Posted By Ron Hunter and apparently we men should avoid opening our wallets! Sounds fine to me!

Posted By William I don't have a wallet, but i am looking for one on eBay at the moment. Which type of material would be best for providing an active breeding ground for bacteria?

Posted By Merv Newman There was also a study published last week that said kitchens were filthier than toilets. Is there a link ? (mind you, I spend more time in the kitchen than my wife does in the bathroom)(I think thats a non sequiteur) The report recommended microwaving the kitchen sponge. (10 minutes on "high") With Bisto ? Monitors, yes, this really is a serious H&S subject. Please do not lock the thread until it gets really infantile or too scatalogical. (which I'm sure it will) Merv

Posted By J Knight Merv Yes, there was a short lived flurry of items in the meeja encouraging people to microwave sponges; this was followed by a couple of impassioned pleas from fire-fighters saying please don't microwave your sponges because we keep getting called out to burning microwave ovens.... John

Posted By MetalMan I know it was said in jest but do not microwave your dishcloths! Jeremy vine show a few weeks ago had a few callers ring in to say they had tried it and they caught fire. Fire service say do not do it as well. As for dirty desks.....you should see the crumbs in my keyboard!!!!!!!!

Posted By jackw. you should meet the "CRUMBS" in mine..have a nice weekend ya alllllll.

Posted By Merv Newman I think the gist of the toilet/kitchen paper was that we tend to use more disinfectant products in the bathroom than in the kitchen. Kitchen tops tend to be wiped down with an old sponge left soaking in the sink or with a tea towel that has been hanging around for a few days and is probably already quite soggy. In a professional kitchen, at least if they are up to HACCP standards, they will do the rough clean down and finish with disinfectant products or wipes. Though I do remember one cook mopping the floor and THEN using the same mop to do the worktops. Never ate there again even though they did a mean sea-food platter : lobster, crab, shrimps, oysters, mussels, cockles, whelks and winkles. Merv

Posted By Marti Martin Was away and missed the usual Friday hi-jinks and Merv's menu for the week. (Can one buy Bisto over there Merv?) I swear the cook aboard one ship (merchant navy) used to swab the galley deck with the dishcloth and then boil it up in the 'left-overs' soup pan to add flavour. Personally, I soak my dishcloth in a mild bleach solution every night, but wouldn't recommend that at work. One of the first things I did when I started work here, was to throw out the disgusting item passing itself off as a dishcloth for wiping down the kitchen surfaces - yecchh. Workplace staff kitchens are a nightmare, so I always bring a packup (and drop the crumbs into my keyboard in case I need an afternoon snack) Regards Marti