Posted by Claire.Hampshire
Friday, 17 Jul 2009
The kids are now off school for the summer and the peak holiday season is upon us. With a whole family to pack for, housework is going to be the last thing on your mind, but coming back to a messy house with a strange odour emanating from the kitchen is the last thing you want after a relaxing week away. It’s depressing enough having to come back to the dreary English weather without dirty dishes being there to greet you on your return. So here are some top tips for preparing your kitchen for its own summer vacation!
- Prepare your fridge by throwing away any food that may go off whilst you are away – make this easier by not buying any fresh food in the days before you go but instead eating up what you already have.
- Wipe down the inside of the fridge, as odours are more likely to occur during the summer months when the weather is warmer, and if you are not there to detect them it will just get worse. If you are lucky enough to have a fridge with a holiday setting it will control the temperature for you and stops odours and mould forming.
- Empty all bins – this could easily be overlooked and forgotten about, but will definitely declare itself on your return!
- Wash the dishes. An obvious one, but an essential one!
- Clean the dishwasher – at the very least run it on empty using some dishwasher cleaning powder. You may think that as the whole point of a dishwasher is to clean, it would at least always be that itself, but food scraps can get caught in the machine and if you have ever put milky bowls in the dishwasher without rinsing them first, you will know what a stink it can cause.
- Have food supplies ready for your return. Wherever you go on holiday, coming home usually involves a whole day of travelling one way or another, so you’re likely to be pretty exhausted on your return. The first thing you will probably want is a cup of good old English tea, so buy some UHT milk you can store in the cupboard and store a loaf of bread in the freezer for an easy snack (e.g. beans on toast!)
