How to clean cutting boards in the kitchen and get rid of the smell. How to clean a wood cutting board How to clean kitchen boards

There is still a heated debate about which type of cutting board is the safest and most convenient to use: wooden or plastic. No matter what type of cutting board you choose for your kitchen, there are several ways to update your board and keep it looking fresh. Maintaining your cutting board in good condition will increase its lifespan, but if you've neglected it, here are a few steps you can take to "rejuvenate" your cutting board surface.

Difficulty: moderately easy.

You will need:
- water;
- bleaching agent;
- kitchen towels;
- baking soda;
- natural lemon or lime juice;
- clean Toothbrush;
- liquid detergent for dishes;
- a heavy stack of books;
- sandpaper fine grain;
- mineral oil;
- white vinegar.


1. Mix in the sink (after rinsing and plugging it first) 4 cups of water with 1 tablespoon of bleach. Put down the plastic cutting board in water and let soak for about fifteen minutes. Take out the board.

2. Lay the wet board on a kitchen towel. Cover the board with a layer baking soda. Squeeze enough lemon or lime juice on top of the baking soda to create a paste that you can use to scrub the surface with a clean toothbrush. At the end (after thorough cleaning) leave the paste on the board for about 15-30 minutes depending on the degree of soiling.

3. Rinse the paste off the board under running water, then wash the board in hot soapy water. Rinse again - now the soap composition - and let the board dry.

4. Lay the board flat flat surface to determine if it is deformed in some place. According to professional opinion, if your board is uneven, you should replace it to avoid injury during use. However, if the board is only slightly warped, wash it in dishwasher. Immediately after the end of the washing program - while the board is still hot - remove it and place it on a flat surface. Build a tower of heavy books on top of the board and leave for about an hour. Majority plastic boards, thus, they will align well, no matter what happened to them at the beginning - folds or other deformation.

1. Sand any small grooves and cuts with a good, fine-grained sandpaper in a circular motion. If there are serious cut marks and other significant indentations, keep in mind that they quickly turn into a haven for bacteria, which means that the board must be replaced!

2. Rinse the board in hot running water using liquid dish detergent.

3. Place the container of mineral oil into the container with hot water to warm up the oil. When the oil is warm, coat the board with mineral oil. Let the oil soak into the wood. The mineral oil will seal the surface of the wood against bacterial penetration and help to achieve sufficient moisture saturation of the board, protecting it from drying out and cracking.

4. Mix 1 cup of water and 3 tablespoons of white vinegar, and rub the solution onto the cutting board wood with a kitchen towel to minimize odor development. Rinse the board and finally dry it completely with a fresh kitchen towel.

Additions and warnings:

According to experts, mineral oil should be applied to wooden cutting boards every time the surface of the wood becomes lighter. If you use the board daily, apply the oil monthly;

Do not use frying oil to coat wooden surfaces. It will spoil the tree and contribute to its decay;

Never use bleach on wooden cutting boards.

How often do you wipe your cutting board dry after work? Not always, but in vain. That is why black spots of mold form on it. Getting rid of them is not so easy. Boards are made from the most different materials, but wood and plastic remain the most popular. Everyone knows how to clean a cutting board? We’ll talk about this so that you have no doubts about whether you are doing everything right, or if you missed something.

Features of wood and plastic

Of course, these materials have been at the top of popularity for more than a dozen years, but they have both positive and negative sides.

Wood

The positive properties of this material are:

  • strength;
  • Environmental friendliness;
  • Low cost;
  • Ease of use.

Important! The disadvantages can be called obvious, they are presented:

  • Rapid wear and tear;
  • Possibility of absorption of vegetable and fruit juice by the material.

Plastic

This material is distinguished by the following advantages:

  • Lightness;
  • strength;
  • Rapid disappearance of odors;
  • Color variety.

Important! The cons are presented:

  • Lack of environmental friendliness;
  • Often slippery surfaces;
  • Lack of antibacterial coating.

Cleaning a wooden board

The most common cleaning method is washing the board in hot water with dish detergent.

Important! A cutting board made of wood should not be soaked in water, because after drying, the wood will crack, and then bacteria will grow.

classic mistake

It seems that there is nothing difficult in washing the board, but many housewives make a common mistake: they use a kitchen towel to wipe the washed cutting board. Thus, the transfer of bacteria and microbes occurs. From this bad habit must be abandoned. After the board is washed, it is rinsed and placed upright to dry.

Important! Do not wipe the board either with a sponge or with a kitchen towel. If it is needed immediately dry, a paper towel should be used for wiping.

