Contents
- 10 dirtiest places in the house: microbiologist cleaning tips
- Tip 1: wash the kitchen, not the bathroom
- Tip 2. Look in the refrigerator more often
- Tip 3. Don’t put your bag on the table
- Tip 4. Do not be overzealous with washing the floor
- Tip 6: Replace your hand towels with paper towels
- Tip 7. Use antibacterial wipes, not sprays
- Tip 8. Use antibacterial hand products
- Tip 9. Use antimicrobial gel even after washing your laundry
- Tip 10. Avoid playgrounds
10 dirtiest places in the house: microbiologist cleaning tips
The author of the rating is a microbiologist. He knows exactly everything about bacteria and their habitats. We found out how a real expert cleans his own home.
You all know Dr. Charles Herb. Not personally, of course. But every time a news appears on the Internet with the headline “This object is dirtier than a toilet bowl”, you should know – most likely, these are the fruits of research by the microbiologist Charles Gerba. He spent more than one decade studying bacteria and their effect on human life. And, of course, he knows all about the dirtiest places in the house. So how does he do the cleaning himself?
Tip 1: wash the kitchen, not the bathroom
It turns out that the bathroom is considered the dirtiest place in the house by default, so they wash it more thoroughly than all other rooms. And they undeservedly forget about the kitchen.
“But we spend a lot of time there. And the children love to play there, ”the expert notes.
Among the most problematic places in the kitchen are the refrigerator door, dishwashing sponge, sink and faucet, and cutting boards.
Tip 2. Look in the refrigerator more often
To be specific – to its lowest shelf.
“Everything that can leak or drip flows down and falls exactly there. Mold appears first on the bottom of the refrigerator. Therefore, look there often. Better yet, cover with plastic and change it a couple of times a week, ”advises Dr. Gerba.
Tip 3. Don’t put your bag on the table
Our expert just cringes with horror when he sees a bag or keys on the kitchen table.
“You’re going to make yourself a sandwich on this table. And you put things potentially infected with E. coli on it. According to statistics, a quarter of the bags contain this bacterium, ”says the scientist.
Tip 4. Do not be overzealous with washing the floor
This only makes sense if you have small children. They crawl on the floor, pull everything into their mouths – you must be sure that you can eat from your floor in the truest sense of the word.
“My children are already adults, I myself do not crawl on the floor either. So now we wash the floor less often, ”explains Dr. Charles.
Nowadays, many are abandoning plastic bags in favor of eco-friendly fabric shopping bags. It’s really convenient to go shopping with them – they can withstand a lot of weight, and you don’t need to spend extra money.
“50 percent of people do not wash these bags at all,” the specialist is surprised. – But they have more bacteria on them than on the socks in which you walked all day. And the interior of the car is also like an incubator for germs. “
The family of Dr. Gerba himself uses several bags of different colors: some for meat, others for canned food, and others for vegetables. And, of course, they are regularly washed.
Tip 6: Replace your hand towels with paper towels
Hand and face towels should be changed at least once a week. Better yet, replace them with disposable paper ones. Not environmentally friendly?
“You will spend more toilet paper when you suffer from diarrhea,” the expert shrugs.
According to Dr. Gerba, bacteria quickly build up on the towels. And due to the fact that they are in a warm and humid environment, microbes begin to multiply happily.
Tip 7. Use antibacterial wipes, not sprays
“If you use a spray, then you need to treat the surface with it and let it dry for ten minutes. In fact, no one does that, ”the specialist is sure.
And the napkins, according to the results of research, turned out to be as good for disinfection as chlorine-containing products. But keep in mind: one napkin is a square meter of the surface. You can’t just take and wipe the entire kitchen with a single napkin, it will nullify all your efforts.
Tip 8. Use antibacterial hand products
In the house of Dr. Gerba, these funds are spent at the same rate as milk. He is generally obsessed with clean hands, in his opinion, this is a key point in protecting against pathogenic bacteria. The expert is sure: gels are much more effective than regular hand washing.
“To wash your hands properly, you must do it for at least 20 seconds. And then you get dirty again just by grabbing the door handle, ”he explains. “I prefer alcohol-based products without triclosan, they are more effective.”
Tip 9. Use antimicrobial gel even after washing your laundry
Experts conducted research by examining the composition of microbes on people’s palms after they unloaded laundry from a typewriter. And do you know what you found? Escherichia coli! It turns out that washing them doesn’t destroy them. This requires either very hot water or bleach. And we do not always use both.
“Unfortunately, these bacteria are not washed down the drain. They accumulate in the drum of the washing machine, ”says Dr. Gerba.
Tip 10. Avoid playgrounds
“My children played there, but I will never let my grandchildren go there. Playgrounds are, in fact, a toilet for birds, street dogs and cats. There is not a single toy in the sandbox that is not infected with E. coli, ”Dr. Gerba is very categorical.
The scientist also treats the palms of his grandchildren with disinfectants. As the tests showed: every time they come from the street, children bring disease-causing microbes with them.