If you are like most homeowners, you take pride in the appearance and cleanliness of your house and make something of an effort to keep it looking nice. Perhaps you are the type that is particularly germ-conscious, especially at this time of year with the flu running rampant around the country. If you regularly clean up your kitchen and bathroom with Lysol and vacuum/dust, you may think that you are keeping all the ick out of your home. But did you know that there are things in your house that are actually grosser than your toilet? You wouldn’t drink out of the toilet bowl, but the odds are that you have close contact with several of these things on a daily basis. Bring out the bleach, guys. We’re going in.
First up is your carpet. Not surprisingly, the soft plushiness of your carpet is REALLY good at picking up dirt, grime, and bacteria. It traps dust, odors, and all the allergens you could ever imagine. A dirty carpet can actually contain 200,000 bacteria per square INCH. Can you say “gross?” The solution is to vacuum regularly - at least three times a week - with a HEPA-filter machine, and to get your rugs professionally cleaned twice a year. And make sure family members and guests remove their shoes.
Next up on the Yuck List are the door knobs and light switches in your home. Michigan State University did a study and found out that a dismal 5 percent of people do a thorough enough job washing their hands after they use the bathroom to actually kill germs. Now, think of how many times a day you touch the door handles and light switches in your room, as well as the other people in your home. EWW, right? Use antibacterial wipes to frequently wipe down knobs, handles, and switches.
Let’s move on to the bathroom. There’s major germs in there, but they aren’t where you think. Fecal bacteria is released in an invisible plume when you flush the toilet, and guess where it lands? On your shower curtain and towels. Do you notice “soap scum” or black mold on your shower stall or liners? These are thriving colonies of disgusting microorganisms. Use a bleach concentrate spray to kill germs on bathtub and shower surfaces, and keep the shower curtain closed when you aren’t using the unit. As for towels, they should be changed out and washed in hot water every two days to kill off the coliform bacteria.
I know that you are probably ready to go on a cleaning binge, and I can’t blame you! It’s hard enough keeping your family healthy without worrying about hidden germ ghettos in your home. They say cleanliness is next to godliness, and it certainly comes in handy during this time of year.
