Dishes & Food Preparation Surfaces 

Washing Dishes:  Wipe out dishes, pans, etc., before washing to keep your water cleaner.  Wash dishes with dish soap and hot water whenever possible.

Rinsing:  Ideally, in absence of running hot water, a double rinse would be best.  First rinse is a hot rinse.  Second rinse is a hot rinse with bleach (2 tablespoons of liquid bleach to a gallon of water) or STERAMINE.  If the ideal can’t be done, do the best you can do.

Drying:  Allow dishes to air dry on a rack (germs can hide in towels).  You can sanitize dishes in a solar cooker (leave in for 1 hour in full sun).

Cleaning Food Preparation Surfaces:  Clean all surfaces with a disinfectant before and after food preparation.  There are many disinfectants that could work for this purpose, but bleach (2 tablespoons liquid bleach to 1 gallon of water) or hydrogen peroxide and vinegar alternately applied work well and are inexpensive.  STERAMINE is used for sanitizing in the restaurant industry.  It is also an inexpensive option for sanitizing food preparation surfaces and as a second rinse for dishes.

Other Ideas:

•  Paper products (cups/plates/utensils/napkins) are useful in short-term situations
•  Be careful storing, handling, and eating of food to avoid illnesses.
•  Be sure to wash hands after handling uncooked meat.

Suggested Supplies To Have On Hand:

2-3 small tubs, dish soap, dishcloths, paper towels, hand towels, scrubbing sponge or brush, dish draining rack, surface disinfectant.

Recommended Cleaning/Disinfecting Products

Our cupboards are full of various cleaning products, but there are a few basic products that would be worth having on hand because of their cost effectiveness, useful properties, and versatility.  With these few products, you could practically clean and disinfect everything in your home, including laundry.

Vinegar:  Go to www.versatilevinegar.org for a long list of uses.  Besides being used in salad dressings, marinades, and other food recipes, vinegar can be used for health, for household cleaning including floors, windows & walls, kitchen and bathroom (disinfectant properties), lawn and garden, laundry (eliminates soap residue when added to laundry rinse water, breaks down uric acid in laundry) and more.

Baking Soda: Go to http://www.armhammer.com/basics/magic/  for a long list of uses.  Baking soda is a deodorizer, stops mold, mildew, and is a natural whitener.  It neutralizes stomach acid, cleans kitchen and bathroom surfaces, acts as a gentle scouring powder, smothers small fires, and is a great laundry booster.

Borax:  Go to http://www.dialcorp.com/documents/borax.pdf for a long list of uses.  It cleans, deodorizes, disinfects and softens water naturally (excellent laundry booster and effective as a household cleaner (do not use on food surfaces)).  It also repels cockroaches, ants and other bugs.

Hydrogen Peroxide:  Go to http://www.using-hydrogen-eroxide.com/ for a long list of uses.  It cleans and disinfects wounds, removes blood stains in fabric, is used as a disinfectant in kitchen and bathroom, cleans cutting boards, can be used as a laundry bleach, can be used as a mouthwash.
 
How To Make Dish Soap: Find instructions to make dish soap here: http://hobbies.howtodothings.com/how-to-make-dish-soap