Everyone freaks out about their toilet seats being dirty, and rightly so. There are some things you touch every single day that are way nastier. Here are 19 things in your home that are grosser than a toilet seat. Take this as a sign to start scrubbing.
Kitchen Sponge
There’s a reason your kitchen sponge smells so weird, and that’s because there’s a lot of bacteria on it. Think about it. You scrub plates with it and wipe counters, maybe even clean up spills from the floor, and then just leave it sitting in the sink. Honestly, you’d be better off washing your dishes with a sock. The worst part is that most people don’t replace them until they’re practically falling apart, and microwaving or boiling doesn’t always fix the problem.
Toothbrush Holder
Your toothbrush holder collects a lot of toothpaste gunk and who-knows-what from the bathroom air. When was the last time you actually cleaned it? Since your holder is so damp, germs love it, and you might even see some pinkish slime in there if you look closely. It’s even worse when your toothbrush holder is near the toilet because, well, you can guess what might find its way in there, too.
Pet Bowls
Most of the time, your pet’s bowl is probably a crusty mess, as there are bits of old food stuck around the edges, and maybe some slime in the water dish. But since your pet keeps licking it clean, you might not think about it. Rinsing the bowls quickly each day doesn’t help, though, because the grime builds up in little corners and along the rim. Outdoor bowls are even worse. No matter what kind of pet you have, they deserve a lot better than that.
Coffee Reservoir
A morning brew that tastes funky may not be because of the beans, but rather due to colonies of mold living in the water tank. This part of the coffee maker is usually out of sight and out of mind, so it becomes dirty rather quickly. It’s warm, damp, and dark. That’s perfect for grime. As such, you should look inside and see if there are any signs of mildew or discoloration. Even the tubing inside can get coated in slime if you don’t flush it regularly.
TV Remote
You drop the TV remote on the floor and dig it out from between the couch cushions. You might even grab it with cheesy fingers during movie night. However, chances are that you rarely wipe it down, if ever, so you should know that it’s likely covered in snack crumbs and sweat. Everyone in the house touches it, including kids who sneeze directly into their hands and then press the buttons. Pet hair may get stuck around the edges, too.
Cutting Boards
Chopping vegetables on one side of a chopping board, then leaving the other side for raw meat, isn’t that great of an idea. Even if you rinse the board in between, those tiny knife grooves hold onto bits of old food and won’t get clean, no matter how often you scrub them. Dish soap doesn’t usually reach into those little cuts, and the board probably still has some leftovers from meals you don’t even remember making. You may want to just throw the whole thing out.
Bathroom Faucet Handle
Most people touch the faucet with dirty hands, and wash their hands after. But that leaves the faucet dirty forever. That handle has become a collection of everything you were trying to get off your hands in the first place, and splashing water on it doesn’t count as cleaning. You might even see some gunk around the base. It all just sits there, waiting for the next hand to come along and infect.
Reusable Grocery Bags
While reusable grocery bags may look innocent, they’ve likely been rolling around in your trunk and touching raw meat. They’ve also spent some time sitting on public checkout counters, and then they go right onto your kitchen table. Just think about all those germs. It’s even worse when you use them for other things, too, like gym clothes one day and groceries the next. You probably haven’t washed them since you bought them.
Light Switches
Flicking the lights on and off seems harmless, but it’s not like those switches clean themselves. When you come fresh from the gym, or when you’ve had some snacks, you’ll likely leave some germs on the switch. You’d be surprised what wiping down the switch will show you. Don’t even look at the one in the bathroom unless you’re ready to commit to bleaching the entire thing.
Dish Towels
You dry your hands with dish towels, and you also wipe the counter with them, maybe also mop up a spill. Then back onto the hook they go. They’re left damp and ready to marinate, which is exactly the kind of conditions that bacteria are looking for. The smell alone should be a warning sign. Honestly, it’s quite scary how many different things people wipe with these towels between washes, and they keep absorbing whatever’s nearby.
Game Controllers
All that gaming time is great for your reflexes, but not so great for your hygiene. Think about it. Greasy thumbs and snack residue all go onto your controller, yet you probably never clean it because it’s “just plastic.” But that plastic is essentially wearing a layer of your germs at this point. You likely press every button over and over with the same fingers that you were just using to dig in bags of chips.
Shower Curtain
Chances are, you probably don’t think much about the shower curtain brushing up against your leg, but you really should. That bottom edge in particular is often damp and discolored, which makes it an ideal breeding ground for germs. Any pink or black marks you notice aren’t merely decoration or signs of decoloration. Nope, they’re a sign that your curtain needs to go in the wash…yesterday.
Fridge Vegetable Drawer
You’d think that the vegetable drawer in the fridge would be clean since it’s so cold. Sadly not. There’s always at least one piece of fruit or a vegetable from last month that has begun rotting, but you don’t usually realize it. Even if that hasn’t happened, juice leaks from cucumbers, while greens wilt and melt. Before you know it, it smells off every time you open the fridge, and that’s not something a wipe with a paper towel can fix.
Laptop Keyboard
You eat lunch over your keyboard and probably sneeze near it. Then, you touch it with fingers that have been all over the place. It turns your keyboard into a petri dish, and the gaps between keys trap everything, like crumbs and other nastiness. In fact, you might even notice that a few keys are a little shiny, and that’s because they’ve been touched a thousand times. As for the rest, well, they’re coated in who-knows-what.
Laundry Machine Drawer
Most people have never even looked into the laundry machine slot where they pour detergent, as they assume it’s clean. However, there’s likely a lot of soap residue in there, as well as crusty edges and a build-up of goop. Most leftover detergent turns into a sticky film that never quite dries, and there might even be some old powder caked in the corners. Anytime that your machine starts smelling musty, this is the first place you should check.
Blender Seals
Although you rinse the blender and put it in the dishwasher, you might want to check out the rubber ring at its base. That’s where old smoothie gunk and fruit pulp tends to go, and if you’ve never taken that seal off, there’s probably mold growing under it. It doesn’t matter if it looks clean on the outside. The part underneath gets slimy, and that seal soaks up whatever you blended and then keeps it for later.
Makeup Brushes
If your brushes could talk, they’d probably scream, as they’re covered in caked-up powder and leftover foundation. Don’t forget about skin oils. You’re rubbing them all over your face every day, and unless you’re washing them regularly, they’re likely rolling in grime. Brushes pick up bacteria every time they touch your skin. Any breakouts on your skin could be due to your makeup brushes being absolutely filthy.
Salt and Pepper Shakers
People always forget their salt and pepper shakers, which means they’re often left on the table with germs all over them. Everyone’s fingers have been all over them. That includes greasy, sticky, and straight-from-snack-time fingers, but nobody ever thinks to wipe them down. Worse still, the steam from a hot dish could make them get all clumpy inside.
Reusable Water Bottles with Straws
Reusable water bottles seem like a smart idea until you open them up and get a whiff of that weird smell. You might rinse the bottle and maybe wipe the top, but there’s probably a hidden spot under the flip-lid that’s rather troublesome. Most people also forget that those built-in straws are detachable, and over time, they become covered in yuckiness.
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