Making Your Bathroom a Healthy Oasis
The bathroom, if not kept clean and healthy, can be a “Grand Central Station” of bacteria and viruses waiting to make the whole family sick. The bacteria that cause strep throat (streptococcus), E. coli bacteria, and shigella (bacteria that causes diarrhea and many other problems) are all commonly found in the bathroom. Here are some tips on transforming the bathroom from the “Grand Central Station” of germs to a healthy oasis.
Bathroom Sink
Sinks have a higher bacteria count than any other home surface – making keeping the bathroom sink clean even more crucial than scrubbing the bathroom toilet. Sinks accumulate all sorts of waste, from skin cells to saliva, and the water going on and off in the sink gives germs the moisture they need to flourish. When cleaning the bathroom, make the sink the top priority.
Bathroom Toilet
Every time the toilet is flushed, nearly invisible particles of water – bacteria filled water, that is – spray upward and out of the toilet, and hang in the air for sometime afterwards. This lingering toilet water spray makes people sick when they inhale it later on, leading to different kinds of respiratory illness. The solution is simple: before flushing, close the toilet lid!
Bathroom Tub and Shower
The “ring around the tub” is actually a dense concentration of mold and mildew spores. For people with allergies, the slimy dark spots on the shower curtain, the ring around the tub, and red spots that start to accumulate on the side of the tub are all signals that it’s time to scrub the tub before the mold leads to illness.
Other Parts of the Bathroom
While nearly everyone probably knows they need to wash the perpetually damp bathroom rug more often than they do, another more often overlooked part of the bathroom is the inside door handle. As people go in and out of the bathroom, this door handle experiences quite a few touches – and not everyone washes his or her hands after using the toilet! When cleaning the bathroom, the door handle is another place not to overlook.