# Kitchen guidelines

As we are many sharing the kitchen, things are smoother when we all follow these guidelines.

## General
* **Clean after yourself**, as much as practical, leave the kitchen at least as clean and ordered as you encountered it. Sometimes people forget to clean things, please kindly remind the person to clean after themself or consider cleaning them yourself.
* **Please clean immediately** dishes, pots, surfaces, and any tools used before leaving the kitchen.
* **Have clean hands** to not dirty everything you touch.
* **Use hand towels only to dry your hands**. Do not clean or dry surfaces with them, otherwise they get dirty or too wet.
* **Don’t leave food or scraps behind** (to limit attracting insects), unless covered.

## Kitchenware and work-surfaces
* **Wash things thoroughly**, on all sides.
* **Put things back at their designated place**, so that others know where they are.
* Rinse, squeeze then hang back at their place kitchen cloths and sponges after use. They may also need to be rinsed before use.
* **Avoid holding onto items** that are in limited quantities, such as blender jugs, cooking pots, glass bowls. Please, don't leave the kitchen with them or leave them in the fridge, because others might need them.
* **Don't wait before cleaning**, preferably not postponing it to after your meal, because others might need the preparation area or utensils, cookware etc. while you're eating.
* For hot peppers, only use the "ají" cutting board, and clean the knife thoroughly afterwards.

## Blenders
* Don't put objects (e.g. spoon) in the blenders while they are running. The one object that can be used however is, with the lid on, the plunger/tamper for the corresponding blender. You break it, you buy it.
* Don't stress them too much. Make sure there is enough liquid to aid blending.

## Sinks
* When there are food scraps in the sink strainer/plug, pull it out, empty it in the compost bucket, then put it back.
* If the strainer is mouldy or dirty, please clean it with a brush before putting it back.

## Compost
* Coconut husks are composted separately.
* Paper and cardboard are welcome in the compost, everything else goes into the trash bin.

## Water filter
* **Refill it often** (it takes a while for the water to filter through).
* Don’t tilt it (risk of breaking).
* For cooking, tea, etc, the water from the tap is safe.

## Fridges
* Use only your allocated shelf space.
* Close the freezer and fridge doors softly to preserve the seals.