apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The laundry one is surprising! Yuck!

As far as the kitchen sink is concerned, it is imperative that the sink be SCOURED. Otherwise, a film is formed which protects the bacteria but not you. Yes, stainless steel can be scoured: just scrub with the grain (yes, it has one).

Antibacterial soap is pointless. Just wash well.

And don't be so germophobic. Just don't rub your eyes with unwashed hands and you probably won't get sick. You most likely aren't getting that virus from breathing or eating. You are getting it through your open eyes. Close them when someone sneezes and don't rub them.

I don't have an airplane bathroom in my home.

how about some environmentally friendly alternatives to all the bleach suggestions?

The underwear comment kind of made me want to vomit!

You know, I agree with medenver. Germs are really ok unless you are immune-compromised. In fact, it's better for people with normal immune systems if you get regular exposure to household germs. I don't scour, never use anti-microbial anything, wash my clothes in cold water, and I'm a generally healthy person. I haven't come down with any major digestive disorder as a result of not bleaching my vegetables or chicken before cooking... The odd cold I do get can usually be traced back to my five-year old nephew... (now kids - they are the cesspool of disease!)

And as for public toilets of any kind - just wash your hands with soap and turn off the faucet with a towel.

As brooklyn_kate mentioned, germs are ok unless you have a weakened immune system. They are normal, and even healthy to be exposed to in reasonable doses to help maintain/develop/strengthen your immune system. germophobia was created by corporations to induce you to buy chemical products with unidentifiable and dangerous ingredients when which are probably unhealthier to be exposed to than germs.

just clean well, and don't stick your hand in the toilet or garbage can and then directly into your mouth.

Blech... guys, although I am grateful for the thought, the details were a bit much to handle.

Emily

I'm with the "germs are okay" posters. Until my boyfriend started dialysis, we just observed regular sanitary rules and didn't get sick frequently. Now we're using antibacterial soap and paper towels, but he's one of the immuno-compromised.

Bleach is bad for septic systems -- we have one. I use it occasionally, but oxy bleach powder works MUCH better.

I have all-natural hand sanitizer for every time I pump gas or touch a restroom door. (I also flush public toilets with my shoe, okay maybe I'm a freak) I'm overly cautious about those two areas in public. As far as the house, dude...the garage door button gets dissssgusting. Just thinking about all the finger muck that builds up on it gives me the chills.

Other than that, we all (should have) learned not to put your hands in your mouth or eyes at a young age. And wash your hands regularly. You'll be reasonably safe if you listen to your mother. ;)

Antibacterial wipes are available, and I carry several with me in case I am confronted with a really disgusting public bath situation. I agree with the people who say don't get germ-phobic, but there is a limit.

It would be great if you could avoid touching handles in public bathrooms during flu season, but get real. You can't.

As to the grungy button on your garage door control, there's plenty of common sense solutions. I carry travel packs of wipes in my glove compartment to use in the interior of my car when it gets grungy from frequent hand contact. I've been known to spot something like this in the garage and clean it right away with the wipes from the glove compartment. If you clean it when you are first repulsed by it, you don't have to remember to clean it on the week-end.

My solution is not as green as it could be, but it works for me.

E. coli with your laudry what a bunch of crap, excuse the expression.. but really! If you take a bath every day and change your under pants every day and wipe your butt when you go number 2 how is this possible. Do not use bleach it is evil and horrible on the environment.. keep using bleach and we will have bigger bacterial problems to face.

AT really.

I just saw this came from NBC News I mean Fox news no wonder, rolling my eyes.

First spiders, now this. I'm scared to read the next post!

Actually, I come from a family filled with doctors (several are pediatricians) and they have stated that using antibacterial everything is actually bad. Kids need to build up their immune systems and we are making it harder for them. Plus, if your child sucks their thumb don't use Purell. If you feel you need something like it try CleanWell instead - alcohol free and safe for kids. Teach your child to properly wash their hands, sneeze or cough into their bent elbow (not hands), and yes avoid the gross areas of public restrooms with bare hands. Now, I'm not saying have them lick a raw chicken breast but how about we use a little common sense? Soapy water to clean the kitchen is fine and in fifty years when they still have clean drinking water (without chlorine bleach in it) they will thank us!

Sorry. I will now step down from my soap box (and use the contents to wash my hands.)

If you just cleaned the clothes how are they still loaded with bacteria?

I second what greta said. It is irresponsible to promote the use of antibacterial cleansers. Public health officials have said that the use of antibacterial products encourages the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Ditto with Greta. Antibacterials are bad. Bacteria isn't what we should be worried about, it's viruses that are the bad ones.

