, use a good quality, liquid hard wax for marble flooring to make it less porous and less likely to absorb stains. The way to tell if marble is covered in polyurethane is to put your eye level with the marble and shine a light along the surface. If the light shines in one uninterrupted beam, it’s sealed with polyurethane. If the beam of light has lines and dots, it’s unsealed.
| Problem: | White, chalky-looking chips in the marble. |
| What to use: | Candle wax, hairdryer, soft cloth, marble floor wax. |
| How to apply: | Match the candle colour to the marble. Place a small piece of wax over the chip then use a hairdryer to slightly melt the wax into the marble. Buff it with a soft cloth until it’s the same height as the rest of the bench. Then use a marble floor wax to treat the whole area. |
The best way to clean granite is with bicarb and vinegar. If it has a polyurethane finish, keep the surface clean because it can bubble. If you do get bubbles, mix 1 part Aquadhere to 20 parts water and inject with a syringe. Do this with each bubble and then place a flat weight over them. A heavy book should do the job but make sure you have clingwrap underneath the book so that it doesn’t stick. Check the drying time of the glue on its packet. When it’s dried, wipe off the excess with warm water.
The best way to clean stainless steel is with bicarb and vinegar. Dust with bicarb, then splash some vinegar and wipe with a sponge. Rinse with water and wipe with a cloth to remove any smears. Repeat if necessary.
| Problem: | Scratches in stainless steel. |
| What to use: | Gumption, sponge, bicarb, vinegar, cloth. |
| How to apply: | Apply a dab of Gumption to a sponge and rub it over the scratch. This will smooth the surface. Then sprinkle bicarb over the scratch and splash a little vinegar. Remove with a cloth. |
If the timber is unsealed, clean it with detergent and water then dry. Then wipe it with good quality furniture oil. For surfaces that come into contact with food, use a small quantity of warm olive oil. Some olive oils contain vegetable sediment, which can attract fruit fly, so make sure you spread it thinly and wipe off all the excess. Only use olive oil on surfaces in the kitchen. Bicarb and vinegar will remove any stains but remember to reapply the olive oil. If you prefer, keep the timber moist and splinter-free by rubbing it with the skin of a lemon. For sealed timber, clean with bicarb and vinegar. Be very careful with polyurethane surfaces because if you scratch them you’ll have to reseal them. If you do scratch polyurethane, wipe it with glycerine.
| Problem: | Dents in timber. |
| What to use: | Hot wet sponge, hairdryer. |
| How to apply: | Cut a sponge to the size of the dent, wet it in hot water and place it over the dented area only. Leave the sponge for 5 minutes, take it off and dry the spot with a hairdryer. The timber should have swelled back into place. Don’t put hot sponges on any other part of the timber or it will expand it as well. |
| Problem: | Gap between timber bench and splashback. |
| What to use: | Disposable rubber gloves, mineral turpentine, silicone sealer; or water, matches, candle wax. |
| How to apply: | There are a couple of ways you can fix this. Put on disposable rubber gloves and dip the tip of your finger in mineral turpentine. Then feed silicone with your finger into the gap. Another way is to wear disposable rubber gloves, wet the tip of your finger with water, then light a candle and feed the dripping wax in between the bench and splashback with your finger. Candle wax doesn’t last as long as silicone and would need to be replaced every six months but it has the added bonus of being easy to replace if needed. |
Q: ‘I left a rockmelon on a timber benchtop and it went off’,’ says Steve. ‘It’s left a green stain on the bench and eaten through the varnish!’
| Problem: | Rotten rockmelon on timber benchtop. |
| What to use: | Bicarb, vinegar, nylon brush, varnish. |
| How to apply: | Clean the excess oxide by sprinkling bicarb over the area, add vinegar and scrub with a nylon brush. Then rinse with water. Allow it to dry and then re-varnish. |
Tiled benchtops need particular care because bacteria can thrive in the grout. Clean tiles and grout by sprinkling bicarb over the surface then splashing vinegar over the top. Wipe with a cloth then rinse. I’d recommend cleaning tiles more often than other surfaces because grout is so absorbent. Use an old toothbrush to get into tricky areas.
