In light of the ongoing global health pandemic, now more than ever before, our thoughts turn to germs and cleanliness, and not just out there in the big, wide world, but in our very homes.
While you might do your best to keep common bacteria hotspots hygienically clean, such as your toilet and kitchen surfaces, could you have missed the following 5 places during your regular house cleaning efforts?
Door Knobs and Handles
Whether you turn a handle or a knob to open the doors in your home, or even if you push them open, wherever hands go, you can bet there’s a whole load of dirt and germs just sitting there, waiting to be transferred from one unsuspecting victim to the next.
Give every handle or knob a quick rub down with an anti-bacterial wipe as many times a day as possible – especially for multiple occupancy homes – but at least once a day.
Cutting Boards
Both plastic and wooden cutting boards can harbor germs and bacteria, so it can be helpful to use different boards for different food types to avoid cross contamination. Clean them regularly with anti-bacterial solutions, or use white vinegar for wood or bamboo boards, as it’s an effective but safe disinfectant.
Sponges
Sponges are a veritable paradise for germs, and if not replaced frequently or soaked in bleach overnight, they can be extremely unhygienic.
Coffee Maker
Used every day in many households. But cleaned every day? I doubt it! While it might not be necessary to clean your coffee pot every day, they should be cleaned at least once a week to prevent a build up of bacteria in the warm, damp confines of the pot. You can actually use diluted white vinegar to clean it, by allowing it to sit in the pot for an hour (or slightly less if pushed for time) and then running a brew cycle. Run it at least 3 times with fresh water to make sure the taste of vinegar has fully gone before you enjoy your next cup of coffee.
Remote Controls
These are touched by everyone in the household, and often multiple times a day, and there’s no telling how much grime and germs are lurking in the cracks between the buttons. With a disinfecting wipe, simply go over them carefully every day, or as often as you remember, and for those hard-to-reach spaces between buttons, use a Q-tip soaked in vinegar or rubbing alcohol.
You don’t need to be a clean freak per se, but you do need to think about hygiene in your home, and if cleaning these areas frequently can help keep you and your family safe from harm, why wouldn’t you do it? Alternatively, simply hire a professional cleaning company to come in regularly, and you won’t even need to remind them to clean these places in your home, it’ll be part of their standard itinerary, for sure.