Shouldn't hot laundry water and hot dryers kill any bacteria??

Bacteria naturally live on our skin and inside our bellies. If they weren't there you'd probably be very very sick

Whats with this suggestion to wash clothes in hot water??? Thats probably gonna raise your bills, huge waste! The only thing that need to be washed in hot water is cloth diapers

Hand sanitizers and alcohol wipes are entirely useless and do almost nothing but rub the germs around. In order to kill bacteria you need a 30 minute contact time. Also there are many different types of bacteria that can live at all extremes of temperatures. dont waste your money on these products.

Soap and water get rid of most germs. We proved this in a high school chemistry experiment with slides and a microscope.

Soap is a wetting agent that makes the water wetter. Heating it (hot water) also makes it more effective.

Fresh air and sunshine are also good sanitizers. Too bad we and our clothes don't get outside more.

I'm not a germaphobe at all, and this still made me squirm. I agree with all of the above comments, but still. Disgusting visual images come to mind.

OMG it's the germ police on Apt Therapy again! Every once in a while a germ-obsessed feature shows up here. If you are healthy, most germs are not going to bother you. I am not the greatest housekeeper in the world, let's just put it that way, and I have never had food poisoning (rarely even an upset stomach) and might get one cold a year (usually after flying). I am careful about frequently washing my hands with hot water and soap but I am anti-anti-bacterial products. Outside of a clinical setting, they have no place.

The most thing sickening in this piece is the idea that you should do laundry at 150 degrees! Incredibly wasteful of energy and entirely unnecessary for anyone in good health.

In addition to the the incredible waste of energy, if you have children you should never have your hot water heater set high enough to get 150 degree water.

Thank God most of the previous posters have some of the common sense this post seemed to lack. DO NOT use antibacterial products. You are creating antibiotic-resistant bacteria and viruses. Soap and a little elbow grease is enough for almost all situations. There was a study out a while ago about how farm raised children were healthier and had less allergies than other children, perhaps because of the greater exposure to dirt and germs naturally existing in their environment. We're so scared about touching each other and the world we live in that we don't know what healthy is anymore. Hygiene Hypothesis anyone?

I wash towels and my daughter's cloth diapers in hot water and everything else in cold or warm. Get real.

I grew up in the country on a small farm and spent many an afternoon playing with the sheep and goats and then most likely putting my hands in my mouth. I just got sick for the first time in a couple of years with a minor cold. (Virus.)

I would say that if you haves that much feces in your underwear washing your hands is the least of your problems.

Also good luck having your clothes last more than a couple of months if you wash them at 150 and then throw them in the dryer. Some of my clothes I hand wash in cold and then hang to dry.

Wow. Imagine--our kitchen sinks and laundry machines are cesspools of bacteria!!!!

And yet, these terrifying health hazards--right in our own homes(!!!)--haven't managed to kill any of us yet. What does that tell you?

Instead of bleach, use borax- its got sanitizing properties, I believe. And washing everything in 150 degrees or more? Kiss your brights goodbye! And anything that you want to fit you and last more than a year!

Use distilled white vinegar as your rinse; it is a great sanitizer/disinfectant and will protect your darks and bright colors in warm (but not 150 degree) water. Very eco-friendly and cheap to boot.

Washing your underwear in hot water with bleach is overkill. Does the person who recommends this sanitize the washing machine between loads?

Up until the 1950s, American women had much more hand contact with wet laundry than they do now. Washers available from the 1920s - 1940s had wringers that required hand operation. There was no public health problem stemming from doing the laundry.

If there is fecal matter in your wash, guess what, it gets diluted with water.

When you swim in a lake, river or ocean, you're coming into contact with fecal matter. Our friendly water species do not crawl up out of the water and use sanitary facilites. Why don't we get sick? Because if things are working they way they should, the fecal matter is diluted. Swimming in a lake, river or ocean will only make you sick if human sanitation systems are not designed the way they should, and a heavy concentration of human waste is being dumped into the vicinity where you're swimming. A heavy concentration of animal waste can also be a problem. Small bodies of water close to dog runs can start to teem with stuff you don't want to be in contact with if the dog runs aren't maintained properly.

A kitchen sponge is crawling with bacteria. Don't let it sit in contact with water; this only makes matter worse. The best way to sanitize a kitchen sponge is to throw it away and use a fresh one. Do this periodically and you'll avoid problems.

Ahhh paranoia!
Germs aren't all that bad...obsession over them only makes matters worse. Just don't leave raw meat juices all over the counter.
I only clean with white vinegar, much less invasive and way more natural than bleach but IS antibacterial.