A clean chopping board is a hygienic chopping board! They can be made of timber, plastic or glass and I reckon the bigger the better. Timber should be scrubbed thoroughly after each use with detergent and water and stood up to dry. To prevent splintering, scrub with olive oil and steel wool once a week. Timber has the added benefit of containing a natural antibacterial. Plastic should be cleaned with detergent and water. As soon as it’s scuffed, throw it out because scratches harbour bacteria. Clean glass with bicarb and vinegar. To make cleaning around the chopping board easier, put a tea towel underneath it to collect crumbs and food spills. It also makes chopping quieter and there’s less chance you’ll mark the benchtop.
Most kitchen sinks are made of stainless steel or enamel although some are now made of polycarbonate or cement. The best cleaning combination is bicarb and vinegar. If the sink is heavily stained use Gumption, but be aware that it contains a mild bleaching agent and abrasive. Avoid using borax in the sink because it’s quite toxic and, no matter how well you wash it down, you’ll have some residue. Don’t use abrasives on polycarbonate and always put the cold tap on before the hot tap or it will craze.
Be mindful what you put down the sink. Not only can it be bad for the environment, but you’ll also end up creating more work when the sink becomes clogged. Don’t put oil, fats, eggs, proteins or starch-based products down it. For fats and oils, re-use an old tin, put a paper towel on the bottom to stop splatter, and collect the waste. When it’s full, throw it in the bin.
If you have mildew or bugs under your sink, place some whole cloves and salt inside the cupboard. You could also rub some oil of cloves around the cupboard door edges under the sink. Apply with a cloth.
| Problem: | Scratches in stainless-steel sink. |
| What to use: | Gumption, sponge, bicarb, vinegar, cloth. |
| How to apply: | Apply a dab of Gumption to a sponge and rub it over the scratch. This will smooth the surface. Then sprinkle bicarb over the scratch and splash a little vinegar. Polish with a cloth. |
| Problem: | Leaking pipes under the sink. |
| What to use: | Hemp rope. |
| How to apply: | Untwist some hemp rope so that you have about six threads or fibres. Then undo the nut and wind the hemp fibres around the thread on the pipe to seal it. Screw the nut back on over the hemp fibres. The fibres expand as soon as they become wet and this creates a really good seal. This was the technique used before plumber’s tape was invented. Hemp rope is also good for leaks at the bottom of the tap and sink. |
| Problem: | Smells in the sink drain. |
| What to use: | Bicarb, vinegar. |
| How to apply: | Put 1 tablespoon of bicarb down the drain, followed immediately by ½ cup of vinegar. Leave for half an hour. If it’s still smelly, do it again. If you have copper or brass pipes, it will smell worse for about half an hour before it gets better. Once it’s rinsed through the smell will dissipate. |
The first rule of washing up is to rinse as much food as possible from plates and cutlery. Rather than leaving the tap running, use a small bucket to rinse items. You can also use paper towels to wipe food off. Put a little hot water in your dirty pots to soak them. Then stack everything needing washing on one side of the sink and have your drying rack on the other side of the sink.
The washing water should be hot, but not too hot. Use a small amount of detergent and wear rubber gloves to prevent slippage. The order to wash things up in is:
If you have a second sink, keep hot water in it and rinse the item after it’s been scrubbed. Then stack the item on the drying rack to air dry or be dried with a tea towel. Air drying is more hygienic.
Taps can be made of stainless steel, chrome, brass or powder coated. Except for powder-coated taps, clean with bicarb and vinegar. To clean the back of taps, use an old pair of pantyhose. Wrap the leg around the tap and move it in a sawing motion backwards and forwards. Powder coating is a form of plastic that is heat sealed onto the surface of metal to colour it. Powder-coated taps are often cream, white or black. Don’t use any abrasives on them, just wash with soap and water and always turn your cold tap on first or the powder coating will chip and discolour.
Drains are designed to take things away but they can also provide an entry for other things, such as insects. To stop insects gaining entry, put flyscreen material behind the drain grill. This will prevent blockages as well.
To keep cockroaches away, wipe a solution of salt and water around the drain.
