Regular hand washing is one of the simplest ways to stay healthy. These 13 objects require hand washing after handling!
Cutting Boards
Bacteria can thrive on plastic and wooden cutting boards, mainly when not thoroughly cleaned. While plastic cutting boards can be conveniently cleaned in the dishwasher, wooden ones require more meticulous cleaning.
To sanitize wooden cutting boards, scrub them with soapy water regularly and use white vinegar to eliminate any remaining germs and odors. Additionally, when handling raw meat, it’s advisable to use a thin plastic cutting board as a cover for your wooden board.
Hand Towels
Regrettably, not all individuals who dry their hands with your hand towels adhere to proper hand-washing protocols. As a result, these towels can accumulate dirt and bacteria over time, necessitating the replacement of used towels with fresh ones every few days.
Keys
Have you ever taken the time to clean your car or house keys thoroughly? Given how frequently we handle them, they’re likely teeming with various types of bacteria. Therefore, it’s recommended to use disinfecting wipes occasionally to keep your keys clean and germ-free.
Shopping Carts
Numerous grocery stores presently provide disinfecting wipes near their shopping carts, and it’s for a good cause! Shopping cart handles can be a breeding ground for bacteria from other individuals’ hands and foods like raw meat. Hence, make the most of these complimentary wipes and clean your cart handle before shopping!
Reusable Grocery Bags
While on groceries, it’s essential not to overlook the cleanliness of your reusable grocery bags. With exposure to shopping carts, checkout conveyor belts, and other unclean surfaces, these bags can quickly become carriers of harmful bacteria.
To sanitize reusable bags made of vinyl or plastic, use hydrogen peroxide to wipe them down and eliminate germs. For cloth-like bags, simply toss them into your washing machine for a thorough cleaning.
Kitchen Sponge
A 2017 report indicated kitchen sponges could harbor hundreds of millions of bacteria per square centimeter. It’s crucial to replace your kitchen sponge frequently and put it in the dishwasher for cleaning between uses. Alternatively, you can boil or microwave a damp sponge to eliminate germs.
Cell Phone
Cell phones are perpetually germ-ridden because our hands and mouths continuously transfer germs onto the device. Routinely wipe down your phone with a disinfectant at least a few times weekly.
Glasses
How often do you touch your glasses and set them down? Your glasses carry countless germs between your hands and the surfaces they touch.
Use a soft microfiber cloth to clean the lenses and an alcohol wipe to kill germs and remove smudges.
Buttons
We touch many buttons daily, alarm clocks, appliances, crosswalks, doors, and so on! Invest in a pocket-sized bottle of hand sanitizer for your bag or briefcase when you don’t have access to soap and a sink.
Cash Money
Cash money changes many hands and sees a lot of places. You really don’t know where money has been, so wash your hands regularly to keep the bacteria on cash and coins at bay.
Public Surfaces
There are many public surfaces hundreds of people touch every day. Door handles, handrails, and train and bus poles are only a few.
Always wash your hands after touching public surfaces and using public transportation.
Menus
Large menus hanging high behind the counter and QR code menus decrease the number of people touching a menu, but physical menus are still susceptible to germs and bacteria. Paper menus aren’t as much of an issue as plastic menus, but you should still sanitize or wash your hands when you’re done with a physical menu.
Waiting Room Materials
Waiting rooms are crawling with bacteria. Whether it’s a doctor’s office, dentist’s office, hospital, or bank, numerous people have sat in the chairs or used the pen to sign in.
Wash your hands after your appointment or use hand sanitizer once checked in.
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