5 Everyday Items That Are Hiding The Most Bacteria

One would assume the most disgusting, bacteria infested, illness-causing surfaces would be in your bathrooms, basements, or under your shoes – the usual suspects. In reality, bacteria stays hidden in the most unsuspecting spots of your house. It’s why you might find your little kids keep getting the common flu and fevers over and over again, or why you just can’t get rid of your allergies. Take extra care to clean these items and make your house a safer, cleaner place for everyone!

1. Bedsheets

When you crash after a long, exhausting day, the last thing you want to do is worry about is the state of your sheets. You’d assume they were clean because you had washed them recently but the germs hiding in the nooks and crannies of your bedsheets would prove otherwise. A microbiologist at New York University says our bedsheets are full of “spores of fungi, bacteria, pollen, soil, finishing agents of whatever sheets are made up of, skin cells, sputum and other body secretions.” Bedsheets need to be tossed out and washed once a week at least. Dirty bedding can cause allergies, pimples, scratchy throats and other infections. 

2. Bags & Wallets

According to a new guide by the domestic gurus of the Good Housekeeping Institute, women’s handbags are contaminated with more bacteria than the average toilet. Handbags go everywhere with us and usually end up on the floors of restaurants, store counters, and restrooms. This is the same bag you then interact with all day. Holding it and rummaging in it, only to touch yourself with the same hands after. Try putting your bag on a chair the next time you’re out, or carry antibacterial wipes to give them a quick clean every now and again.  

3. Door Knobs & Light Switches

Door Knobs and light switches are magnets to germs. Everyone uses them all day long, and they’re such a minuscule part of our daily routine, we never remember they need to be cleaned too. Make a habit of sterilising them once a week with disinfectant wipes! Simple fix.

4. Remote Controls

Turning on your favourite TV channel to unwind after a long day could be the reason you keep feeling sniffly. Yup, that’s right. Remote controls are practically always infested with germs since every member of your family run their hands over it at some point every day.  According to a research study at the University of Virginia, it takes a single push of a button to transfer bad bacteria, which could lead to catching a cold and a perpetually runny nose.

5. Cell Phones

A study at the University of Arizona found that our cell phones carry ten times the amount of germs you would find on toilet seats. It’s actually funny, but our toilet seats are cleaned way more often than the poor screens of our cell phones. Since we use phones all the time they stay warm, which ends up becoming the ideal breeding ground for whole families of bacteria to flourish. Our screens then have the most direct (and constant) contact with the skin on our face, our hands, and fingers — which transfer all these bacteria to our bodies.