Evelyn wrote:
wrote in message
...
E Z Peaces wrote:
Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
E Z Peaces wrote:

There's something cheaper, milder to work with, and more effective:
equal parts bleach and baking soda in water. You mix a little when
you need it because its shelf life is in hours.

A good thing to know. What's the water percentage?

It depends on the use. If I have ziplock freezer bags that are
perfectly good except that they have contained food, I use a
tablespoon of bleach and a tablespoon of baking soda in a gallon of
water in a tub in the sink. It's easy on the hands, does a better
job than dishwashing detergent, and rinses off easily.

To clean and disinfect a cutting board, I don't use water. I put the
board in the sink and put on a teaspoon of baking soda. I spread it a
little so it will catch a teaspoon of bleach when I put it on. I use
an old toothbrush to spread the mixture on the board. After a minute
or two I rinse.

To clean cutting board, I use 3M scrubber as I wash dishes, quickly
with hot water and Dawn. Rinse quickly with cool water, drain dry or
wipe. Not wet long enough to be bothered by the water. I am
especially careful to scrub hard if I have cut meat on the board.

I think the most important thing (after washing very well with hot
water and detergent and rinsing it well) is allowing the board to
totally DRY out afterwards. Not just wiped dry, but allowed to air dry
completely before using it again.


Good advice, but not the most important thing. My concerns with a wood
cutting board are the fine cuts into the wood that can harbor e-coli or
salmonella, esp. when cutting meat. That is why I use the 3M pad with
hot soapy water - friction to remove meat residue and the abrasion to
smooth surface of wood. I don't go at it hard enough to abrade the
wood, but figure it is equal to whatever fine cuts I have just made with
a sharp knife. E-coli and salmonella are about the nastiest stuff found
in food products, and not likely to disappear in mass-processed
food...one small contaminated batch from a small supplier can
contaminate a huge amount of food when it goes to the big companies that
package it.