The Dirtiest Places
In Your Home
You Never Clean …
… You Should Clean
Forgotten Dirty Places & Matching Cleaning Tricks
Apart from the usual suspects like dish towels, sponges, cloths, toilet bowl, handrails and door handles which if not either replaced or cleaned regularly and properly are a home for trillions of germs, there are still a number of places which are just dirty and often difficult to access like some bulbs or shutters. And then there are the places you do not think are totally germinated, such as the cutting board made of wood or the piping of the coffee machine.
Therefore, we distinguish between places that are just dirty, hotspots that are filthy bacteria spiders and super hotspots which have to be cleaned as often as possible.
Dirty areas that you like to forget:
In the Bathroom
Hotspot: Toothbrush Cup
Cleaning Agent: Hand plus rag squeeze into the narrow cup? This is also easier: Just leave a lye of water and detergent for two hours, which dissolves the coarse dirt. The remains can be removed with cotton swabs or an old toothbrush.
Hotspot: Aerator
Cleaning Agent: On almost every faucet is screwed an aerator, it regulates the water jet – and calcifies insanely fast. Occasionally you should unscrew these regulators and place in vinegar water, which disinfects and decalcifies.
Hotspot: Bathroom Floor / Tiles
Cleaning Agent: Toilet oder vinegar cleanser – The area under or behind or around the toilets should also be cleaned regularly. Also, the joints between the bathroom tiles are considered to be an ideal nesting place for spores and microorganisms, especially when it comes to silicone joints that will sooner or later always be colonized by mold. To counteract the contamination between the tiles use vinegar cleaner and an old toothbrush. Also these Spots are particularly well disinfected with a steam cleaner. Don’t forget to ventilate the bathroom regularly to allow the humid air to escape!
Super Hotspot: Sink
Cleaning Agent: Any acidic cleanser. Sinks and faucets are much more populated by germs than you think. The basin comes with saliva and other body fluids in contact, the faucet is often touched with unwashed hands. Especially when a member of the household is sick or visitors have used the bathroom, it is worthwhile to thoroughly clean sinks and faucets with an acidic cleanser that eliminates microorganisms. Clean the sink as often as possible and not just once a week.
Super Hotspot: Drains And Some Areas Of The Fittings
Cleaning Agent: One more place to use the old toothbrush. With it you can scour away calcifications around drains and sieves – and even the hard to reach place between faucet and sink or shower can be achieved with it. When done it is important to put some vinegar or baking soda for disinfection.
Super Hotspot: Flush Button
Cleaning Agent: A commercial toilet or vinegar cleaner is recommended because the acid contained effectively detoxifies the microbes. The toilet flush button should be wiped accordingly to its use but at least weekly treated with a vinegar or toilet cleanser soaked wipe.
Dirty Place: Shower Curtain
Cleaning Agent: Some struggling with home remedies (soda, for example, eliminates lime), it can be almost any shower curtain in the washing machine – best washed at cold cycle and without flinging. If you want, you can put an old towel in the drum: it works like a rag and scrub away stubborn dirt.
Dirty Place: Hairbrush
Cleaning Agent: Old hair can be combed out with a comb. The remaining bobbles from skin cells dissolve after a bath in warm water and baking soda.
In the Kitchen
Hotspot: Cutting Boards Made Of Wood
Cleaning Agent: With wooden boards it is tricky: Too much water, for example, hurts because the wood soaks up and swells up. Remove dirt and food particles with a dash of vinegar on the cloth. In the long run, cutting boards, if you brush them with edible oil every three to four weeks – that seals the surface.
Hotspot: Trash Bin
Cleaning Agent: Is not it enough to empty the garbage regularly and use new bags? Especially with food leftovers bacteria and dirt also stick to the lid or in the bucket itself. The quickest and easiest way to solve this is with a shower: put some detergent in the bucket and rinse off in the bath or shower. Also to wipe all surfaces with vinegar solution is workable and to reduce your trash might be helpful too. “Zero Waste: Simple Life Hacks to Drastically Reduce Your Trash” is an interesting guide.
Super Hotspot: Sink
Cleaning Agent: Any acidic cleanser. Sinks and faucets are much more populated by germs than you imagine. It is therefore very important to thoroughly clean sinks and faucets with an acidic cleanser that eliminates microorganisms as often as possible and not just once a week.
Dirty Place: Knife Block
Cleaning Agent: Dust accumulates in the slots where knives are otherwise stuck. And it’s best to vacuum it out with a vacuum cleaner or blow it out with a powerful hairdryer. Also don’t forget to clean and disinfect your knifes at odd times.
Dirty Place: Rails With Sliding Doors
Cleaning Agent: The old toothbrush – or the professional rail brush gets into narrow rails. Also suitable for dust-prone decorative grooves and heels on doors.
