WFMW -- Clean Counters

Counter Covered
Originally uploaded by warillever.

Here is a newly weekly feature at reprehriestless warillever -- Works for me Wednesday. Hosted by Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer. Here are everyone else's tips.

Excited now? Here is my tip:

I have tile countertops. I like them -- they're sturdy, heat resistant, and pretty. But the grout gets pretty gross pretty quick, especially with sticky foods like bread dough. And scrubbing grout with a toothbrush is not my idea of fun.

The solution?

I put down a plastic-coated placemat under messy jobs. It keeps the counter clean, and keeps weird marks off of the dough. And the placemat wipes right off. Now that I discovered this piece of genius, I use them all over the kitchen -- under the blender when the kids make smoothies, next to the range for my spatulas and wooden spoons, and under the dish drain when I need to put it on the counter.