Why didn't my mother warn me?

This is so very puzzling!! Thank goodness it doesn’t happen only to me!!!

Yes, cutlery drawer and draining racks Are a mystery. And what about the draining ‘pot’ for cutlery - that get really yucky. How many germs are harboured there?

When OH butters toast or makes the sandwiches he often leaves the drawer open and gets irritated when I push it to. No wonder it gets crumbs in.

Thanks for the sugar soap mention. My oven is cleaned fairly often but could do with a thorough going over and the firm I contacted wanted £75.
Our cutlery drawer and those underneath it are currently spotless because DH accidentally knocked a milk carton over when the drawer was ajar. We spent all evening washing the contents and the tray, drying the drawer then cleaning with wipes, then discovered that the milk had managed to get into the other drawers (fortunately not the man drawer!) so they were cleaned out as well. I never realised I had 17 teatowels.

My husband too, I've never seen him shut a drawer completely in over 50 years of marriage, possibly because he was kept in a drawer as a baby.

How funny, I was wondering that the other day. It's a bit like putting 2 socks into the washing machine just to find that the Sock Goblin has pinched one.

Our cutlery drawers are in a dresser so no worktop above and yet this happens.

My mother was not a good housekeeper. Her kitchen was less than spotless. In fact, when I had a party when they were away I cleaned the house BEFORE the party, not afterwards, and she didn't notice!

I have an expanding inner liner for my cutlery drawer, why can I never get it back together after cleaning.?

Similarly, how do draining racks, that only ever have clean things put in them, need cleaning?

I use a cloth with disinfectant on, to wipe them out

When we ran holiday gîtes in France the cutlery drawers had to be cleaned out every week they were so full of crumbs. (Maybe all the baguettes?)

In the country of Djelibeybi, Cephut is the God of cutlery. Perhaps he has something to do with it.

Chewbacca have you ever watched Michael Macintyre on the subject of ‘the man draw’. We have a cellar like that!

urgh! your drawer sounds just like mine although mine isn't too bad at present.
What I can't explain is the grot on the stainless steel draining board, under the draining rack.
And worse, I found a cluster of clothes moths inside a thermos flask! The lid had been off and it was clean (apart from the unwelcome visitors)
Why were they there? what was attracting them?

EV Thanks for that information I will do that next week,my oven needs a good old cleaning and as you know I don't have the use of my right arm for jobs like that so less elbow grease will be a godsend saves me getting in a "man who can" when all this is finished.x

Not forgetting batteries too Chewbacca that will be as dead as dodo's. Christmas cake decorations with the odd lump of icing sugar attached and bent birthday candles.

The use of sugar soap in the kitchen is ideal for shifting surrounding particles of grease which dust etc lands on and makes it look worse. Far less elbow grease is needed. I cleaned out the oven the other week with it no problem and no chemical fumes that you'd get with oven cleaner.

It's that drawer with all the rubber bands, odd keys you have no idea which locks they're for, bits of paper with a phone number but no name and the pens that don't work that puzzle me. Who puts all that stuff in there? I'm certain it's not me!

I know exactly why our drawer gets dirty. My husband takes something from the drawer but doesn’t close it afterwards. He proceeds to work at the worktop (bending forward at an awkward angle) and crumbs fall into the open drawer. I don’t know how many times we have discussed this. He seems incapable of shutting drawers. I can map his movements around the house by the drawers left open (or partially open because when he makes a big effort, he manages to half close them).

It infuriates me how my daughter (lives with me) just DOESN'T seem to see the grubby inside OR outside of cupboards/drawers. It's as if she has a filter. The muck drives me crazy!

Smileless please feel free to help me, if you can actually get in my kitchen. I keep telling myself my kitchen will look worse before it gets better. I have to be in the mood- 3 cupboards are spotless- I have another 6 to tackle and then the drawers.

If baking is done on the worktop over the cutlery drawer, there's your answer.

It's one of life's mysteries mischief.

I cleaned out all of my kitchen cupboards and drawers before the lock down; I wish I'd waited.

Pratchett. Honestly I did type that.