People are understandably squeamish about public restrooms. But the same people are probably regularly interacting with surfaces that have far more germs and overall icky-ness than your average public toilet seat. The prevailing thought is that the loo has to be one of the dirtiest places in the house, for obvious reasons; But out of everything you come in contact with on a regularly basis, your toilet surprisingly isn’t the germiest. Here are the top 10 things that are germier than a toilet seat:
- BAG BOTTOMS
Many women who fear the germs of public toilet seats don’t think twice about placing their purses down on the floor of the bathroom stall. Not only that, they also set them on the floor while riding the bus, or while dining at a restaurant, or while dancing at a nightclub, or on the bedspread at a hotel (see above). And then, when they get home, they set that same purse on the kitchen counter or the dining room table while they rifle through the daily mail or check their phone messages. CLEAN HANDBAGS EASILY >>
- CARPETS
Carpets are a germ hotspot and can be 4,000 times dirtier than your toilet seat. Rugs are botanical and zoological parks. They can have many different organisms living in them.
- OFFICE TELEPHONE
Have you ever used a corporate telephone other than the one on your desk? Who knows what evils lurk on that communal device! Think about it, the person who used that phone before you might not have the same fastidious hand-washing habits as you, and he/she may have answered a call immediately upon exiting the bathroom. YIEKES!
- CELL PHONE
That thing you’re pressing to your face? There’s a 16 percent chance it has faecal matter on it! And even if it’s not brimming with E. coli, nine in 10 cell phones carry some kind of disease-causing germ, like influenza or MRSA. Think about it: You take your cell phone everywhere- public transit, the bathroom, the office and you never clean it.
- GRILL
You probably cleaned your toilet more recently than you cleaned your grill and that’s not a wise choice, considering the latter comes in contact with your food. The average grill has 1.7 million microbes per square inch. It makes sense that your grill is nasty because food particles cling to the grates and work surfaces.
- DOOR HANDLES
Door handles are touched multiple times a day by various people, specifically in public places. In the home, they should be wiped down once a week. You can also wipe down nearby light switches while you’re at it.
- STEERING WHEEL
Public toilet seats are washed on a regular basis, but when is the last time you scrubbed down the steering wheel of your vehicle? During a typical day you might touch things such as a gas pump dispenser, cash from the bank drive-thru window, and your crying child’s runny nose in the back seat, and then use those same hands to grip the steering wheel after every transaction without any disinfecting in between. Oh, did I mention that some of us also eat food and apply eye makeup while driving with those same hands that are gripping the germ-laden (mainly with bacillus cereus and arthrobacter) steering wheel?
- TOOTHBRUSH
When you flush your toilet, it can spray aerosolized droplets over 20 feet. So if you leave your toothbrush out on the bathroom sink, it could be showered with tiny drops of whatever you just flushed. Stowing your toothbrush in a cabinet away from the flying faeces might be a good idea. Running it through the dishwasher will also eliminate germs. CLEAN AND DISINFECT TOOTHBRUSH >>
- KEYBOARDS
Keyboards and office desks are prone to have 400 times more germs than toilet seats due to touching the surface on a frequent basis by multiple people in the home.
- KITCHEN SINK
The kitchen sink is often the place where dirty dishes sit for several hours or where raw meat is handled. This makes for a common object that is used each day, but contains a high amount of germs and should be disinfected every few days.