Yuck! You’ll want to hold it until you get home after reading this.
Faucet handle
This one is kind of a no-brainer. You turn on the water with dirty, contaminated hands and then turn the water off using the same faucet with clean hands. Even though you washed your hands, you picked up germs on your way out. After washing your hands, grab a paper towel and use it to turn the faucet off. If the bathroom doesn’t have paper towels, turn off the faucet with your elbow.
Hand dryers
Not only should you never touch the hand dryers in public restrooms, but you also should never use them—really. According to research done at the University of Westminster in London, jet air dryers spread 190 times more virus than paper towels. When you dry your hands with paper towels, it dries them faster and creates friction, which removes bacteria, leaving your hands much cleaner.
The floor
This one is also a no-brainer. And for most people, it’s pretty easy to avoid touching the bathroom floor. Make sure you never place your purse, diaper bag, or backpack on the ground while you use the restroom because any of those items can collect fecal bacteria off the floor. If there isn’t a hook in the stall or on the door, keep it on your shoulder or hold it around your neck.
Flush handle
A lot of people use their foot to flush the toilet (no, we’re not kidding!) which means there are a ton of germs on it from the bottom of people’s shoes. The handle is also the first place people touch after they wipe and have a lot of bacteria on their hand.
Soap dispenser
If the soap dispenser is manual, you’ll want to scrub your hands really well after touching it. Many people go for the soap right after going to the bathroom, pumping it out with their germ-covered hands.
The walls
The walls of public restrooms are essentially covered in everything that goes into the toilet. Toilet plume, or the particles that become airborne when the toilet is flushed, spread all over the walls of the stall or room. Most bathroom walls don’t even get cleaned in public restrooms, so you definitely don’t want to lean against them.
The stall door handle
Similar to the faucet, this is one of the first things people touch after using the bathroom. It’s constantly coming in contact with unwashed, germ-covered hands. But, it’s pretty hard to avoid touching it, so just make sure to scrub your hands with soap really well after.
The door
Everyone knows someone who does the paper towel grab when leaving the bathroom. Well, they’re saving themselves from picking up a lot of germs right after washing their hands. A lot of people choose not to clean their hands after using the restroom and just leave, grabbing the door handle on their way out. Yuck! Use a paper towel to open it or push it open with your foot.
