7 Household Items that are Dirtier than Your Toilet Seat

Many homeowners spend a lot of time taking care of and cleaning their homes on a regular basis. During your weekly cleaning, you may find yourself scrubbing your bathroom toilet with a face mask, rubber gloves, and a lot of bleach. However, when is the last time you bleached your cell phone? You may be surprised at your local moving company's list of 7 household items that are dirtier than your toilet seat, but we can tell you how to keep them clean, too.

1. The remote control. Whichever remote control you and your family use the most, is how the majority of viruses are being spread within your home. Think of how many people and how many times you touch the remote every day, throughout the month, and throughout the year, and probably NEVER clean it. You may want to Lysol it once a week or rub some hand sanitizer on it.

2. Carpets. According to Men's Health magazine, carpets are what house 4,000 times as many germs than your toilet seat. Microbiologist Dr. Phillip Tierno says that “rugs are botanical and zoological parks”, meaning that they can have many different organisms living in them. Make sure that you routinely deep clean your carpets, not just vacuum them.

3. The kitchen sink. Your kitchen sink can be dirtier than your entire bathroom; including the faucet, basin, and drain stopper. A great way to clean your kitchen sink is to cover it with baking soda and scrub it with a toothbrush. Then, pour white vinegar onto paper towels and arrange them around the basin. Allow them to sit there for about 20 minutes and then throw them away.

4. The keyboard to your computer/laptop. Just like the remote control, when is the last time you disinfected your keyboard? In 2008, ABC News reported that a computer keyboard can be home to five times more bacteria than a toilet seat. Make sure that you disinfect your keyboard and try using Post-it notes to collect any crumbs that may be in the crevices.

5. Kitchen sponges. Being 200,000 times dirtier than your toilet, make sure that you throw sponges away as much as possible. Because kitchen sponges stay wet, germs and mold continuously grow in and on them. That darkening that you see after your sponge is only a week or two old, may not be grease, it could very well be mold. A Reddit user posted a cleaning tip for kitchen sponges that attaches the sponge, held upright, using an office binder clip. The unique technique will keep the sponge from sitting in water, and allow it to air dry.

6. Your cell phone. Since your hands are mating grounds for germs, it should be no surprise that they have 500 times more bacteria than your toilet. Since you cannot scrub your phone with a cleaning product, try using hand sanitizer and lightly rub it on the surface of your phone, then dry it off with a lens cloth, and make sure that you always wash your hands.

7. The cutting board. Microbiologist and professor at the University of Arizona Dr. Charles Gerba, says that, “in most cases, it's safer to make a salad on a toilet seat than it is to make one on a cutting board. There're 200 times more fecal bacteria from raw meat on the average cutting board in a home than a toilet seat. Most people just rinse their cutting board, but poultry and raw meat can leave behind salmonella and campylobacter.” In order to keep your cutting board clean, use a cleaning spray or put them in the dishwasher.

Now that you are aware of these commonly mistaken for clean items in your home, you can make sure that you clean them as regularly (if not more regularly) as you would clean your toilet. It is typical to think that the place that you bathe and relieve yourself is the dirtiest area in your home; however, food and the most common items that you and your family touch are also things that you need to make sure that you clean on a regular basis as well. All My Sons Moving & Storage of Atlanta wants you to move into a clean Atlanta home, so make sure that you thoroughly clean your new home before your local moving company moves your belongings, and don't forget these 7 household items that are dirtier than the toilet!