No More 5 Second Rule

October 30, 2009 on 9:36 am | In The Heart of Your Home | 3 Comments

Do you ever wonder how dirty things are? As we enter into the Flu season you should start being more cautious of handling objects, or most importantly the objects your little ones touch. You should wipe down with disinfectant wipes or spray toys that are constantly used by your child or that other children play with.

Be conscious of what you do for example if you go to a restaurant or public place, never put your purse on the floor and then on a table, that is one simple way to transfer germs, that many of us don’t think about. Also If you are in a restaurant you would never pick up the food from the floor that you have dropped, so why do it at home?

Several other things that we don’t think about are money and greeting cards, money is circulated through all different types of places and you don’t know what bacteria and germs are on your dollar bills and coins. Think about when you go to a store that has greeting cards available, that is another way to transfer germs, if you’re sick or have a mild cold be kind to others. Don’t go to the store when you are sick and start handling the cards, because we all know that there isn’t just one card that’s perfect, you have to read a few just for that special person your buying it for.

Following are areas in your home which can collect the most germs, and ways to eliminate the bacteria.

1.) Kitchen. The kitchen is where a lot of families gather together whether its dinner time, homework time or just a gathering area where people converse. What you clean your kitchen with is what makes this number one on the list. Sure it’s great that you wipe down the counter tops to get rid of germs, but what happens when you’re done wiping down the counter? Most people just run hot water through their rag or sponge but that doesn’t get rid of the bacteria, it only multiplies. Health professionals recommend putting sponges in the dishwasher cycle, or the warm cycle of the washing machine. This goes for the kitchen wash rags and kitchen towels those need to be put in the warm cycle of the washing machine. Another germy spot is the kitchen faucet. Of course it’s great that you are taking the proper cleanliness steps to wash hands before handling meat but what do you do before turning the water on? You touch the faucet, by touching the faucet it defeats the purpose of washing your hands. The best way to eliminate bacteria lurking around on your faucet is to use the disinfectant wipes and spray that way the whole sink are is covered.

2.) Bathroom. Your probably thinking to yourself “duh”, but actually the areas that you think are germ filled are actually no where near as bad. For example your tub and showers have 100 times more bacteria that the toilet or trash can. Your tooth brush can collect germs by being exposed to the bacteria your toilet collects. You should soak your toothbrush in baking soda to eliminate germs. Health professionals recommend spraying your bathroom twice a week with disinfectant spray and of course a weekly cleaning.

3.) Your pets’ food bowl. Everyone’s heard the statement dogs have the cleanest mouths well that may be true but it doesn’t mean that bacteria don’t infest their bowl. Don’t spray disinfectant spray on the bowl because you don’t want to accidentally poison your dog thinking your helping them out, just wash the bowl with warm soapy water every few days and make sure your pet has fresh water everyday.

4.) Microwave. It’s important to clean up after spills, but the most important area of the microwave is the key pad that you touch to heat your food. This area is one of the most common ways to transfer salmonella, and E. coli. After every use you should wipe the area down with a disinfectant wipe.

5.) Remote Control. Enough said. Everyone in your family handles the remote. Regularly wipe the remote down. Just think your child gets home from school hasn’t washed their hands since they last used the bathroom hopefully, gets a snack and sits down to watch their favorite cartoon. Germs have transferred three times already, from dirty hands to the remote, to food, to mouth, back to the remote. Mmmmm, that doesn’t sound very appetizing if you think about it.

6.) Light switches. Anywhere there is a light switch or lamp there’s bacteria. This is another one of the more common objects that is unavoidable and you wouldn’t think about. Get in the habit of disinfecting your light switches at least twice a day.

7.) Changing table. Everyone knows to use hand sanitizer or wash hands before interacting with a baby. What most parents don’t know is that the changing table is like laying your baby on a big toilet seat, not just their bottom touches but the baby’s whole entire body is exposed to bacteria. Not even just the table is contaminated, the diaper wipes container, the cream to prevent rashes, baby lotion, diaper bag anything you touch after changing a dirty diaper. Health professionals recommend disinfecting after every use.