If your drain is blocked, put ½ cup of bicarb down, then add ½ cup of vinegar and leave for half an hour. You can also use a proprietary caustic cleaner. However, if your pipes are old and made of iron, using a caustic cleaner could pit the surface of the pipe (caustic is an oxidising agent and eats into iron), which also means it will hold bacteria.
The more often you wipe your cupboards, the cleaner they will stay. If you can, give them a quick wipe every day. And don’t forget about the surface on top of the cupboard. As much as you’d like to adopt the ‘out of mind, out of sight’ approach, the dust which settles here will gradually spread around the rest of the kitchen. Try this homemade solution which I developed through trial and error and which really cuts through the grime.
In a jar, mix ½ cup of grated soap, 2 tablespoons of methylated spirits, ½ cup of vinegar and 2 tablespoons of bicarb. Seal the jar and shake it until all the ingredients are dissolved. Then clean the tops of your cupboards with a cloth. It’s a very strong solution and could eat into other surfaces so only use it on this not-for-public-viewing area. To cut back on future cleaning, put paper—even newspaper will do—on top of cupboards and change it regularly.
The best time to clean the underside of wall-mounted cupboards is after making soup or boiling the kettle because the steam softens the grease and grime.
The easiest way to clean inside your kitchen drawers is to vacuum them every couple of weeks, then wipe with a damp cloth. If you haven’t cleaned them in a while, use bicarb and vinegar, then wipe with a cloth that has been soaked in hot water.
Most people have plates for everyday use and another set for special occasions. Crockery can be made of china, porcelain, pottery, glass or polycarbonate resin. Those in everyday use can be washed in detergent and water. Never soak pottery as it can lift the glaze. To prevent your good china chipping and cracking in cupboards, put a small piece of paper towel in between the plates. This also helps prevent wear and tear on them. Never put gold-rimmed china in the microwave or dishwasher.
| Problem: | Plates with discoloured crazing. |
| What to use: | Effervescing overnight denture soaker. |
| How to apply: | Add 2 tablets of denture soaker to a sink full of hot water. Put the plates in the sink and leave overnight. Rinse them off in clean water then leave them in the sun, if possible. Dry them very well. No matter what anyone tells you, do not soak china in bleach. The bleach can lift the glaze and cause a white powdery coating that won’t go away. |
| Problem: | Stained teacups/teapots. |
| What to use: | Bicarb, vinegar, nylon brush; or methylated spirits, cotton ball, cotton bud or cloth. |
| How to apply: | Mix 1 teaspoon of bicarb with 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Rub it inside the teacup or teapot with a nylon brush. Rinse in clean water. If you have gold edging on cups, the tannin in tea builds up a scum over the gilding. Remove it with methylated spirits applied with a cotton ball, cotton bud or cloth. |
To keep your salt shaker loose, add rice to it. To keep pepper loose, use dried peas. Adding dried peas also keeps parmesan cheese loose.
Wash cutlery in detergent and water. If it’s very dirty, stained or has rust spots, use bicarb and vinegar first. Gold cutlery should only be cleaned with bicarb and vinegar.
Brass, copper, silver and pewter cutlery can also be cleaned in an old aluminium saucepan with ½ cup of baking soda dissolved in 4 cups of hot water. Put the cutlery in and leave it for a few minutes. Don’t put your bare hands into the water because they will burn! Wear rubber gloves or use wooden kitchen tools or skewers to manipulate the pieces. Then rinse the cutlery with water and vinegar. Never add water to the aluminium pot after cleaning. Pour the solution out first as it can boil over because of the reaction between the aluminium, baking soda and hot water.
An old-fashioned way to get a glass-like polish on silverware is to rub it with a paste of bran and vinegar. Put cotton gloves or a pair of old cotton socks on your hands to stop acid from your hands affecting the silver. Clean the paste off, then polish with a cloth. Remove scratches from silverware by rubbing a handful of bran over it with your hand. Don’t use proprietary sprays that contain silicone. Clean pewter with bran and vinegar but be careful not to overpolish it or you’ll remove the patina of age and devalue the piece.
