Okay, just curious about y'all's routines. Mind you, I'm not a business, I do cookies for friends and family and the occasional fundraiser.
Before I start my cookies, I don hairnet, put on a fresh cookie shirt, like my apron and I wash after every use, then I bleach or pinesol the kitchen, wash hands, don decorator gloves, do not allow anyone in the kitchen whilst baking or decorating cookies, then bleach or pinesol kitchen when finished, then handwash pans, bottles and tips. Whew.

I do everything you do, except bleach my kitchen before baking.

I clean my counters very well every day so if I'm going to be baking they are already clean. Oh and I rarely wear gloves, I wash my hands constantly.

My Dh refers to me as "The Lunch Lady" when I'm baking.

sorry hon... fanatic.

Do you do the same thing when you cook a meal?

Yep - fanatic - but if it makes you feel better - go for it!

I wish I could keep everyone out of the kitchen when I bake. They could be down the street and as soon as I step in the kitchen they magically appear

A little fanatical but thats not a bad thing!! Im the same way!
I spray my counters down with disinfectact spray and rinse out prewashed bowls. Constantly washing my hands and hair is ALWAYS up.
But I think that is just good food safety practice. You never want someone to get sick from something you made and keeping a kitchen clean is just good house sense! I cant stand going over to someones house and seeing a stove with caked on food on the stove and the counters and sink looking like they havent been touched since they've moved it! My brother and sister inlaws house like that. So Gross! And there are always bags of garbage! I just think to myself how can people stand living that way? Its like watching that show Clean House. I saw it the other day and this couple had gobs of dog hair on the floor and they could barely walk into their bedroom. They said that their bedroom was the only place that they could do anything. So the rest of your house looks works than that??? Yikes!

I hate to say it, but fanatic.

I can't get into using gloves. Usually, you end up touching just as many potentially germ-infested items with the gloves on as you do without. I guess skin cells don't slough off into the dough with gloves, but who knows what mystery chemicals may be leaching out of them...

Okay, I'm thinking about this too much.

I just want to say that I'm so glad to see that someone does that. Even though you said you don't run a business I think that's a great routine to have. You have to do all those things when you run a restaurant, but for some reason I have seen a lot of people that run businesses out of their home don't think it's necessary. It is I wish there were more people like you. It would make me feel better about eating stuff that someone else made. I should also add that I have mild OCD so that's probably why I think this is a great idea and I live alone so I never have to worry about anyone else in the house messing up my kitchen or getting in my way

Hmmm, I usually wipe down the counters/tables that I will be using. Then I opull my hair up and put on a clean shirt and baseball cap - I shed like crazy! I have an apron that I think I'll start wearing too.

I don't do gloves, I just wash my hands a jillion times. And I kick the dog outside or to his room (aka the laundry room). But the kids... well, they're always there! My 2 year old often sits at the table cross from me when I decorate and eats icing off of my wax paper that I keep there for testing my stroke and cleaning my tip out...

I do think you're a bit of a fanatic, but you have good habits and it works for you.

I clean, get into decorating clothes, crank up the music and start baking.

I usually have my kids running in every so often to see the progress when done, I clean up, with help from my wife.

Well, I do everything (except Pine Sol, I use bleach) as far as cleaning daily, most of the time, more than once a day!!! I have four kiddos, and I can't stand filth!

I can't seem to get into the glove bit, I can't decorate as well without being able to actually feel the fondant. However, I constantly wash my hands, I mean, my skin is soooo dry from all of that washing.

Hair is always, always up. No matter what or whom I am cooking for. Clean clothing or an apron is a requirement for me to decorate anything.

So, I guess I will jump into the fanatic boat with you, but I would rather be safe than sorry! LOL!

Ah, hah, so kind of a mixture of styles. I must say, I wash my hands, gloved or not, a zillion times! That's why I started wearing gloves, my hands were so, so dry! Yeah, my kids think the hairnet is a bit OTT, but that's why I won't let them in the kitchen, I have this fear of one of them losing a hair, and an eater recovering it
Snowshoe, I have to say, I do not do all that when I cook a meal, although bleach and pinesol are my bestest friends, I do like to keep my counters clean

FANATIC, But thats OK...I am too.
I have 4 dogs and 4 cats....Cats go to thier room, dogs go to thiers...Floors get swept and mopped, everything in kitchen gets bleached, table gets covered in vinyl that is bleached after every use. and no one is allowed in or around my cakes. Clean dish rags and dish towels get put out, everything I use is washed by hand before and after use. I dont even cook on days I bake or decorate because I dont want a cake that smells like onions...lol
If it's a cake that will take a couple of days the dogs even get a bath before hand so that as they travel from thier room thru the kitchen to my bedroom to sleep it is less likely that they will shead in my kitchen. Oh yeah and everthing gets set out in order of which I plan on using it too. Hair up and gloves too! Hubby and son eat out or take out in the den(which kills me...lol), and they hate because I normally cook 6 days a week...lol Yes I am OCD but its ok...as long as my love ones can tolerate me I'm ok. Now if I can just get them to stop tilting all the pictures on the wall just to drive me nuts, life would be grand.
A True Fanatic,
Polly

Wow, Polly, I'm exhausted just reading your reply! With all your furry lovedones, your efforts are very much appreciated, I'm sure! I Love your style!

Shiney, it's what you do for the ones you love...My hubby and I are permanent foster/adoptive parents for sick, old and/or abused dogs and cats that would normally be put to sleep. Thier stay with us is normally from 6 months to 5 or 6 years depending on how much time god gives us with them. So we adapt. We just started classes last night as a matter of fact to be foster parents for the 2 legged kind too(children). Ok so I am OCD and CRAZY.......LOL

Polly

Shiney, I'm with you. I only do cookies for friends and family (sometimes I do get an order but I am an unofficial business). I put on a hair net - once my son came into the kitchen and screamed! We laughed so hard I almost fell on the floor I spray my counters down with a disenfectant that can be used around food and hope for the best! I don't wear the gloves but I wash my hands all the time, something I have always been very careful about. I say better safe than sorry. My fear is finding a hair in one of my cookies - could still happen even with taking precautions. I'm glad to hear that others are consciencous about cleanliness too (or is it ocd???)

normal or fanatic, whatever you call it, it's commendable and smart. When I worked out of my home, I was, what a lot of folks might call 'over the top', but I was aware that what I was doing was risky and I was taking every precaution plus more to make sure the food was safe. My daughters who helped me with the cooking on catering days, hated wearing the aprons and the hairnets ("we dont' do this when we cook our own food!") but I told them, 'That's the point ... you're not cooking your OWN food ... you're cooking this for outside folks and the standards are higher."

My oldest would just sigh and say, "Yes, chef!"

I definitely do the glove thing. When I did things for just hubby and kids you get the urge to lick, fingers. Granted I tend to wash my hands a ton and became really conscience of it when I started to take cake classes. The gloves remove any urge to lick - LOL. I do applaud you for the above and beyond. I don't get to do cakes/cookies any where near what I'd like and it's mainly just family but I do pull hair back put on a clean shirt that can be stainable and clean my work area.

Judi

You can never be too careful. I'm like most that have posted - good to know I'm not 'crazy' My husband calls my bun/updo the 'angry librarian' and I have quite a selection of grease and food color stained shirts my kids refer to as my baking suit LOL I have washed, baked, rolled and frosted so much on my countertops (only 5 years old) that I have worn right through the 'color' of the formica I even opted for the 'extra durable finish' upgrade when they were installed. I guess that's one way to get my granite tops LOL