CLOTHS
Ah, the good old cloth! So useful for wiping countertops or washing dishes. Except that they are far from clean. Cloths may contain six times more bacteria than your toilet flush handle.
Cloths have all the necessary features for attracting bacteria: heat, humidity, and organic material from the remains of your dinner.
Regularly, maybe even daily, wash your cloths on a hot machine cycle to disinfect them, and then dry them in a tumble dryer.
YOUR KITCHEN SPONGE
Do you wash your dishes with a scouring sponge? We don’t want to alarm you, but you might as well be washing them with your toilet seat.
On average, a sponge contains 10 million bacteria per square inch. That’s 200,000 times more than your toilet seat. Yes, that’s right: 200,000 times more!
YOUR SMARTPHONE
Our smartphones are one of the last things we’d think of disinfecting, but they’re actually incredibly dirty! There may be as much as 10 times more bacteria on your mobile phone than on your toilet seat. It’s not so surprising, when you think about it. You don’t always wash your hands before touching your phone, and you take it everywhere with you—even to the bathroom!
To clean your phone, use a cloth that you have soaked in a solution made up of 60 per cent water and 40 per cent rubbing alcohol. Make sure you wring the cloth well, though, so that the solution doesn’t damage your device.
YOUR COMPUTER KEYBOARD
If you work in front of a computer, one of the objects that you touch most in the day is certain to be your computer’s keyboard. However, how many times a month do you clean it? If you’re like most of us, the answer is practically never.
According to a study by CBT Nuggets, computer keyboards, especially if they’re old, are filthy! They contain on average 20,500 times more bacteria than a toilet seat.
To clean your computer’s keyboard, use a cotton swab that has been dipped in rubbing alcohol. Take care to ensure none of the alcohol gets into the holes, and make sure your keyboard is unplugged. You can also use compressed air to dislodge any encrusted dirt around the keys.
YOUR COMPUTER MOUSE
Although it’s not as dirty as the keyboard, your computer mouse is one of the other technical devices that you use every day. On average, a mouse is 45,600 times dirtier than your toilet flush handle, if a study by CBT Nuggets is to be believed.
To evict the microbes that have taken up residence on your mouse, use a disinfectant wipe. Then wipe it down with a microfiber cloth before plugging it back into your computer.
YOUR DOG’S BOWL
Just because pets seem to be more resistant to bacteria than us, that’s no reason to make them eat out of a dirty bowl. Pet bowls are host to an average of 2,110 bacteria per square inch, which is almost 10 times more than a toilet seat.
To be sure that Fido is dining from a clean dish, wash his bowl every day with hot water and dish soap.
YOUR “CLEAN” CLOTHES
Like most of us, when your clothes are dirty, you probably put them in the washing machine. However, although they might smell great, the clothes that come out of your washing machine are far from being clean, particularly if you’re washing your clothes along with your underwear.
On average, each piece of underwear contains a gram of faecal matter—ewww! That means that there may be as many as 100 million E. coli bacteria swimming around in your washing machine, being spread onto other clothes.
To avoid your sweaters becoming impregnated with E. coli, regularly wash your machine with water and bleach, just as if you were putting on a normal cycle but without clothes, or dry your clothes in the sun. Sun is a natural disinfectant.
YOUR CAR’S STEERING WHEEL
Unless you drive wearing gloves, you are probably coming into contact with hundreds of bacteria every time you take the wheel. In an analysis of 1,200 cars, researchers discovered that, on average, a steering wheel contains 10 times more bacteria than a toilet seat.
As car interiors are often hot and humid, they provide an ideal environment for bacteria to proliferate.
To kill the bacteria on your steering wheel and elsewhere in your car, use products specially made for cars or get the inside professionally cleaned.
YOUR ID BADGE
Strangely enough, even if you rarely touch it, your ID badge is extraordinarily dirty. It contains more bacteria than a toilet seat, and more bacteria even than your dog’s toy. In fact, according to a CBT Nuggets study, it’s the dirtiest technical item that you come into daily contact with.
