Think the toilet seat is the dirtiest item in your house? Think again.
Some common household items can be dirtier than you think and carry more bacteria than your toilet seat. Kitchen sponges top the list with up to 45 billion microbes per square centimeter. Your phone? It runs about 10 times dirtier.
In fact, a regularly cleaned toilet can be one of the cleaner surfaces in most homes.
We asked Alessandra Cortina, APRN, DNP, FNP-BC, with Hartford HealthCare Medical Group, which dirty household items carry the most bacterial risk and how often they actually need to be cleaned.
“Most patients are surprised when I tell them their phone is dirtier than their toilet,” says Cortina. “We tend to clean what looks dirty, not what actually is.”
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1. Your kitchen is the germiest room in the house
Kitchen sponges can contain up to 45 billion microbes per square centimeter. Many of those microbes are similar to fecal bacteria people associate with a dirty bathroom.
Your cutting boards? Almost as problematic. Raw meat introduces bacteria from animals, and those bacteria survive on plastic and wood surfaces even after rinsing. Cutting boards can carry up to 200 times more fecal bacteria than a toilet seat.
“The toilet gets cleaned because people think of it as dirty,” notes Cortina. “Cutting boards often get rinsed and set back on the counter. That’s where the risk is.”
Replacing kitchen sponges every one to two weeks is the fix. And be sure to sanitize cutting boards with a diluted bleach solution after raw meat contact, and keep separate boards for meat and produce.
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2. Your phone is probably the dirtiest thing you touch all day
Your phone carries roughly 10 times the bacteria of a toilet seat. It touches every surface you touch, travels into every environment and almost never gets disinfected.
And if you bring it into the bathroom, you could be transferring bacteria from those surfaces to your face.
“I tell patients to think about what they’ve touched in the last few hours, then think about what touches their face the most,” explains Cortina. “It’s their phone.”
Wiping your phone with a 70% isopropyl alcohol wipe two to three times a week is enough for most people. Use a case that’s easy to clean and actually clean it.
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3. Water bottles are far dirtier than they look
A squeeze-top water bottle can harbor up to 6,000 times the bacteria of a toilet seat.
The moist interior is the perfect environment for bacterial growth, especially when the bottle isn’t fully dried between uses.
“Water bottles should be washed with soap and hot water every day, not just rinsed,” adds Cortina. “Most people rinse and refill. That’s not enough.”
Wash and let it fully dry before refilling.
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4. Your purse picks up bacteria from everywhere you set it
Purses pick up bacteria from wherever they’re set down. Restaurant chairs, bathroom counters, car seats. And most people never clean them.
“I always tell patients to keep their bag off the kitchen counter,” warns Cortina. “Your purse has been everywhere. You don’t want to contaminate your food prep surface.”
Wipe down the exterior of your purse or bag with a disinfectant wipe weekly and never set it on a food prep surface.
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5. Your desk is not as clean as you think
Your workplace desk may be one of the germiest surfaces you encounter daily. Most people eat at their desk, set their phone on it, rest their hands on it for hours and almost never wipe it down. Like many household items, your desk can be dirty even when it looks perfectly clean.
“Desks rarely get cleaned unless something is visibly spilled,” reminds Cortina. “If you’re eating at your desk daily, that surface should be wiped down daily.”
A disinfectant wipe at the start of each workday takes about 30 seconds. Also, pay attention to your keyboard and mouse, which are handled constantly and cleaned almost never.
