Minimalist Kitchen - Other Kitchen Dangers

Other Kitchen Dangers:
Knives: Kitchen knives are the kind of thing that can fall from a crowded counter and hurt your foot or a child. If you have small children keep knives in a drawer with a child proof lock on it. Kids learn to climb up on counters pretty early in life so they shouldn’t be stored in a block on the counter. They should go sharp end down in the dishwasher. My favorite dishwasher, the Fisher Paykel dish drawer has a lock so kids can’t open it. (See Minimalist Kitchen - Dishwashers)

Poisonous Items: Most of the earth friendly cleaning products I recommend are not going to poison a child. But dish washing liquid and dishwasher detergent could. They should be kept behind a child proof lock. If you have your fire extinguisher under your sink it’s best to store them in a higher locked cupboard because in the case of a fire every second counts.

Germs and Microorganisms: The only way to keep this stuff out of your kitchen is to keep it clean. Spray your counters and sink with diluted bleach solution, leave it for two minutes and then wipe it off.( See Minimalist Kitchen - Sink) Check out what bleach can kill on the Clorox site.

Lets talk about mice and rats. If you live near water or fields these guys would just love to come and eat at your house. Don’t leave anything out for them and forget bread boxes! Put your bread in the fridge and your dry products in the freezer. Also, make sure there isn’t any standing water under your house. If it’s already a problem adopt a cat that is a real mouser. All cats aren’t mousers though. They must be taught by their mothers. Usually, a tamed feral cat will kill every mouse, rat, snake, gofer, and mole, in your yard just for sport. For more information about mousers ( my heroes,) read Perfect Paws.

Minimalist’s Point: About Safety: The best way to keep a kitchen safe is to keep it clean and clear of clutter.

Minimalist Kitchen - Safety

Kitchens are one of the most dangerous rooms in the house. They have all the elements for starting a fire: heat, electricity, and water and they contain all kinds of highly flammable items like: paper, cleaning products, grease, wow! There are plenty of poisonous items in a kitchen, sharp objects, and germs, microorganisms, and perhaps even vermin! The best way to keep a kitchen safe is to keep it clean and clear of clutter.

Let’s talk about paper:

Paper: If you use paper towels these should be stored far away from the stove preferably near the sink. I hope you don’t use paper napkins as they are a waste of money and trees, but if you do, they should be stored in a drawer, not on the table, above the refrigerator, and certainly not near the stove! Your grocery list should be stored in a drawer as well. If you have a desk area built into your cupboards, keep the paper in the drawers and don’t have a bulletin board cluttered with papers tacked to the wall and keep your fridge front clear of papers. (Find another place for your kids art gallery.)

Two of the worst fire safety offenders found in a kitchen are junk mail and newspapers. If you read the paper at the kitchen table, don’t leave it there. Put it into your recycling center. The same with junk mail. Most organizers will tell you to open and sort it right when you bring it in and deal with it. I’ll talk more about the horrors of junk mail in future blogs about recycling. (Along with those empty Northwest Micro brew beer bottles.)

One more thing about paper. I was a teacher and school media specialist and have had many dealings with the local Fire Marshall. Classrooms are filled with paper and we were always being told to take down the fabulous 3-d paper trees we had on the wall or the 3-d painted paper fish we had hanging from our ceilings!