You can clean your badge with a well-wrung cloth that has been soaked in a solution made from a cup of water and a few drops of dish soap. Before washing your badge, however, check with your employer that water won’t damage the badge.
YOUR TOOTHBRUSH
Would you brush your teeth with your toilet seat? Probably not. However, what you might not know is that your toothbrush may be even dirtier!
On average, a toothbrush is home to over 10 million bacteria. And, given that E. coli is one of them, these are certainly not all friendly bacteria.
Because toothbrushes are often kept close to the toilet, they are bombarded with faecal matter every time you flush your toilet.
Keep your toothbrush as far as possible from the toilet and change it every three months, if not more.
YOUR KITCHEN SINK
If you wash your dishes in the kitchen sink, you may as well be washing them in the toilet bowl.
In fact, your sink probably contains more bacteria than your toilet. With food remnants and humidity, the sink is a perfect breeding ground for bacteria.
To disinfect your sink, use a solution of bleach and water every single day. Then rinse with lots of water.
YOUR SALT AND PEPPER SHAKERS
A bit of salt and pepper are great for livening up a tasteless dish, as long as they’re nice and clean!
According to a 2008 study by the University of Virginia, salt and pepper shakers are two household objects that contain the most germs likely to make you unwell. In fact, you are less likely to catch something from your toilet flush than when you’re seasoning your dinner.
To correctly clean your salt and pepper shakers, use a disinfectant wipe, as long as this is recommended by the manufacturer. Don’t submerge them in water, though (unless the manufacturer advises it), as this may cause the mechanism to rust.
YOUR REMOTE CONTROL
It falls on the ground, it gets lost between the sofa cushions, everyone touches it, and, yet, it’s rarely cleaned. Yes, we’re talking about your remote control. There’s a strong likelihood that this daily object is even dirtier than your toilet.
To clean it, first remove the batteries and then use a wipe soaked with bleach or alcohol. Make sure, though, that no liquid gets in between the buttons.
YOUR SHOWER CURTAIN
Even though it is in daily contact with water, soap, and shampoo, your shower curtain may actually be filthy. The layer of soap that forms over time on your shower curtain is a great environment for bacteria, according to this 2004 study.
If you’ve seen any pink appearing on your shower curtain, that probably means it’s time to buy a new one. To avoid the same thing happening with your new curtain, wash it in the machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
YOUR HAND TOWEL
Nobody wants to wipe their hands with a dirty towel. However, that’s exactly what you’re doing if you don’t change your hand towel on a daily basis.
After a few days of use, hand towels may become home to millions of bacteria such as E. coli or salmonella. That’s more than on many toilets!
THE PLUNGER
Stored next to your toilet, your plunger is one of the dirtiest objects in your house. Day after day, it collects more bacteria. When you use it, your hands aren’t always clean, which further encourages the proliferation of microorganisms.
Clean the handle with disinfectant wipes and the rest of the plunger with a disinfectant solution containing detergent and bleach.
TEA BAGS
If you’re a fan of tea, you may be ingesting hundreds, if not thousands, of bacteria each time you make a cup of your favourite drink. As tea bags aren’t stored in sealed containers, they are real hives of bacteria. Also, our hands aren’t always clean when we touch them.
To reduce the risk of contamination, leave your tea bags in their packet until you want to use them.
YOUR DESK
Do you regularly dust your desk? Good for you, but that doesn’t make it any less dirty. On average, a desk is home to over 10 million bacteria. That’s hundreds of times more than a toilet seat.
To avoid working on top of millions of microorganisms, use disinfectant wipes to properly clean the surface.
THE VENDING MACHINE
At work, it’s worth taking precautions before going to use the vending machine, as it may be even dirtier than the toilets. The buttons are touched by lots of people who don’t always wash their hands before using it.
The best way to avoid contamination from your hands is to wash them before eating or drinking whatever you’ve bought from the machine. Or bring your snack from home. You’ll run less of a risk of getting sick, and you’ll be saving money!
