Keeping your kitchen clean is one of the most important aspects of a clean house. Unlike the rest of the house, germs hanging out in the kitchen won’t just be stepped on by you and your family – you can actually end up eating them. For the sake of your health, keep these kitchen cleaning tips in mind.

1. Grease is the enemy

Nobody wants to get grease into their system. As much as oil is essential in cooking, it does the body way too much harm for us to ignore its presence in the things we put in our mouths. Did you know that cooking actually releases tiny particles of grease into the air? They stick onto any surface in the kitchen and can promote the build up of germs and bacteria.

A range hood: it’s the answer to a grease-free kitchen. You should do a general cleaning of your kitchen at least once a month if you have a range hood installed. The hood should be cleaned at least twice a month, every other week. Just follow the instructions that came with the unit’s manual and you’ll do fine.

2. Wipe the grease down

Not everyone can afford to have a fancy range hood over their stoves. Sometimes a really big window beside the cooking area is good enough, but not all kitchens even have a window, big or small, especially if you live in a low-rent or solo apartment. When the going gets tough, you have no choice but to get your hands dirty.

Use a damp cloth soaked in a mixture of water and vinegar to wipe just about every inch of surface in the kitchen. Leave tiles or any other stone surface untouched. Vinegar is an effective cleaning agent, but it works the other way when it comes to stone surfaces. Instead, use warm water to dampen the cloth . Do this once or twice a month to make sure your kitchen is clean and grease-free.

3. I don’t like tiles because they’re a headache

Yes, they are. Stained floor tiles are definitely a sorespot. However, tiles are also one of the most popular floor type for kitchens and for good reason, too. Tile grout tends to dig deep into the spaces between the tiles, making it tough to dissolve even with the best cleaning agent on the market.

When dealing with tile grout, the prevention-is-better-than-cure theory applies. Wipe off stains as soon as they happen; don’t wait for spills to settle long enough for them to become permanent. The longer the stain isn’t wiped off, the harder it is to take out altogether. Use a combination of warm water and tile detergent for a stronger cleaning effect. Then, hope for the best.

4. The food stinks because the refrigerator stinks

Nothing is worse than a stinky refrigerator. It’s disgusting and downright embarrassing if you happen to have guests around. The truth is, though, the smell is naturally-occurring. It is caused by microscopic food particles that find themselves either lodged or stuck in some corner or wall of the fridge. Get some materials and start cleaning.

First, use a sponge soaked in foaming bath cleaner to wipe the walls of the fridge. This should eliminate most of the stains and dirt, but not the smell. Then, mix some vinegar and one or two tablespoons of baking soda into a bucket of water. Dampen a cloth with the solution and use it to wipe the walls again to take out the pungent odor.

Check for freon leaks if the smell lingers after cleaning.

5. Tang is for tangy

Dishwasher. Did you really think you could get away with not getting your dishwasher cleaned? Come on. You cook and eat food using those kitchen utensils and you’re going to wash them with a dirty dishwasher? All those dirt and old food particles inside the dishwasher will get stuck to the utensils and plates.

Just wipe the inside compartment with a damp cloth, which should take out most of what isn’t supposed to be there to begin with. Then fill one dispenser with dish soap and the other with Tang instant drink mix and let the dishwasher run with an empty compartment. This should deodorize the interiors of the dishwasher. We don’t know how the Tang, works but it does.

Use these tips, and your kitchen will look, smell, and even taste clean!

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# When it comes to buying a new refrigerator, or refrigerator-freezer combination, there are a number of factors that need to be considered before you make your purchase. Factors that will, influence the best buy for you are in three broad categories: The environment where the appliance is to be installed
# The environment where the appliance is to be installed
# The load you will place on the appliance
# The total cost of owning and operating the appliance.

At Myshopping.com.au you can compare a great range of appliances, and assess them according to their specifications, brands, prices and vendors.

The environment

Most kitchens have a refrigerator, but not all are located in the kitchen. Before you make a decision about the appliance, you need to measure the space it will occupy. Make sure you measure the available width, height and depth, taking into account the space available for opening the refrigerator doors. Remember that fridges generate heat on the outside in order to cool the inside the cabinet, therefore there needs to be adequate space around the unit to allow the heat to dissipate. If it is to be enclosed within a cavity, be sure there is ventilation available through the top of the cavity. You can choose a refrigerator to be modelled to reflect and enhance the d?cor of the kitchen into which it is being installed.

There are a number of basic design differences that you can consider. Each different design has an impact on how it fits into your environment as well as other aspects of the unit.

Single compartment refrigerators are units with only fresh food space and no freezer compartment. They are generally automatic defrost units.

Single door refrigerators have a small freezer compartment built into the main cabinet. These are usually manual defrost and are often referred to as small bar refrigerators.

Cyclic defrost refrigerator/freezers are generally two door units in which the freezer unit is manually defrosted, but the fresh food compartment defrosts automatically using either natural warming of the cabinet during the ‘off cycle’, or a small electric heater on the refrigerator evaporator.