Disinfection - the best ways

To disinfect a wooden cutting board, you can use baking soda:

  1. Baking soda (1 tsp) dissolves in hot water (500 ml).
  2. This mixture is used to wet the surface.
  3. After ten minutes, the board is washed and put to dry.

Important! Soda can be replaced with hydrogen peroxide, which is used in the amount of two teaspoons.

To disinfect, clean and remove unpleasant odors, you can use half a lemon:

  1. The board is wiped with lemon.
  2. Ten minutes later, rinse and dry.

Important! White table vinegar has the same antibacterial effect, which is able to remove salmonella, E. coli and staphylococcus aureus.

To clean a wood cutting board, you can combine several methods. For example, using lemon and salt:

  1. Rub a cutting board with half a lemon.
  2. Sprinkle salt on top.
  3. After a quarter of an hour, rub the surface with salt again with lemon. In this case, you need to make small efforts, press.
  4. Rinse the board with water, dry.

Important! If there are scratches or cracks on the wooden board, it should not be used.

Cleaning the plastic board

Many housewives have long preferred plastic cutting boards. The main reason for this is inexpensive price and quality manufacturing. But after a while, the inventory will begin to absorb odors and become covered with unsightly spots. So how do you clean a plastic cutting board? It is important to understand that such a procedure certainly benefits health. Let's look at a few recipes.

Method 1:

  1. We collect water in a container.
  2. Add bleach in a tablespoon per liter of liquid.
  3. The board is lowered into the solution for a quarter of an hour.
  4. Rinse the surface thoroughly.

Method 2:

  1. mixing soda, lemon acid and water.
  2. The resulting paste is applied to the surface.
  3. After half an hour, the board is washed with a mixture of hot water and soapy water.

Important! This removes stains natural origin and bad odors.

Method 3

Suitable for removing carrot stains:

  1. Vegetable oil is used to wipe the board.
  2. The surface is thoroughly washed with detergent.

Important! It is necessary not only to know how to wash a plastic cutting board, but also how to remove it from its surface. foreign odors. In this case, table vinegar is used for processing. Thanks to him, an acidic environment is created and microbes are destroyed.

  • For all products it is better to have a separate board. Disinfection is required, after which the inventory is thoroughly washed and dried.
  • For cleaning, it is better to use one tool, and it is better to opt for the least toxic one. How to clean black plastic cutting board? It is better to use not aggressive chemicals, but a mixture of water and vinegar. Such a composition will help to cope with mold, bacteria and even viruses.
  • In the kitchen, you should have a spray bottle with a mixture of water (2 tablespoons) and tea tree essential oil (2 teaspoons). It will help kill mold.

Important! To essential oil dissolved better, alcohol or vodka can be poured into a container in a small amount. In addition, the oil can be dropped on salt, and then dissolved in water.

  • In order to prevent fungal damage, a mixture of five percent vinegar (⅓ capacity) and water (⅔ capacity) is prepared. With the help of a spray gun, not only boards are periodically processed with such a mixture. It can be used to disinfect tables, sponges and other kitchen utensils. This solution does not need to be washed off immediately. It can even be left to dry on the surface, and the characteristic vinegar smell will not be heard after a few hours.

Important! Dishes and sanitary ware thanks to this tool will be cleaned of mineral deposits, powdery mildew, soap traces, wax or grease.

Each of us has a cutting board in the kitchen, on which we cut vegetables, bread and other products. It often happens that this required item soiled, stained, and bad smell. We will tell you how you can clean a cutting board made of wood or plastic so that it retains its beauty for a long time. appearance and was suitable for further use.

Materials and features

Like any thing, a board made of wood has its pros and cons. Among positive aspects you can note:

  • environmental friendliness;
  • strength;
  • ease of use;
  • low cost.

As for the cons, they are obvious:

  • subject to wear;
  • gets dirty quickly;
  • the porous structure of the tree tends to absorb the juice of vegetables and fruits;
  • knife marks may remain after cutting food.


As for the plastic board, it is characterized by the following qualities:

  • ease;
  • strength;
  • color variety;
  • odors are easily dissipated.

Of the minuses can be identified:

  • no antibacterial coating;
  • the material is not environmentally friendly;
  • often a sliding surface.

The inevitability of pollution is the most a big problem, which housewives usually encounter when using a board in everyday life - both wooden and plastic. This feature leads to the formation of microbes that contribute to the development of infections. To prevent the penetration of bacteria into the body, you need to learn how to clean the surface of food debris.

