POLL: What frustrates you most in the kitchen?

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

Recently I've been dealing with the pests that are fruit flies, and whilst I have found a solution (apple cider, sugar and detergent for anyone wondering) they still drive me mad!

Kitchens are notoriously tough spaces to perfect and keep clean, so when it comes to your cook space, what problem drives you mad the most?

Vote or add your own suggestions in below!

Tolycke · More Info

Dirty dishes

Grease marks & stains

Plates & cutlery not properly dried

Fruit flies

Leftover food stuffs

Other - tell us below!

Featured Answer

User

7 years ago

CRUMBS! Why can't crumbless bread be invented? You have a marvellously sparkly kitchen and you've wiped all your work tops down then someone makes some toast, or even worse, makes a sandwich out of a French Baguette! Sacre Bleu!

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Comments (34)

Maribel Siewierska
7 years ago
Dirty sink and countertop, I like everything clean and organised.
Najeebah
7 years ago
Dirty dishes with water filled in and left. I have an ok tolerance level but that...
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7 years ago
Cooking delish burgers mmm :) but those greasy splash marks afterwards just ruin my appetite ..... :(
Emmeline Westin
7 years ago
Not enough storage, leading to clutter and more clutter!
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VM Furnishing
7 years ago
cooking!
Dee at the Carlton
7 years ago
Cluttered surfaces that cannot be cleaned quickly ....
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7 years ago
Lazy Sous Chef, All he does is sit down, dribble and stare. But other than that blunt knives.
gilliifer
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Dirty crockery in the sink, when a perfectly good dishwasher is next to it! And someone not using the special e cloth which polishes the worktop in seconds and leaves it perfect.
lisa77226
7 years ago
Grease on brushed stainless. I have a brushed stainless cooker spalshback, I love the look but HATE cleaning it!
johunt
7 years ago
Dirty work tops, can't stand them
sally_h1
7 years ago
Corner cupboards. I've designed all mine out.
suesigngirl
7 years ago
I'm with fizzfan54, and hate crumbs from toast and sandwich making.

But really, the fact that I have a kitchen and food in it is something I'm very grateful for, when so many in the world don't have that luxury.
Olena Tkach
7 years ago
Fruit flies, food moth and so on. I hate that I have to keep everythinh in my pantry in airtight containers to prevent moth contamination. I hate that I have to hide all the ripe fruits or sweet drinks in the fridge to prevent fruit flies flooding the kitchen. I'm glad we don't have to deal with cocroaches, ants or mice, but I used to live in the house where they were the problem, and I cringe each time I remember that. I can deal with the mess, but I totally hate pests!
Deborah Marsh
7 years ago
My frustration is constantly cleaning and polishing stainless steel fridge, cooker, microwave and dishwasher that show every fingerprint and mark.
anniec22
7 years ago
My husband dumping anything from tools, paperwork, chargers etc to articles of clothing randomly abandoned in a kitchen that has precious little work top space to start off with!!!
Aalough Miegh
7 years ago
not enough space and storage especially when tiny kitchens also meant to multitask their functions including being the main storage place for things like the vaccuum/ hoover and shopping cart/ buggy. ( Rental Properties are the worst for this )
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7 years ago
Dishwashing cloth left in dirty washing up water that has turned cold......aaaargh!!!
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7 years ago
Nothing worse than a sink full of dirty dishes!
Brid Farnan
7 years ago
Husband tidying utensils into the sink before I've finished with them. I have him banned now during the kids' dinner after school, unbelievable that I put up with it as long as I did!
Joanna Biddolph
7 years ago
Food waste and cleaning the food waste bins. I use the council food waste collection service, of course, but it's keeping it in between that I can't stand. The small apparently counter top bin gets full so quickly (and I hate having it on the counter top so it stays on the floor where it irritates me) and I hate transferring it from that bin to the bigger bin which the council asks us to keep outside - but where? It's so unsightly and, frankly, tends to get so smelly that I don't want it anywhere near the house; having it far away makes it a pain to use, particularly in grotty weather. It's not a good system. Then there's the vile chore of cleaning both bins, neither of which I want anywhere near my sink but rinsing it at the garden tap isn't enough. What does everyone else do to manage this miserable task and minimise the mucky smell?
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7 years ago
Cats walking on the work surface
turquoisetree53
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
with regard ro the nuisance of crumbs.....my elderly dad kept a mini hand held car hoover in readiness in the kitchen at all times.... took up more counterspace than i have though. And no objet d 'art.

my partner has inherited ( from his mum) the 'refined' habit of always leaving some food on the side of his plate, so it always has to be scraped. I come from a ' don't serve yourself more than you can eat' ethos'.
Wendy White
7 years ago
The bits of food that jump down the gap between the range cooker and units. When I redo the kitchen I'm going for integrated oven and hob so there's nowhere for the crumbs to hide.
I heart labs
7 years ago
I too hate kitchen pests although I have been quite lucky this summer and managed to avoid them, probably something to do with having a Labrador and thus a perpetual food Hoover.
One summer during an extremely hot spell I went away, forgetting to empty the bread bin. I came home and the kitchen was *covered* in flour mites that had hatched in the heat, they are minuscule white almost translucent things and seemed almost impossible to get rid of. That was the worst thing I've ever experienced in the kitchen by far! I can withstand most things after that!
Sally Maguire-Symonds
7 years ago
In answer to Joanna Biddullh, our local council has a similar system to yours for food waste and I too hated the food waste bin on the work surface so when we installed our new kitchen I insisted on a heavy duty in-sink-erator, waste disposal unit. Perfect solution, no decomposing food in the plastic tub on the side no compost bucket outside for the bin men and no smells. The strongest WDU takes bones and all. The only thing I don't put down it is tea bags.
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Woods of London ltd
7 years ago
Hi Tom,

My wife hates flies and with large bifolds open there are lots at night. We have fitted a proper insectocutor above the cabinets, they are cheap and do not cost much to run but zap the horrid beasts ...
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clutter
Sonia
7 years ago
Not enough worktop. Drives me nuts. Have got a kitchen table which helps. However trying to dish up dinner and trying to balance four dinner plates is a nightmare!
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7 years ago
Annoying greasy smears and hard water stains makes me despair.
Joanna Biddolph
7 years ago
Oh, those water stains. I so agree - aa interior design. I moved less than a mile but the water marks in my new home were astonishingly bad compared with before. By chance, Thames Water rang the bell one day to run a water test which showed that water here is the hardest it is possible to be. He explained that, despite moving such a short distance, my water comes from a different reservoir. I couldn't stand it and decided I had to get a water softener. It cost a lot but I can't tell you how liberating it is not to have to spend so much time cleaning, cleaning, cleaning or wiping, wiping, wiping just to manage or get rid of scale and scum. I really recommend it. It's also great knowing that my washing machine, dishwasher, radiators and pipes won't get bunged up and ought to function well for a long time. It took a while to get used to the feel of soft water but I now love it and can't imagine I'd ever not want a water softener again, if I were to move. Freedom!
Jasmin Sehmbi
7 years ago
Tea stains drive me crazy! Ive found a great solution to get rid of those stubborn teabag stains in stainless steel sinks- a dishwasher tablet! Fill the sink with a couple cm's of water and drop in a dishwasher tablet for a couple of hours. Drain the sink and voila, completely stain free.
Coco Nuts
7 years ago
My husband.
Heidi Cullen
5 years ago
Having to stand. Makes me ache so I tend to use an old bar stool. So much more civilized. Plus my wheelchair doesn't fit through the door lol!

POLL: What frustrates you most in the kitchen?

Comments (34)

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