To clean, polish and seal bone handles on cutlery, mix 20 parts sweet almond oil to 1 part oil of cloves and mix thoroughly. Then rub this mixture over the handles. If the handles have become dry and cracked, leave them soaking in the mixture. After soaking, polish with a clean cloth. If the bone is very dirty, clean it first with bicarb and a little water. Never use heat with bone because it will discolour and crack.
Q: ‘I’d like to know how to stop the dishwasher leaving rust on my stainless-steel cutlery,’ says Nicole.
| Problem: | Rust on cutlery. |
| What to use: | Bicarb, vinegar. |
| How to apply: | The dishwasher sandblasts your cutlery and creates rust marks. Polish the cutlery by hand with a paste of vinegar and bicarb, wipe, then rinse off in water. |
Q: ‘I’ve got green marks on my Thai copper cutlery,’ says Susan. ‘Do they come off?’
| Problem: | Green marks on copper cutlery. |
| What to use: | Bicarb, vinegar, nylon brush. |
| How to apply: | Lay the cutlery in the sink and sprinkle bicarb over it, then splash vinegar on top. Scrub with a nylon brush and rinse. The reason Thais use copper cutlery is because curries taste sweeter when eaten with copper. Silver gives curries an acidic tang. |
When I was young, I remember seeing a Chinese chef creating sculptures out of vegetables with his Chinese chopper. It was a fantastic sight to witness. I later learned that half the skill lies in having a good knife! Choose the best you can afford. I suggest having a Chinese chopper, a large carving knife, a carving knife with a curved blade, a serrated bread knife, a serrated vegetable knife and a paring knife. Choose high-quality steel and ensure handles are solid and well secured.
If you use the wrong tools to sharpen knives, they’ll rust. Only sharpen them with a steel and a whetstone. Never use cheap wheel sharpeners or you’ll demagnetise the blades and get rust spots. If in doubt, use a professional knife sharpener. I suggest asking your local restaurant when their knife sharpener is coming and arranging to have yours sharpened at the same time. Never use steel wool to clean a knife because it’ll rust.
The worst things for glass are extreme heat, extreme cold, chemicals and abrasives. To protect your good glassware, avoid putting it in the dishwasher. As I’ve said before, I hate dishwashers, particularly when it comes to glass because it becomes scratched and cloudy-looking and this damage is permanent. Don’t soak glassware in detergents or use strong bleach products. Just use water.
To prevent crystal becoming cloudy, only wash it in water no hotter than you can leave your hands in. Add a small amount of white vinegar to the wash to prevent spotting and fogging.
To clean dirt out of champagne glasses or glassware that has narrow apertures, put a little olive oil in the glass first and leave for a few minutes. The oil collects and lifts the dust. Then get a thin, long-handled paintbrush, wrap sticky tape around the ferrule, or silver part, and rub it around the difficult-to-reach area. Wash the glasses in detergent and water. If it’s too narrow for a thin paintbrush, use a bamboo skewer and chew the end of it until it’s like a brush.
| Problem: | Soap scum on glass. |
| What to use: | Vinegar, water, cloth. |
| How to apply: | Mix 1 tablespoon of vinegar with 1 cup of water. Place the glass in the mixture. Then polish dry with a cloth. |
Q: Gabrielle puts everything in the dishwasher. ‘But I’ve noticed I’m getting white marks on my glasses. What can I do about this?’
| Problem: | Whiteness on glass. |
| What to use: | Goanna oil. |
| How to apply: | If it’s soap scum, see above. If it’s been scratched, the damage is permanent. You may be able to alleviate the problem by soaking it in goanna oil; however, this only works on some pieces and you don’t know which ones will respond until you do it. Leave the goanna oil on for a week. |
| Problem: | Tiny chips on the edge of your glass. |
| What to use: | Sapphire manicure nail file. |
| How to apply: | Place the nail file horizontally and flat to the rim of the glass and slowly buff along the chips. Never go across or down the glass. |
I come from a family that always removed labels from jars before putting them on the table because it was considered the polite thing to do. And, because it was the era before tupperware and takeaway containers, we used glass jars for everything! There are several ways to remove sticky labels from glass and plastic containers. One method is to fill them with hot water, close the lid tightly and leave for a few minutes. Then lift the edge of the sticker slowly with a blunt knife. If any adhesive remains, wipe it with tea-tree oil. Another way is to lay down a piece of clingwrap just bigger than the sticker. Mix one drop of detergent with a small quantity of water in a spray pack, spray it over the clingwrap then place the clingwrap over the sticker. Leave for five minutes, or longer if the glue is very strong. The sticker will come off with the clingwrap. Rubbing dry-cleaning fluid or eucalyptus oil over then label, then rubbing off again, are other alternatives. Just make sure you neutralise them afterwards with methylated spirits. Don’t try to remove the label by placing the jar itself into hot water—even though the paper will dissolve, the glue won’t and you’ll be left with a sticky mess that you’ll have to rub and rub and rub!
