These 6 Items In Your Home May Be Dirtier Than Your Toilet Seat
When you think about the dirtiest place in your home, your mind might immediately jump to the toilet sitting in your bathroom. But what if I told you there are plenty of other areas that are even filthier?
Of course, toilet bowls are full of bacteria, and toilet seats can become engrossed in germs. However, since we all know these facts, toilets are one of the most popular places we clean on a regular basis.
That’s why there are other, more unsuspecting things in your home that tend to get even dirtier but are often overlooked.
So, here are all the places you should pay closer attention to when cleaning.
1. Remote Controls
As a common household item used among everyone, from adults to kids and guests, remote controls come into contact with tons of germs.
Consider this: do you always wash your hands before sitting down to catch up on your reality TV? Or, if you have children, imagine the grime they might’ve transferred from their little fingers to the remote buttons.
Oil, dead skin cells, and even food or drinks can make their way onto our remotes, so you should clean them with disinfectant wipes on a consistent basis.
2. Refrigerator Handles
Prostock-studio – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
Everyone in your home likely opens the refrigerator every single day, too, and their hands probably aren’t clean all the time.
You might run home from work to grab a snack before the gym, forgetting to wash your hands of any office germs. Or, perhaps, you’re in the middle of cooking a recipe and realize you forgot to take out a few ingredients. Any residue left on your hands is then transferred to the fridge handle.
This germ hotspot should be disinfected on a daily basis to avoid a long-term buildup.
3. Your Work Area
Those of us who work from home know how important it is to keep our workspace tidy for a clearer, more productive day. However, do you ever actually disinfect items like your desk, keyboard, and mouse?
According to the National Center for Health Research, the standard desk has 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat! Plus, we type on our keyboards and touch our mice all day, effectively transferring whatever’s already on our hands to our office tools.
It’s best to sanitize any electronics at least once per week and disinfect your desk to work with a clean frame of mind.
4. Kitchen Sponges
I don’t know about you, but kitchen sponges have always grossed me out. And according to a study conducted by the National Sanitation Foundation, my disdain for this common household object isn’t unfounded.
The study ranked dish sponges as one of the dirtiest items in the home, and they can contain up to 45 billion microbes of bacteria per cubic centimeter. Toilet seats pale in comparison, with a mere average of 3.2 million microbes per square inch.
Sponges are extremely porous, which is why they’re able to harbor more germs. You can clean them in the microwave or run them through the dishwasher.
However, I’d recommend replacing your kitchen sponge at the first sign of odor or damage.
5. Toothbrushes
Throughout the life of a toothbrush, this hygiene tool is exposed to moisture on a consistent basis. It’s run under sink water, put in your mouth, and stored in the bathroom, which tends to get humid.
This is precisely why both toothbrushes and toothbrush holders are magnets for bacteria.
Making sure both items are dry in between uses is a good first step to keeping them clean. Additionally, you can disinfect your toothbrush each week by soaking it in either antibacterial mouthwash or hydrogen peroxide.
Also, don’t forget to toss your toothbrush in the trash and get a new one every three to four months.
6. Cell Phones
Last but certainly not least are our cell phones. These devices are glued to most people’s hands throughout each and every day as they commute to work, go to lunch, hit the gym, or hang out at home.
It’s probably not a shocker, then, that one study conducted by the University of Arizona found mobile devices can carry 10 times more bacteria than a typical toilet seat.
One of the main reasons for this is actually cross-contamination while we cook. You can reduce germs by leaving your phone in another room while preparing meals.
Finally, at the end of each day, it’s a good idea to use an alcohol wipe to disinfect your phone.
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