5 Dirtiest Things in Your Home and How to Clean Them

It's a lot of work to keep up with the cleaning in a busy home. This is made even more difficult if we have kids and pets running around the place.

Which items do we all neglect the most?

1. Doorknobs, Handles & Light Switches



Take a look at your door handles or light switches and you are likely to find that they are pretty grubby. Doorknobs and light switches get touched by everyone in exactly the same place so the concentration of dirt soon builds up and becomes easily visible.

They are easy to clean. Disinfectant wipes are ideal. You can also use a steam cleaner.

2. Toothbrush holder



Our mouths are not very clean so the germs get transferred to the toothbrush. There have also been studies that show the water from the toilet bowl can make its way onto the toothbrush when the toilet is flushed. As the toothbrush is left in the toothbrush holder, the contaminated water from the toothbrush runs down the handle into the holder.

How often do we clean out the holder? Probably not very often.

The easiest way to keep this clean is to get a safe toothbrush holder and put it in the dishwasher once a week. Changing your toothbrush more regularly is advisable too.

3. Window and door tracks



These are so often ignored but as they are exposed to the outside world every time the door or window is opened, they really need to be a priority.

They tend to collect dirt, dust, leaves and dead bugs.

The best way to clean them is to start by either vacuuming or using a hand brush to remove larger pieces of debris.

For any caked on dirt you can try spraying with hot water and leaving it a short time to loosen the dirt. Then use a toothbrush (preferably one you do not use for your teeth!) to break up the dirt. After that a microfibre cloth can be used to remove the remaining dirt.

4. Telephone



This gets handled many times every day and, like doorknobs and handles, our hands touch the same parts of it every time. How often do you look at the handset and maybe wipe off some dirt? You might even use a tissue but how often does it get cleaned properly?

To clean, start by using disinfectant wipes and try to get off as much dirt as you can.

Next, take cotton swabs and slightly moisten them with rubbing alcohol. Use them to clean where the wipes couldn't reach such as between the number keys.

Dry the phone off with a soft cloth.

5. Carpets



Carpets can be great for giving a room a warmer feel. It is also much more pleasant to walk on with bare feet. Certain "high traffic" areas of the carpet such as doorways can really collect the dirt.

Vacuuming the carpet will remove debris like crumbs and pet hairs but from time to time we need to clean the carpet thoroughly. You can hire carpet cleaning equipment and you will be surprised at the amount of dirt they will get out of your carpet, but for the best results it is far better to use a professional carpet cleaning company. The price for this kind of professional carpet cleaning starts at around $50 (source: Carpestology ).



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