Cleaning rules

Most often, this kitchen item is cleaned with hot water, as well as all kinds of detergents. At the same time, it is worth remembering that it is not worth soaking a dirty board in water, since the wood from which it is made can begin to rot, and the number of bacteria will only increase.

It is undesirable to wipe the board with a towel, as the fabric may contain germs. In contact with it, bacteria can get on the wooden or plastic surface and washing will be a waste of time.

The best option after washing is to simply dry this household item in limbo. But if you urgently need to use it, then gently blot the board, both wooden and plastic, with a napkin or disposable paper towel.

Disinfection

From time to time it is necessary to disinfect the cutting surface, and this process need to pay special attention. If you are thinking about how to remove the smell and food debris, weigh the pros and cons of each method.

The "thermonuclear" Soviet version - purification with chlorine. For this purpose, you need to mix five liters of water with one tablespoon of this substance. After that wooden board dipped in the mixture for half an hour. You need to act very carefully, work only with gloves and do not forget about your own safety. After using chlorine from the board, it is necessary to carefully remove all remnants of this chemical with hot water. But no one can guarantee that no toxic compounds remain in the porous structure of the surface. Since the board is used for cooking, using this method is still highly undesirable.

It is better to use ordinary soda, available to every hostess. To do this, dilute a teaspoon in 0.5 liters of hot water and stir thoroughly. It is enough to hold the board in the solution for 5-10 minutes, then wash it thoroughly and leave to dry in vertical position. By the way, you can also clean a plastic board in the same way, since soda is universal cleaner for many surfaces.

In addition to alkali, hydrogen peroxide is also suitable for this purpose. To do this, two teaspoons are mixed with 0.5 liters of water, after which a board is placed in the resulting composition. This method helps to get rid of the smell and residues of products.

Folk ways

If there were no detergents at hand, you can use the methods that our grandmothers helped out more than once.

One of great ways removing contaminants is a lemon. Just half of this citrus is enough to clean a plastic or wooden board from food debris. The surface is rubbed with lemon, after which the cleaned object is thoroughly washed with water.

Another folk recipe can be a combination of citrus and salt. As in the previous case, the board is rubbed with lemon and then sprinkled with salt. After 10-12 minutes, the surface is again rubbed with half a citrus, after which it is washed with water.

If you need to remove the smell of herring or meat from the board, vinegar will do just fine - you can wipe the cutting surface with it.

If you notice that the board has cracks or scratches, get rid of it as soon as possible. Even if you really like this thing, remember that if it is deeply damaged, it is no longer usable.

Cutting boards are essential in every kitchen. We cut all products on them, from vegetables to hard cheeses. We do not always have a separate board for each food group, and fruit and raw meat can be cut on the same board. And although the board is washed after each use, the result is not perfect. Ordinary soap and detergent are not as effective as they should be. After a few years of use, the board almost completely fails. But don't rush to throw it away until you try it. original ways cleaning.

1. Salt and lemon

This method works very well for cleaning wooden cutting boards. Scatter across the board coarse salt, and then begin to rub it with half a lemon, squeezing the fruit so that the juice begins to stand out. Rub until a gray liquid forms on the board. After the salt has dissolved, simply rinse off the remaining mixture with water and wipe the surface dry.

2. Lemon juice

If fresh lemon is not on hand, you can change the recipe with salt by simply adding lemon juice from a bottle. Wipe the board with gruel using a hard sponge. If the pollution is very strong, leave the slurry of salt and juice for a couple of hours. In this case, you need to make the mixture thick enough, and there should be more salt in it.

3. Vinegar

Vinegar is great for getting rid of stains. You can use it neat or dilute it with water in proportions of 1:1. Vinegar not only cleans the board, but also kills bacteria. Pour the solution into a spray bottle, and add to the board after each use. Then wipe with hydrogen peroxide, and then simply rinse the surface with running water.

4. Bleach

Bleach is the most the best remedy for cleaning plastic boards. Fill the sink hot water and add half a cup of liquid bleach or whiteness. Leave the board in the sink for 20-30 minutes and then rinse thoroughly with soapy water to remove any traces of chemicals.

5. Baking soda

If your board is starting to smell bad, try using a paste of water and baking soda to get rid of the smell. Make a thick slurry on the board, and leave it for a while. Rinse off the baking soda and dry the board with a towel. The bad smell should be gone.

