Sneaky Places Where Germs Hide In Your Home

Sneaky Places Where Germs Hide In Your Home

(AscendHealthy.com) – Hidden in the nooks and crannies of your home are surprise invaders, unwanted and uninvited guests you work daily to avoid. They hide in corners, in your day-to-day household appliances, and in a myriad of surprising locations. They’re germs! And even the best cleaners among us miss some of them as we go about our cleaning tasks each day, week, and month.

Where Germs Lurk In Your Home

Scroll through any social media feed and you’ll find at least one meme joking about why people weren’t cleaning their homes before the pandemic. But the truth? No matter regularly you clean your home, there are plenty of places for germs to hide. You may be surprised to find germs in these places:

  • Your bath towel. The only time your towel is 100% clean is when you take it out of the dryer. Damp towels are the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. Hang them up between uses so they can dry quickly; or throw them right back in the hamper.
  • Your shoes. They’re disgusting. Trust us. They carry allergens, bacteria, viruses, and even poo particles. Take them off at your door to avoid trekking extra germs through the house.
  • Kitchen and bathroom garbage. These cans are more likely to get gross, damp garbage than the ones in any other room. Even the ones with bag inserts usually end up gross thanks to leaking food items.
  • Pet toys. Especially fabric toys. Your pets carry these around in their mouths, covering them with bacteria-riddled saliva. Then they drop them on your floor, swish them around in the dust, carry them outside and bring them in again. Gross!
  • Light switches and doorknobs. We touch these things every single day and think nothing of it, but every single time we open a door or drawer or turn on a light, we’re leaving bacteria from our hands on the surfaces we’re guaranteed to touch again later.
  • Your kitchen sink. Believe it or not, your kitchen sink may be more germ-infested than your toilet bowl. That’s a horrifying thought. Soaking dishes and rinsed food particles that stay in the unwashed sink create the perfect breeding ground for E. coli and salmonella.
  • Refrigerator drawers. Let’s face it — stuff rots and goes bad in those things. They’re filled with mold, yeast, listeria, and plenty of other creepy germs.
  • Can openers. Admit it. You use that thing and put it away without thinking twice. They’re prone to E. coli, salmonella, and other nasty germs.
  • Washing machine. The thing literally fills with soapy water during every run, but the inside is honestly pretty gross. The water used to clean your clothes often isn’t hot enough to kill germs on its own. That means the poop germs from your underwear may still be floating around in there, ready for the next load.
  • Shower curtain. Your interior plastic shower curtain stays wet all day, making it a delightful breeding ground for mold and mildew.
  • Remote controls. How often do you clean your TV remote? Never? That’s why it’s quite possibly one of the germiest things in your home.
  • Reusable grocery bags. Sure, they’re eco-friendly, but do you wash them or clean them at regular intervals? If not, food bacteria will find them to be a lovely playground.
  • Your toothbrush. When was the last time you changed your toothbrush head? Do you replace it after you’ve been sick? Even if you think you’re being safe by covering your toothbrush to protect it from airborne bathroom germs, there is still a problem. Covering a just-used toothbrush traps moisture, which bacteria love.

This list only scratches the surface of germy places in your home. Your kitchen knife block, resealable containers, coffee machine, cutting board, microwave, computer keyboard, coffee table, water bottle, and mattress are just a handful of additional examples where viruses, bacteria, and other nasties like to hang out.

The good news? Identifying these sneaky hiding spots means you can adjust your regular chore chart to tackle a few each day or week. A little extra wiping or scrubbing won’t take a ton of time and will allow you to sleep easier, knowing you’ve added another layer of protection to your household.

~Here’s to Your Healthy Ascension!

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