1. Sinks. You might be surprised to learn that there are more germs in your kitchen sink than are in your toilet. From raw meat juices, dirty dishes and leftover food particles, the kitchen sink is a hotbed for bacteria. Therefore, any day that you use your sink for preparing food or soaking dishes, pots and pans, it should be washed down with hot soapy water and a sponge.

2. Sponges. Speaking of sponges, there have been many discussions online about the germs found in sponges and what will work to clean them. Recently, The New York Times ran an article that quoted a study from Germany claiming that cleaning a sponge only makes the bacteria on them worse. But after further research, the author wrote another article that said cleaning your sponge is still important to do. So the debate seems to remain up in the air.

However, if you still want to clean your sponge, you can either put it in the microwave on high for a minute or try a new tool called a SpongeBath that uses citric acid to keep the sponge clean and disinfected.

3. Hand towels. Hand towels are magnets for nasty germs. More often than not, we mindlessly wipe our hands on our towels, without thinking what we’re leaving behind. Raw meat juices, raw eggs from batter or even rotting food can often be found on a kitchen towel. 

The trick is to change them at least once a week — more often if the towels get a lot of use — and wash dirty ones in hot water. You can also add a teaspoon of bleach to the wash to kill bacteria.

4. Knobs and handles. Every kitchen has more than a few door knobs and handles. Between everyday germs that are on your hands and the food germs you find in the kitchen, those cabinet knobs and handles can be full of bacteria. 

You can use a simple solution of distilled white vinegar and some rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and wipe with a microfiber cloth. The vinegar alone kills 98% of the bacteria, and the alcohol should kill the rest.