6. Vaseline

Wooden boards should not be left in water for a long time, because of this they become covered with ugly spots. And although they do not interfere with the use of the board, it will no longer be possible to put it in a prominent place. Just rub the stain on the board with petroleum jelly and leave it for 12 hours. After the Vaseline has been absorbed, wipe off the residue and wash the board. The spots should be gone.


7. Toothpaste

If the board has become rough over time, you can polish it with a mixture of baking soda and toothpaste. Just choose pasta white color not a gel. Wipe the surface along the grain of the wood. After wipe the board damp cloth and dry.

8. Grated apples or potatoes

Another effective way eliminate an unpleasant smell - cover the board with gruel from a grated apple or potato. Leave the gruel for 10-15 minutes and then simply rinse with water. The smell will be much better.

9. Microwave

Boards small size can be disinfected in microwave oven. The method is not suitable for thin plastic. Do not leave the board in the oven for more than one minute. You can pre-wipe the board with soapy water and lemon.

10. Laundry soap

Be sure to handle the board thick foam after cutting raw meat on it. It is better to immediately apply the foam, and only then wash off the traces of blood with water. Wipe down the board immediately after cutting to prevent stains from penetrating deep into the wood fibers.

11. Steel sponge

In the most advanced cases will have to refer to mechanically cleaning. The steel sponge actually removes a thin layer of wood, cleaning the stain. You should not resort to this method too often, but with some pollution you can not do without it.

12. White spirit

If the stain is too ingrained, soak a steel sponge in a solution of white spirit and rub it well. After that, you need to thoroughly rinse the chemical soapy water. Dry the board in the open air so that the vapors completely evaporate.


13. Vegetable oil

Another way to polish scratched boards. Mix 3/4 oil with 1/4 vinegar and polish the board. It should become smooth.

Any of these tips will make cleaning your kitchen much easier. Try everything and choose the best one!

Many people wonder how to quickly and easily clean kitchen utensils. After all, there are so many of them in the apartment. And they all have such a not very good property get dirty.

And now, the recently bought teapot no longer shines, the pans are covered with a layer of fat, and the cutlery has darkened from time to time.

How to deal with such unpleasant changes. Let's figure it out together.

If the board has darkened over time, and has become somewhat greasy to the touch, then you can clean it using the following method. And this can be done quite easily and simply.

We will need:

  • a little coarse salt
  • half a lemon
  • the board we want to clean.

How to clean:

  1. Pour salt onto a damp cutting board so that it covers the entire surface fairly tightly. Leave for 15-20 minutes.
  2. Take half a lemon, and with light pressure, begin to rub the board. It looks like you're rubbing salt.
  3. Now rinse the board with water and dry with a clean cloth.
  4. That's all! Your board will be like new.

How to clean old fat from pans

We will need:

  • dry mustard

How to clean:

  1. Mix soda with mustard powder in the ratio 1/3.
  2. Pour into an old jar with holes in the lid
  3. Use as you would normally use detergent.

Very optimal, and at the same time safe remedy for dish washing.

How to remove scale from an electric kettle

We will need

  • vinegar

How to clean:

  • Mix water with vinegar, in a ratio of 2/1. Pour the mixture into the teapot.
  • Close the spout of the teapot with a paper stopper.
  • Boil the kettle for as long as necessary to remove the cork.
  • Pour out the rest of the water and rinse the kettle well under running water.

The scale will fall off and be washed off with cold water.

How to clean cutlery

We will need:

How to clean:

  • Prepare a solution. A tablespoon of soda and the same amount of salt are added to a liter of hot water, mix everything.
  • In an enamel pan on the bottom is laid out aluminium foil. Above it are cutlery.
  • Pour the prepared solution into a saucepan with appliances and put on fire.
  • Boil for 5-10 minutes.
  • Further spoons, stainless steel forks are washed conventional means for dishes and a sponge. In the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe drawings, you can use a coarse brush with polymer bristles.

And here is another way. For him you will need:

  • Lemon acid
  • Or a glass of vinegar

How to clean:

  1. Half a glass of vinegar or 100 grams of citric acid is poured into a liter of water.
  2. Dip spoons and forks into the solution, bring to a boil. As soon as it cools, all this can be washed in running water and wiped dry with a towel.

You can just clean with one soda. How to do it.

  1. Dilute three parts baking soda with one part water. You will get the simplest cleaning paste.
  2. It remains only to rub the forks and spoons to a shine and rinse in clean water, wipe dry.

Baking soda is a strong enough abrasive and not aggressive enough to damage the steel surface.

This method is also used to clean silver cutlery.

These are just some examples of how you can quickly and efficiently, without using chemicals, clean household utensils.