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(CNN) - Do you rub your bathroom compulsively for fear of germs? Good for you, but how often do you change your body and hand towels?
You are well informed, so you microwave your kitchen sponge full of germs. But should you?
When was the last time you disinfected your refrigerator, rubbed the handles of your microwave or bleached the kitchen sink?
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Yes, there are microbes everywhere and most are good for us, maybe even beneficial for our microbiome and immune systems. We don't care about those.
It is the dangerous ones that drive us to remove disinfectants and gloves: influenza virus, gastroenteritis, cold bacteria, salmonella, listeria, yeast, mold, staphylococci, fecal matter and E. coli, to name just a few.
But are you cleaning all the places with germs? Let's walk around your house and discover.
Your porcelain throne
Of course, we start in the bathroom, where we deposit things we would rather not think about. Surely the bathroom is the main germ collector, yes?
No, because we clean it obsessively (or use paper covers at work), said microbiologist Charles Gerba, professor of public health, environmental science and immunology at the University of Arizona.
“There are more fecal bacteria in the kitchen sink than in the toilet after lowering the chain. That's why your dog drinks from the toilet. It's smarter than you think, ”said Gerba.
Known as "Dr. Germ ”for its abundant germ tests on almost every surface that humanity could touch, Gerba is often hired by manufacturers of cleaning supplies to check if their products work.
One of his most disgusting studies (without commission) was how far bacteria spread when the tank is lowered with the lid open. If you still don't know, sit down. It is at least 1.8 meters. Really.
Yes, that means your toothbrush is being splashed with fecal matter. Also your bath towels, hand towels and bar soaps.
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Should you care? No, unless you are sharing.
"If it's your own bacteria, it probably won't bother you," Gerba explained. "In terms of illness, you care about the germs of other people, not yours."
But you are not a hermit! Visitors enter your bathroom, right?
"Then you should change your towels every three or four days at least, because you can contaminate other people in your home," Gerba advised.
“E. coli grows quite well in towels. In about three or four days, you will easily have fecal bacteria on the towel because it is wet, ”Gerba explained. “And it's hard to get rid of bacteria when you wash your clothes with cold water. The towels are so thick that it is difficult to really clean them. ”
And That Means …
"You'll get more E. coli on your face when you dry your face with a towel than if you put your head in the toilet and lower the tank," Gerba said. "You have to use hot water and dry the towels very well."
The place with more germs
The kitchen is one of the places with more germs in the home. This is because it is where we prepare foods that can spread salmonella and E. coli (a cutting board that we use for meat, for example).
"Recent household surveys found more fecal bacteria on an average household chopping board than in a toilet seat," Gerba said, with a smile: "Actually, it is safer to prepare your sandwich in a toilet seat than in a cutting board ”.
The sink is another reservoir for unpleasant bacteria.
"Many people defrost raw meat products in sinks or rinse raw chicken and do nothing but run water to clean it," Gerba said.
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"You really shouldn't be cutting your salad in the kitchen sink either."
Gerba recommends scrubbing the cutting boards and the sink with bleach, which he says is in many kitchen cleaning products for that reason. If you want to mix it yourself, use a tablespoon of chlorine in a gallon of water. You can also try to find a greener Safer Choice option, certified by the EPA.
The National Safety Foundation (NSF) says you should also use the same bleach solution once a month to disinfect kitchen drains and wastes. The kitchen sink filters should be washed weekly in the dishwasher. And don't forget to clean the faucet handles.
You should also use the less strong bleach solution on your countertops after meal preparation, at least once a day, says the NSF.
Items with more germs in the kitchen
Considering that you use the sponge or dishcloth to clean the sink, surrounding countertops and cutting boards, it shouldn't surprise you that they take the prize as the items with the most germs in your home, according to Gerba. And that is dangerous.
“I collected sponges from several hundred homes and found salmonella in 15% of them. So yes, I'm really paranoid about them, ”said Gerba.
Do you need more tests? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that 20% of all foodborne illnesses start with food consumed at home.
A 2017 study found 362 different species of bacteria that live in used kitchen sponges; 82,000 million bacteria lived in just one cubic inch of space. Bad news: the microwave didn't help. Nor boil the sponge or put it in the dishwasher. The bacteria simply grew back.
The study solution? Replace sponges at least once a week.
What else in the kitchen should you worry about?
"Refrigerator handles are generally bad because people handle raw meat products and then go to the fridge to find something else without thinking," Gerba said.
"And people tend to hang their contaminated kitchen towels there, which they will then use to clean their hands after handling meat," Gerba added. "And then some people let the towel rest for days, maybe weeks, before washing it."
Children returning home from the playground or football are another source of potentially dangerous germs in their kitchen appliances.
"We tested the soccer balls and they are loaded with E. coli because the balls roll over the dog poop in the playground," Gerba said. “And then the children go to the park to the bars that the birds use as a public toilet. The first thing any child should do when they get home from the playground is to wash their hands. ”
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According to NSF, one of the five places with the most germs in the kitchen is the water tank for your coffee maker.
Follow the manufacturer's recommendations for your brand and model. Generally, the recommendation is to clean the tank monthly by adding up to four cups of undiluted vinegar, letting it stand for 30 minutes and then turning on the coffee maker and running the vinegar through the unit. Do that for two or three more cycles only with fresh water, or more if the smell of vinegar does not disappear.
The NSF found that 36% of the meat compartments in the refrigerator, can opener and blender joints tested contained salmonella and E. coli, while 36% of the vegetable compartments in the refrigerator tested positive for salmonella and 14% for listeria.
This is disgusting: 36% of the analyzed rubber spatulas and pizza cutters also had E. coli.
For quick cleanings in the kitchen, Gerba recommends disinfectant wipes instead of aerosols, mainly due to the way we misuse the spray versions.
"A lot of people just spray as a blessing and then clean up," Gerba said. “The compound is trapped in the fabric, so it is not as effective. But the wipes have the correct dose, the compound dries on the surface, which helps eliminate the pathogen. ”
The wipes are more expensive, so if you want to avoid that cost, just make sure you spray well and let it sit a little before cleaning it.