Dirty Place: Iron
Cleaning Agent: Rusty undersides of irons to get along well with vinegar. Soak a cloth in vinegar and put the iron on it for five minutes. After that, the rust can be wiped off easily.
Dirty Place: Baking Tray
Cleaning Agent: There is a cheap alternative to oven spray: sprinkle all the baked-in food with plenty of baking soda and add some hydrogen peroxide. Leave this mixture for one to two hours, then you can remove everything with a wipe. And so are baked pots clean again.
Dirty Place: Dishwasher
Cleaning Agent: Two washes – one with a cup of vinegar, one with baking soda – put an end to deposits and strange odors.
In the Living Room and Bedroom
Hotspot: Laptop, Mobile Phone, TV Screen
Cleaning Agent: Skin particles, dust, grease, fingerprints: Pretty nasty, what collects everything on screens. With the “iRoller” can erase all this. The iRoller is a reusable liquid free cleaner and sanitizer for TV screens, smartphones and tablets. Don’t forget to clean the “iRoller” itself and to rinse under water occasionally.
Super Hotspot: Remote
Cleaning Agent: Disinfecting wipes – according to a study from the University of Virginia, remote controls are a true germ hot spot. They are constantly being touched, even while nibbling on the couch. This allows viruses and bacteria to attach themselves ideally to keys and surfaces. At least a weekly rub with a disinfecting wipes should be done.
Dirty Place: Lampshade
Cleaning Agent: Simply walk over it with the lint roller and dust, lint and pet hair stick to it. Also works great with sofas and armchairs made of fabric, on which cats or dogs like to make themselves comfortable.
Dirty Place: Bulbs
Cleaning Agent: Yes, even bulbs and energy-saving lamps should be dedusted regularly. Simple dusters (also available as disposable products) do the job most reliably.
Dirty Place: Shutters
Cleaning Agent: There is a suitable product for every problem, even for dirty shutters: a dust cleaner with 4 sleeves ensures cleanliness.
In the Garden
Hotspot: Garden Hose
Cleaning Agent: None – at least after 3 years of use replace your old garden hose by a new one. There are so many germs inside, which is impossible to clean or to get rid of. How about a new wonder hose?
Hotspot: Hot Tub / Spa
Cleaning Agent: Chlorine, Chlorine, Chlorine – The most spas that are not treated properly with chlorine are playgrounds for germs. Forget about any other water treatment agent. If you want to kill all germs in your spa use chlorine.
Wherever
Hotspot: Washing Machine
Cleaning Agent: Hot Cycle – Washing machines are also prone to germination because they constantly come into contact with contaminated garments, towels, cloths, etc. The higher the temperature and the longer the wash, the better the hygiene performance. A hot cycle usually suffice for reliable germ killing.
If only washed in lower temperature ranges, could form in the interior of the machine an unpleasant-smelling biofilm – an ideal breeding ground for bacteria and mold. By the way: Detergents in powder form are particularly efficient for cleaning because they contain disinfectant bleach, so it is recommended to run the washing machine empty at the hottest cycle every few weeks with some powder detergent. In order for the appliance to dry out completely after work, the door and detergent drawer should always be left open. Since bacteria also like to settle on limescale deposits, it is important to descale the machine regularly: Just give occasionally a little bit of citric acid to (light, insensitive) laundry. It works much like a commercial washing machine descaler.
Hotspot: Stuffed Animals
Cleaning Agent: Hot Cycle – Where children spend the night, cuddly animals are also welcome bedmates, but they should be cleaned regularly because otherwise they can easily become disease carriers. If necessary, you have to pay attention to a good washability when buying.
What We Ever Wanted To Know About Germ Hotspots At Home
Did you know that your kitchen sink contains 100,000 times more germs than your toilet? And that in more than half of all households dangerous bacteria are detectable and that pathogens are often found in unexpected places.
Getting through the year without disease – that’s a dream for most people. But pathogens are insidious and they lurk not only in large crowds and where sick people cough and sneeze, but especially on palms and thus also on everyday objects with which we constantly come into contact.
Bacteria can multiply by leaps and bounds from one to millions within hours. In addition, many germs are amazingly stable: For example, the flu virus can keep it on smooth surfaces for up to 48 hours.
The transmission of diseases occurs less frequently by droplet infections, as suspected by many people, but almost always about the contact with the hands: who touches an infected door handle and then – even unconsciously – in the face sums up the germs directly on his mucous membranes and has a high risk of getting sick.
To avoid the risk of infection wash your hands regularly! The first golden rule is: Wash your hands regularly and thoroughly with soap and water. Golden rule number two: Grasp your face as rarely as possible. Golden rule number three: Clean your home properly and don’t forget the hotspots for germs.