Keeping it Clean

Doing Battle with Germs

Summer’s fading light will send more or us indoors to spend quality time with millions upon millions of household germs. The facts are a somewhat alarming.

A cutting board can have 200 times more bacteria than a toilet seat, a single drop of water from a dirty kitchen sponge has millions of bacteria and 90 percent of shoes have some fecal matter on them after only three months of wear according to Charles Gerba at the University of Arizona.

Before anyone goes out to buy a HAZMAT suit, it might be easier to just take a few precautions that are quite easy and very inexpensive.

The kitchen sponge has more germs than any other item in the home. Two quick ways of cleaning a sponge include putting it through a dishwasher cycle or microwaving it at high power for 30 seconds. Kansas State University recommends soaking synthetic sponges and dishcloths in a disinfecting solution made of 6 ounces of bleach to one gallon of water for two minutes. Rinse and air-dry afterwards.

Plastic, non-porous cutting boards and counter tops should be washed in hot, sudsy water and rinsed before using the disinfecting solution mentioned above. Again, allow the disinfecting solution to work for two minutes, rinse, and air-dry. Use a weaker sanitizing solution of 1.5 ounces of bleach to one gallon of water for wood cutting boards.

Mop a floor with the disinfecting solution and allow it to stand for two minutes before rinsing with water and allowing it to air-dry.

Viruses can live for weeks on commonly handled items such as remote controls, purses and telephones. Periodically cleaning these objects with the sanitizing solution is recommended after testing for safety first.

The author has taken the recommendations from the experts above a bit further to prevent mildew from growing in the shower. Of course, it’s included here for entertainment purposes only, and anyone should consult with their physician before doing something really stupid that’s their own fault to begin with - including the folly of trying to get rich quick by suing a writer.

I keep a solution made of 15 percent scented bleach to 85 percent water in a spray bottle in my shower. I quickly spray down everything with the solution about every third day from outside the shower after bathing, and let it air-dry.  Mildew has never been able to grow since. It has the added benefit of reducing the number of shower cleanings, because apparently soap residue and dirt have nothing to cling to on the way to the drain. I’ve found it a great time saver.

It’s important to note that the solution I use in the shower is many times more powerful than the samitizing or disinfecting solutions described higher in the article.  The sanitizing solution is only one percent bleach, and the disinfecting solution is 4.5 percent bleach. 

I came up with my notion after having my eyes burned on several different occasions by the fumes from commercial products designed to remove mildew.  I haven’t had any reactions to the high concentration bleach solution used on a periodic basis and mildew never grows.

As always, I invite other ideas and methods used by readers.