Frost-free refrigerators are generally two door models that have automatic defrost in both the freezer and fresh food compartments. Well-designed frost-free refrigerators can have a lower energy use than cyclic defrost models of the same size

Vertical/Upright freezers are front-opening door freezers allowing contents to be accessed and loaded quickly, thus minimising the time that the door is open.

Chest freezers have a top opening lid and are generally more economical than vertical freezers but less convenient to use, and are manual defrost.

Within the two-door category, units are available with top freezer compartments, bottom freezer compartments or as side-by-side units. Generally speaking, top of bottom door freezers are more energy efficient than side-by-side units, which are also limited in shelf-width space. Side-by-side fridges however, do offer some benefits in kitchens with limited space because the doors are not as wide as doors on top or bottom door freezer units. You can search Myshopping.com.au to compare the prices and performance specifications of these different model combinations.

The load

The load you place on the appliance affects how effective it is as a refrigerator, and how much it costs you in the long run. It all boils down to size. What capacity refrigerator should you buy? To answer that question, you need to consider what-and how much of it-you will put into it. So let’s look at size first.

Small refrigerators are typically 200 litres to 280 litres, medium 280 litres to 400 litres, large from 400 litres to 560 litres and extra large from 560 litres to 800 litres. Depending on the lifestyle you lead and how often you shop for fresh foods, two people need around 220 litres to 280 litres of refrigerator capacity. For each additional person, add another 30 litres. A family of four therefore, should consider a refrigerator/freezer capacity of something in the order of 300 litres to 360 litres. You can search Myshopping.com.au for refrigerators of different capacities.

Getting the right size is important. If your fridge on average is not at least two thirds full, or your freezer at least three quarters full, it’s probably too big for your needs. A refrigerator that’s too big and not kept filled wastes energy and costs more to run. A fridge that’s too small has you constantly rearranging food to make it all fit, which results in wastage of energy because of long periods the door is open and wasted time.

Also consider the load from the point of view of the shelving capacity of the unit. If you’re simply stocking it with large quantities of packaged food, you may need only small crisper capacity. On the other hand if fresh vegetables and fruit are a large party of your pantry, then you need a unit with substantial crisper capacity. Shelf adjustments and strength are important. Flimsily constructed plastic shelving cannot withstand heavy loads, especially door shelving. You need also to be able to adjust shelving heights to suit the kinds of foods you are putting in the unit.

The less time a fridge door remains open, the less energy it will consume. Therefore a fridge/freezer with easy access is easier to stock, and easier to use things you need quickly. The temperature control is how you manage the load of your fridge. Make sure you know where the thermostat control is located and how it is adjusted, this will help you manage the load of the unit for efficient energy use and constant temperature.

Cost

Here are a couple of facts that you may not be aware of. A typical refrigerator uses between 600 and 900-kilowatt hours of electricity per year, which makes it the single most expensive appliance in many households, making up 20% or more of the total residential electricity consumption. Nearly all households have at least one refrigerator and about 30% own two. Nearly 60% of households own a separate freezer. So, it’s not just the cost of the refrigerator that’s important, it’s also the cost of owning it.

The working life of most fridges is in the order of ten years. This is not to say that fridges can continue to work satisfactorily for longer, nor that some a poorly manufactured and give up the ghost after seven years. However a quick calculation of ten years of 20% of your household electricity consumption will soon tell you how much it will cost over its life. So how do you make a choice that will result in the lowest cost? Use the energy rating star system.

Every major refrigerator and freezer manufacturer has their goods tested by Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand and are regulated for energy labelling in Australia. They are also regulated for MEPS (minimum efficiency standards). The results of these tests are published and a label is attached to the product advising of that unit’s performance. This performance rating is given a ’star’ rating, which enables you to compare different energy consumption levels of different brands, capacities and types of refrigerator/freezers. You can use Myshopping.com.au to make this comparison very easily.

Summary

The following points are a quick summary of the things that will help you buy the right refrigerator/freezer for your situation. Use Myshopping.com.au to make comparisons between makes and models of specifications, energy ratings, price and vendors.
# Generally, larger refrigerators consume more energy. A model that is too large will waste space and energy; too small could mean extra trips to supermarket and inconvenience, and inefficient use of the cabinet.
# It is generally cheaper to run one large refrigerator than two small ones. However, a quick check of the energy consumption on the label will give you accurate comparison.
# Top or bottom freezer units are generally more efficient than side-by-side units. You can check the stars and the energy consumption to compare.
# Automatic ice-makers and through-the-door dispensers will increase both the energy use (typically 100 to 150 kilowatt hours/year) and the purchase price, but may add convenience and reduce energy wastage by not having the door opened as frequently.
# Manual defrost models use less energy than frost-free models, but only if they are defrosted regularly enough to remain energy efficient.
# If two different sized refrigerators use the same amount of energy, the larger model can be considered more efficient because it keeps more space cold with same amount of electricity.

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