Just like washing hands to avoid colds. Hot water and mild soap, clean cloths (not a sponge). Towel dry.

One thing which has helped a lot is my front loader. I can do 205 degree loads and the water is so hot it is basically sterilizes cleaning cloths and towels. I find a big difference (and it only uses 7 gallons of water).

I, too, love my front loader with the sanitize option. It is going with me.

I thought washing a wooden table (finished) with hot water would warp it, even with the smallest amount of water.

Is your kitchen table varnished or painted?

You can wash wood with water -- you just have to dry it off quickly before water penetrates into the wood and causes the warping. I like to use wet-but-not-so-saturated-that-they're-dripping towels.

check out some threads here about cleaning butcher block--apparently wood is naturally antimicrobial, and studies have shown that wooden cutting boards used for meat, and cleaned with just soap and water, have less bad bacteria than plastic over time.

Of course I want to believe this because I am simply not a clean freak :)

However, I do strongly believe that in general we are too worried about germs--there is a lot of good bacteria out there that we need, along with the bad. I think as long as you are a reasonably clean person and wash your hands (NOT with antibacterial soap, which kills all the good bacteria too--the good germs that kill the tiny amounts of bad germs from things like mail) and your counters regularly, you're fine. The more small amounts of germs your body encounters, the stronger your immune system and the more able it is to ward off big bugs.

Unless, of course, there is someone in your house who is immuno-suppressed, which is an entirely different scenario.

Good luck. I empathize with projects shrinking as costs skyrocket...just got another impossible bid from a GC this morning! Oh well...

I clean my table with a regular 'green' cleaning spray and a damp cloth.

If you don't currently put your shopping bags on the counter, where do they currently go? And what do you use to clean that? How about just putting them on the floor if you have concerns, and unload them onto the table? (If you want to be green, I hope you're using cotton bags, not plastic bags from the store! - And I wash my cotton bags often).

Sorting mail? If you're worried about bugs on the mail transferring to the table, I think you should be more worried about bugs getting on your skin. I wonder how many people actually got sick from their mail? You could keep a mail sorting tray and put the stuff in there, not on the table top.

I agree with the earlier poster: I think we get far too carried about this stuff. Wood is good stuff.

Thanks for your thoughts. I have two auto-immune diseases; my body has already succumbed to the bugs. Hence the concern.

Cloth bags go on the floor. Probably will continue to do so.

I was trying to make Hubby's arrival easier. He comes home like a pack mule: food containers and thermoses, mail, work papers, metal clipboard, and, sometimes, changes of clothing for switching between site work and customer visits. It would make it very easy for him if everything could just land on the kitchen table, but only if I could CLEAN it. I've seen some of his work sites: besides insulation and chemical adhesives, caulks, and putties, you got your rat droppings, bat guano, mouse turds, and squirrel dung. Nothing I want mixed in my salad.

Wipe it down with vodka. :-)

Okay. So this IS an entirely different scenario.

You could try a spray bottle with bleach, to really get everything.

Or--and this is a little crazy, but your dscription of your DH's work clothes made even me a little queasy--what about a continuous roll of paper, like in a doctor's office? (And you would recycle the paper, of course) I have seen kids' craft tables that had a roller integrated on one end. Something like that.

Or maybe lots and lots of tablecloths--the tablecloth would always be on, except for food prep. Or maybe you could demote DH's plop zone (I just read this on another thread and LOVE the term!) to a table at the back door or in the garage?

HTH--good luck!

Ah, apologies - now I understand your health concern.

Will you have chairs at the table? Our chairs always seem to end up being the dumping ground for 'stuff' when we get home. Although I love the idea of the roll of paper - I saw that on one of the display kitchens in Ikea (for kids to draw on).

That's why I love this website. People always help me to see things I've overlooked.

The roll of paper probably won't work, though I love the idea, too. I can imagine one of those big, wrought iron butcher paper holders attached to the table. It's a maybe because it would eliminate one seat at the table and there is space only for four, and that would mean not even being able to invite one other couple over for a meal.

But of course, how obvious: a chair! There will be two chairs there regularly, and you're right, a perfect dumping ground, easily cleaned, and not so worrisome as the table top where meals are prepared. I love the simple solutions. Duh!

Thanks for all the help, everyone.