The 15 dirtiest Things you touch every day
1. Money
Money, you literally have NO idea where it’s been, has it been on the floor of a strip club (or worse), in the mouth of a stranger (I see people do this all the time, hold money in their mouths!! *shudder*), the point is, you handle money daily, do you wash your hands afterward? By the way, smaller denominations have a tendency to have a HIGHER bacterial count, this is because they are handled more frequently!
2. Light Switches
Light switches, everyone touches them, few people think to wash them! Think of how many people in your office at work, at home, in the bathroom (did they even wash their hands first???)
3. Computer Keyboards
When was the last time you washed the keys on your keyboard? Do you use public computers? Be aware that these frequently contain bacteria like staph and E.coli on the surfaces.
4. Cell Phones, Tablets
Cell phones, tablets, and other small handheld devices require our touch but how frequently do you clean them? They’re among the dirtiest items in our homes.
5. Kitchen Sponge
Kitchen sponges are a fantastic way to clean up, but they also instantly become a petri dish with perfect growing conditions, moisture and warmth. Here’s how to properly clean them to keep your family safe.
6. Shopping Carts (not just the handles!)
While those shopping cart seats for little ones can be a great place to set your purse, people shopping without children frequently place more delicate items such as fruit or fresh bread there to prevent them from being crushed in the cart.
Unfortunately, you have no way of knowing whether the child placed in that cart before you had a leaky diaper or not! Bring Your own reusable shopping bags and place items within the bag to protect your fresh produce from potential E.coli or fecal matter.
7. Remote control
Keep that in mind the next time you grab ahold of a remote control in a public place such as hospitals or hotels as their cracks and crevices make them the ideal spot for bodily fluids, microbes, and spores to hide. We travel frequently and carry Lysol disinfecting wipe travel packs to quickly wash the remote before use.
8. Bathtub
You might be shocked to learn how many bacteria grow in the bathtub, more so than in your toilet, after all, the toilet gets flushed regularly. Staph infections, pneumonia, septicemia, and urinary tract infections have all been caused by dirty tubs that at first glance, appear to be clean.
9. Kitchen Sink
The kitchen sink is the most widely used surface in most homes, with an average of more than half a million bacteria per square inch.
10. Toilet Seat
The toilet seat, for obvious reasons. The toilet seat isn’t the only thing you should be concerned about, particularly in a public restroom. You should be aware of the germs on the flush mechanism as well as the door handle and lock that you touched on the way in, and out.
11. Door Knobs
Door knobs- again, these are used daily but few people think to wash them to control the spread of germs in their homes and work places.
12. Fridge Door Handle
In addition to spreading germs to your hands, the bacteria and virus are then transferred to the food you touch as you pull it from the refrigerator or freezer.
13. Steering Wheel
Even your vehicle isn’t safe from harboring high amounts of illness-causing microbes. The steering wheel and shift knob/stick in the car ranks among the top 15 nastiest surfaces you touch every day!
14. Microwave Pads
You might wash the exterior of your Microwave at home on a regular basis, but if you use the one at your place of work, be aware that it may be harboring a nice colony of bacteria on the keypad.
15. Mailbox Handles
In a study that included testing of crosswalk buttons, ATM machines, and parking meters, it might surprise you to learn that Mailboxes were listed as above those items as the most infested things that people touch on their way to work each day. Think about that the next time you drop something in the mail in the morning!
