The Dirtiest Places Inside Your House
If you'd be asked about the dirtiest places or things in your house, what would you answer? The toilet seat? The entrance carpet? The garbage disposal?
Well, they are far from being clean, but you couldn't be more wrong about them being the dirtiest ones.
Actually, you won't believe how terribly dangerous are the places we don't really fear.
And even though our immune system is suppose to defend our bodies from germs and bacterias, it wouldn’t hurt at all if we'd hep it by washing our hands after we touch these apparently harmless objects and places. It can only do so much!
To help you protect yourself from the mean old germs that are hiding in the plain site, here's a list of the dirtiest spaces and objects in our own homes:
Bathroom towels. Here you are: fresh out of the shower, feeling full of energy, smelling great, all clean. Go grab the towel and get out in the world, shining like a star.
BUT WAIT! Are you aware of how many germs reside in the damp fabric that's suppose to end the cleaning process of you body? Way too many.
WHAT DO I DO? In the first place, in order to protect yourself and your loved ones, each one of you has to have his own personal towel. Sharing is only spreading the risks of infection from one person to another, in this case. Then, remember to change your towels as often as possible and to wash them at high temperatures.
The bathtub: After a hard day's work, what could be more relaxing that a long hot scented bath?
BUT WAIT! The bathtub is the place we leave all the dirt and grime and dead cells (too much info, right?) every day. Unfortunately, the water that follows and the soap we use to wash our bodies, is not effective in dragging the nasty stuff down the drain, leaving us exposed to dangerous germs that could attack the exposed skin.
WHAT DO I DO? The classic act of cleaning after yourself with more than plain water. It's not the most comfortable object to clean, but it's worth the effort. Be sure to rinse well after using the cleaning products, as you don't want to have them touch you sensitive skin. Use some Chlorine from time to time, but again, careful with the rinsing
The Toilet seat: One the most wronged places in your house when giving credit for its usefulness, as you can always sleep or eat in other spaces but the classic ones but you wouldn't want to have to use another place to do that thing.
BUT WAIT! Is not that you don't know it, but that cannot be stressed enough: careful where you sit when you have to go! Careful about who you share your toilet seat with! Always think about the fact that where you sit, other grown up members of your family or co-inhabitants sat, and it's not that you don't think they're clean or anything, but you really don't know every intimate detail about them.
The opposite is also valid. And obviously, if you have children in the house, the hygiene has to be even better.
WHAT DO I DO? One solution would be the paper covers for the seat, but let's not go to extremes. Always keep the toilet seat clean and teach the other family members to do the same. Wipe it before and after you sit and disinfect it often.
Kitchen sink: Many ladies are obsessed with washing the dishes as soon as the dinner has ended. An admirable practice that can only help keep the house clean.
BUT WAIT: Do you know that a less that clean kitchen sink is supposedly dirtier that the bathroom one?
WHAT DO I DO? Never forget to clean the sink before you start using it as a basin. Use a different cloth for cleaning the sink than the one you use for doing the dishes. Stop putting vegetables directly into the sink. Don't forget to give a special attention to the drain as it is a paradise for disgusting little creatures who give us the creeps.
The dish sponges: they come in shapes and are made of materials specially designed to help us clean the objects we eat and drink from.
BUT WAIT! Are you aware that the dish sponge is one of the filthiest objects you ever touch? Grease, rotten particles of food, mold and a lot of humidity = the perfect recipe for disaster.
WHAT DO I DO?! Wash the sponge under very hot water jet and use sanitizer to be sure it's closer to being clean than dangerous. And change is as often as possible
PS: The body wash sponge is not any better, so careful with that too!
Wooden cutting board: our lives today are invaded by machines that almost cook by themselves. Considering that, one might think that nobody ever chops on the cutting board. We all know that this is not the case and that sometimes nothing beats the classic way to do things.
BUT WAIT! Did you know that the damp wood is like a magnet and sponge for the bacteria and substances that are left over after you put your ingredients in the pan?
WHAT DO I DO?! Rinse them under hot water, always clean them with detergent and try to change them as soon as they worn out. A safer alternative are the plastic cutting boards, less auspicious breeding ground for germs.
The remote control, the mouse and the keyboard: as you're reading this, your hand is more than probably placed on a mouse, maybe your fingers are gonna touch really soon the keyboard and there's probably somebody in your house that's zapping a remote control
BUT WAIT! Are you aware of how dirty these objects are? You never think of cleaning your hands before you touch them, do you? Maybe you're working out in front of the TV/PC and zapping with your sweaty hands. Maybe you just touched your shoes to take them off, before you headed straight to the laptop to read an urgent message. Maybe you've sneezed a hundred times in front of the keyboard, spreading tons of germs on it And who knows what else. These things go for ages without being cleaned.
WHAT DO I DO?! Simply clean and disinfect them the same way you do with the other object you use on a daily basis.
The toothbrush: We all know how hugely important it is to keep the inside of our mouths cleaned and we all know that the dentist is one of the most feared doctors. So what better way to keep yourself away from his office than brushing after each meal?
BUT WAIT! Have you any idea how incredibly nasty a toothbrush can get after too many uses? Think of all the unpleasant stuff the toothbrush has to take out of between our teeth and from under our tongue. Never mind that! Think about the many, many spatters of water that jump all around the bathroom - including on the brush - when you flush the toilet , wash your body or only your hands. Nasty enough?
WHAT DO I DO? Rinse the brush with hot water and mouth water to keep it clean and fresh an also change it after no more that three months of use. It's also highly advisable to change it after you've been through a cold or other transmissible disease.
The washing machine: The indispensable technology without which our lives would be so much harder. With the push of a button you can go on an live your life and your perfectly clean clothing will be waiting for you to just take them out.
BUT WAIT! Yes, it cleans the clothes, but what cleans the machine? Well, actually nothing and nobody, unless you step in. These things are teeming with bacteria that stuck onto your clothes and accompany you wherever you go. To make it even more disgusting, fecal matter and other kinds of I-don't-wanna-think-about-it ... matters from the underwear that's being washed in there, stay in the machine's basin and attach onto your “cleaned” bathroom and kitchen towels. Yuck!
WHAT DO I DO?! Buy specially designed products and once a week make your machine run on a short program without any laundry in it, with just hot water and cleaning products. Use special chlorine to cleans the insides of the appliance and the draining tubes.
The bed: our ultimate refuge for when we're tired, sleepy, sick, un-energetic or just in the mood for doing kinky stuff.
BUT WAIT! You are such a selfless person for being willing to share your own bed with thousands and millions of microscopic less or more aggressive creatures. Oh, you're not willingly doing this?
WHAT CAN I DO? Suck those mother effers right into the core of the vacuum cleaner. Change you sheets weakly. If you can afford it, invest in hypoallergenic bed linen, pillows and blankets. Expose you bed linen to the sunlight or at least ventilate your bedroom daily.
The list could go on, but too much is enough already. The purpose of the article is not to give everybody nightmares and to transform us into germophobes, but to make us aware of the dangers we're exposing ourselves to without having any idea and giving us the chance to protect our bodies from the little villains that are out to get us.
Keep you house clean, as to keep you body healthy, but in the same time, don't let it become obsessive, because, remember : “Good Moms have sticky floors, messy kitchens, laundry piles, dirty ovens, and happy kids.”