Because I was one of five children I learned to cook from an early age. The first thing I ever cooked was baked apples and cinnamon. I’ve always enjoyed cooking and experimenting with flavours and this is much easier to do if your pantry is organised.
If you organise your pantry by keeping similar items together, you won’t waste time searching for things. If you don’t have enough room in your pantry, think about putting another shelf in. Or get some free-standing wire shelves that are stackable.
Keep grain foods separately because bugs are attracted to them. Once you open any packet, put the contents in an air-tight container and mark the contents and use-by date on it. I like to cut the relevant information from the packet and sticky tape or glue it to the jar. You can also seal a packet with an old bread clip or bulldog clip. Putting a bay leaf in containers will help keep moths and weevils away. Another way to prevent weevils in grain food is to make a small clingwrap bag, fill it full of salt, seal the top and prick the bag with pin holes. Place this inside the containers. I always remove cereals from the cardboard box because insects are attracted to cardboard. Seal the plastic liner with a peg or old bread clip.
Most canned food will last from two to four years, but the earlier you consume it, the better. Most cans have a use-by date on them. If they don’t, write the date of purchase on the side. I learned the hard way when a can exploded in the pantry. It’s an experience I don’t want to repeat any time soon!
Refrigerate jars such as mayonnaise and mustard after opening.
Oils will go off and become rancid. You should only store them for about six months. Rather than buying expensive oil sprays, put oil in your own spray pack. Oils react differently when heated and some leave more grease than others on your kitchen cupboards. Rapeseed oil is the worst for leaving oily scum as it seems to fume more. I bought a cheap drum of it once thinking it was a bargain but it was costly in cleaning-up terms! However, it’s great as a salad oil or for low-temperature cooking. As a rule, the better the quality of oil, the less splattering you’re likely to get. Have a range of oils available so you use the right oil for the job. For example, don’t use olive oil for chips because the oil will burn before the chips are cooked.
Place a layer of paper towel in the bottom of a sugar container to prevent lumping and clumping. If you put a piece of terracotta in your brown sugar it won’t clot.
Always keep your dried herbs tightly sealed in glass or plastic and out of strong sunlight. Buy them in small quantities because they lose their flavour after about six months. Even better, grow them fresh on your windowsill.
Q: ‘We’ve got these pesky moths in the pantry that seem to breed in anything and everything,’ says Michael. ‘Can we get rid of them?’
| Problem: | Moths in the pantry. |
| What to use: | Oil of pennyroyal or bay oil or mint tea, cloth. |
| How to apply: | Put 1 drop of oil of pennyroyal in a bucket of water, then wipe the shelves with a cloth. Don’t use oil of pennyroyal if you or your pets are pregnant. Pregnant women can apply bay oil to a cloth and then wipe over the shelves or they can wipe the shelves with a very strong mint tea. These methods aren’t as effective as oil of pennyroyal and have to be reapplied more often but they will work. |
Nearly everything we buy comes in a container. Hang onto these because there are plenty of other ways you can use them. For example, plastic takeaway containers can be reused for leftovers. To get rid of the greasy feel, put a little vinegar in the water when you’re rinsing. Even cereal boxes can be converted into files for paperwork. Plastic bags can be washed, hung out and reused. Reuse tins to store nails and other things. Hold on to jars as well, as they’re good for storing liquids.
Rubbing your hands with bicarb and vinegar removes smells, especially after working with onions, garlic or chilli. An alternative is to wear disposable gloves when chopping.
