The Dirtiest Places in Your House that You Must Clean to Stay Safe from Bacteria and Viruses

Bacteria and Viruses: Noticing and cleaning visible dirty spots in your home like spilt tea on the floor, dust or, stained laundry is easy to clean and sanitize. However, what about those areas and surfaces which look clean but are growing spots for germs, viruses and bacteria in your home. Finding such surprising dirtiest places in the house is not a walk in the park, so before shedding some light on hidden germs and bacteria in the home, here are some basics you must know.

What Viruses and Bacteria are Harmful? How Do They Spread? 

Not every bacteria around you is harmful. In fact, the body itself contains many bacteria that are not harmful. Some bacteria in your home that are bad for the health and can make you sick are as follows:

• Staphylococcus aureus
• Salmonella
• Escherichia coli, or E. coli
• Yeast
• Mold

Amongst this, the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the coronavirus, can now also be found on several surfaces in the house. The study suggests that the coronavirus can stay in the air for up to 3 hours, on plastic & steel for 3 days, and on copper items for 4 hours.

Bacteria and Viruses Spread in Your Home: 

Hands are the greatest vector of germs, viruses and bacteria, and by coming in physical contact with someone, the bacteria spread from person to person and from person to surface. Several contaminated surfaces advance the growth of viruses and bacteria.

Surfaces like furniture, clothes, countertops, doors etc., have a lot of microbes on them. So, when you touch any of such surfaces, and then, let’s assume, you go to the kitchen to cook food, you end up spreading collected germs and viruses into your kitchen.

Your living habits like not washing clothes or cleaning surfaces regularly allow microorganisms to grow. Avoiding hand washing after touching a surface or any dirty object leads to the transmission of viruses and bacteria.

Overall, areas in your home are at various levels of risk of exposing you to microbes. Read further to learn about the dirtiest places in your home to ensure better home cleaning and sanitization.

Dirtiest Places in the House:

Kitchen

The kitchen is the dirtiest spot for growing microorganisms. The area where food gets prepared and is stored has bacteria and contaminants more than other places in the home.

Even though the bathroom is considered the dirtiest place in the house, it is not – the kitchen is. Most kitchen sponges and rags have harmful E. coli bacteria or faecal matter on them, which is 9 times higher than the bacteria on bathroom faucet handles. Other kitchen items that need timely cleaning are the coffee maker, dishwasher, cutting board, refrigerator, kitchen countertop, utensils, sink, etc.

Some ways you can keep the kitchen clean are:

• Heat the wet kitchen sponges in the microwave to kill microbes.
• Use disinfectant wipes to disinfect faucets, countertops, switchboard and refrigerator surfaces.
• Wash your hands before and after you cook food.
• Use RxSAFE Utensitize, the utensil sanitizer on glass or metal vessels you will store your food in. Tulsi enriched Utensitize is made to kill 99.99% of germs, viruses and bacteria.
• Wash and change dish towels regularly.

Bathroom

Ironically, the place where we clean ourselves thoroughly is the place that is a breeding hotspot for germs, viruses and bacteria. Because of moisture from the hot shower, a bathroom becomes an ideal place for the growth of germs. The spots in your bathroom that need extra care and attention are toothbrushes, bath towels, faucets, sink, shower tubs, doors, toilet etc.

Ways to keep your bathroom clean and germ-free:

• Wipe the dirty surfaces like the bathtub, shower doors, faucets, toilet etc., using disinfectant wipes. Make sure to clean and sanitize them once a week.
• Wipe the bacteria on the floor surface in the bathroom using disinfecting cleansers.
• Bath towels need to be washed in hot water every week and change the hand towels in the bathroom every few days.
• Use disinfectant wipes to clean the bathroom sink every day.
• Replace your toothbrush every 3 months and clean the toothbrush holder and cups once a week. Use an old toothbrush to clean faucets.
• The coronavirus is less likely to remain in your shower, sink, or drains because soap and water can wash it off.

Bedroom

The most favourite area of your apartment is also one of the dirtiest places of your house – the bedroom! Your bed can withhold innumerable germs, fungi, viruses, bacteria, mites and insects. Beds are used for eating, sleeping, working, socializing and almost everything. So, cleaning the bed is a must.

If the coverings, quilts and blankets are not washed regularly, the dirt can get stuck on them and lead to skin irritation, bacterial infection, acne, eczema and allergies. So, you must ensure bedroom cleaning and sanitizing to prevent any health issues.

Here’s how you can clean the bedroom:

• Change your bed linens once a week and wash them.
• Cover the pillows and mattresses in a washable, allergy-proof covering.
• Use disinfecting solution or wipes to clean the surfaces in your bedroom like tables, lamps etc.
• Use an air sanitizer sprayto kill bacteria, germs and viruses in the air so that you can breathe pure air indoors.
• Do not leave left-over food plates in the bedroom, or else it will encourage the growth of harmful microorganisms.

High-touch Surfaces

The most obvious places for germs and viruses in your home are high-touch surfaces like countertops, handles, electronics, switchboards, keys etc. Some of the dirtiest spots with the highest bacteria are stove knobs, microwave handles, refrigerator handles and bathroom light switches.

Here’s how you can clean high-touch surfaces to kill bacteria in your home:

• Use disinfectant wipes to clean all such high-contact surfaces. Ensure you do this daily.
• Since coronavirus stays on surfaces for days, you can use disinfectant wipes to get rid of the virus from plastic, steel or glass surfaces.
• Do not reuse the same disinfectant wipe for every surface. Make sure you use a new wipe to clean each spot.

Laundry

Never make the mistake of leaving wet laundry in the washing machine. Moist areas can promote germs to grow. So, if you have wet clothes left on in the machine for too long, consider washing them again. Whenever you wash clothes, ensure washing them in hot or lukewarm water. Hot or warm water is more active in killing bacteria and viruses as compared to cold water.

Tips to inhibit germs during laundry:

• After you have washed the clothes, shift them to the dryer immediately.
• If the wet clothes rest in the washing machine for more than 30 minutes, run them through another wash cycle.
• If you use a shared laundry facility, clean the washer tub with disinfecting wipes.

Home Office

If you have a home office, consider cleaning it properly daily. Objects like keyboard, mouse, monitor, keys, pens etc., in your workspace, are germ magnets. These objects are touched by you and your family members, now and then, so transmission of germs become easy.

Tips to keep your home office clean:

• Use plain water and a microfibre cloth to clean items in your workspace, or use disinfectant wipes.
• Wash your hands whenever you have touched any such objects.
• You can also keep a handy hand sanitizer on your work table
• Eat your food away from your computer system and work stuff.

Now, you know the dirtiest places in your house – make sure you keep a check on the regular cleanliness of each spot!