The Dirtiest Things in Your Home
By Sara Butler
Home should be a place you can relax and rejuvenate. It’s your shelter from the outside world and a space that totally belongs to you. Perhaps you have good habits such as washing your hands every time you use the bathroom - and that’s great! But the bathroom isn’t the only place in your home you may be encountering nasty germs. There are several places in your house that are much dirtier than you may realize. Here are some of the biggest germ havens in your home that you need to be aware of.
The Bath Mat
Bath mats are great to help you from slipping as you step out of the shower, but they’re not that great for keeping bacteria and mold out of your home. Think about it: Your bath mat gets wet then dries slowly over the course of the day. That makes it a breeding ground for mold and bacteria.
So, what should you do? An easy fix is to hang it up over your shower rod to dry after each shower. You can also add some baking soda to the mat and let it sit for about 30 minutes before you vacuum it up.
The Garbage Disposal
How often do you clean your garbage disposal? You may have never thought of scrubbing the garbage disposal but you should. The average kitchen sink usually houses more bacteria than the household toilet. It makes sense with all the things your kitchen encounters over the course of the day – raw meat, dirty dishes and food scraps. The garbage disposal often becomes ground zero for bacteria and can contaminate everything around it.
If you want to keep it clean create a solution out of white vinegar and lemon juice. At least one time per week you should take an old toothbrush and scrub the outer ring of the garbage disposal with the solution and then rinse it. You can also toss some lemon peels down the disposal and flip it on; the oils in the peel clean the blades and keep them fresh smelling too.
You Welcome Mat
Your welcome mat is a nice gesture to visitors, but it’s also the resting place for a multitude of grime and dirt that gets wiped on it every time you come home. Plus, welcome mats don’t get washed regularly, so all that stuff just sits on it and festers. When you walk over it you are essentially tracking everything on it into your house if you don’t take your shoes off at the door.
Every so often you should clean your welcome mat by shaking it off and vacuuming it. Then sprinkle some baking soda on it to help keep it fresh.