Cloth

Ellen Says: Keeping your kitchen clean is essential to keep food safe. Otherwise bacteria can grow and spread.

Dirty, damp cloths are the perfect place for bacteria to breed. So it's very important to wash kitchen cloths and sponges regularly and leave them to dry before using them again.

Ideally, try to keep different cloths for different jobs. For example, use one cloth to wipe worktops and another to wash dishes. This helps to stop bacteria spreading.

If you want to choose the safest option, you could use disposable kitchen towel to wipe worktops and chopping boards. This is because you throw the kitchen towel away after using it once, so it is less likely to spread bacteria than cloths you use again.

Tea towels can also spread bacteria, so it's important to wash them regularly and be careful how you use them. Remember, if you wipe your hands on a tea towel after you have touched raw meat, this will spread bacteria to the towel. Then, if you use the tea towel to dry a plate, the bacteria will spread to the plate.