How do you clean your counter?

amother

Wed, May 15 2019, 3:05 pm

No, it's not the start of a camp song! (How do you clean your counters? Spray spray spray!)

I always have cleaned my counters with windex or similar and a shmatte or paper towel. But I don't consider my counters food-clean. I would never clean my plates or cups with windex! So I'll never put food directly on the counter.

But I see that people use their counters for actual food contact. They cut vegetables, make sandwiches, knead dough etc. on their counters.

I tried using warm soapy water and a sponge to clean my counters so I could feel like it's REALLY clean, but it was messy and dripping on the floor and hard to get all of the suds off.

So am I missing something really obvious? Confused

Anon so nobody refuses to eat in my house anymore!

ra_mom

Wed, May 15 2019, 3:13 pm

Use a damp (make it fully wet but then wring out all the water) soft rag with just a drip of dish soap rubbed into the cloth. Wash counters thoroughly.
Then rinse out the rag (or make new clean one wet), wring again, and wipe down to rinse.

amother

Orange

Wed, May 15 2019, 3:20 pm

I don't use water to clean my counters. way too messy.
I use fantastik, Mr. Clean with paper towel. My counters looks very clean to me.

33055

Wed, May 15 2019, 3:33 pm

I use something like this with dish soap and water

https://www.amazon.com/Full-Ci.....=8-20

I don't use enough water to run off the counter.
Then I dry the counter. Then I apply granite cleaner and polisher and then dry it and polish it.

I don't put food directly on the counter except at my baking station. And then it is only dough.

watergirl

Wed, May 15 2019, 3:34 pm

amother [ Orange ] wrote:

I don't use water to clean my counters. way too messy.
I use fantastik, Mr. Clean with paper towel. My counters looks very clean to me.

Same. And I don't put food directly on it. I use a cutting board or a huge silpat matt for dough.

yksraya

Wed, May 15 2019, 3:39 pm

I use palmolive dish soap. I like the blue one, as it contains oxi. I wash it well, and then wipe with clean dishtowel.

I don't like putting food down directly on counter.

etky

Wed, May 15 2019, 3:45 pm

Dish soap (I also like the Blue Palmolive) and water with a sponge.
Then I squeegie the water into the sink.
Done.
Still, I do not cut food, make sandwiches or knead dough on the counter.
But I do want to know that it is clean and that I can rest washed + prepped fruits and vegetables on it w/o worrying that they will get germy.

allthingsblue

Wed, May 15 2019, 4:42 pm

I don't have direct food contact with my counters but I clean with vinegar/water, and spot clean with soap and water.

JoyInTheMorning

Wed, May 15 2019, 5:38 pm

I use water first, then Windex for deep cleaning, then I rinse well with water. I use a cutting board for most things, but I'll often put an apple or a sandwich on the counter. I don't think there's any Windex left on it.

nchr

Wed, May 15 2019, 6:31 pm

allthingsblue wrote:

I don't have direct food contact with my counters but I clean with vinegar/water, and spot clean with soap and water.

Same.

yksraya

Wed, May 15 2019, 6:59 pm

chicco wrote:

Clorox wipes are my best friends.

I use clorox wipes a lot too, but only for quick touch ups. It gets used up much too quick and it's rather pricey.

zaq

Wed, May 15 2019, 7:54 pm

Water or water-and-vinegar and a clean washcloth. But I wouldn't dream of putting food directly on a counter or table. That's what those quaint items like plates and cutting boards are for.

amother

Coffee

Wed, May 15 2019, 11:12 pm

Clorox wipes to disinfect the counter. If it's just dirty from food I'll wipe with windex, if it's juice, wipe it with water. You should regularly disinfect the counter with clorox/lysol wipes or diluted bleach or other strong cleanser.

yerushamama

Thu, May 16 2019, 9:44 am

I used to use dish soap, and bleach once a week , until we started to see lots of ants!..The exterminator told me that they love bleach but hate baking soda, so that's what I use now. I do put fresh fruits etc on the counter, but only before washing it, and do my food prep on a plate or cutting board.

SleepingBeauty

Thu, May 16 2019, 11:07 am

Squishy wrote:

Do you see a difference by using the granite cleaner and polisher? I've never heard of anyone using it.

amother

Magenta

Thu, May 16 2019, 11:17 am

I use homemade glass cleaner and a clean towel most of the time. Sometimes a spill needs to be wiped up with a damp sponge, or even scrubbed clean. Again, towel. Diluted bleach to disinfect if necessary, but that's rare. The only time I put food directly on the counter is to knead dough, and I wash the area thoroughly first.