These 9 everyday items in your home can make you ill

A bout of flu is easily caught, especially in winter. When there’s a true flu epidemic going around, it’s good to ‘arm’ yourself against it. Those of you who don’t feel like spending several days in bed with a fever and a family pack of tissues will benefit from this article. The following nine objects can make you ill! And they’re all common things to have around the house…

These are the most unhygienic items in our homes.

1. The mop

The mop is definitely at number one on this list with one billion bacteria per square centimetre. That’s not so weird when you think about it: you use the mop to clean the floor, which means it comes into contact with dust, hairs, food scraps and other dirt.

2. Contact lenses

Yes, really, contact lenses are on our list of most unhygienic items in a home. Researchers found out that there are over 5000 bacteria living in the eyes of people who wear contacts that shouldn’t actually be living there. This drastically increases the risk of getting an eye infection. This is partly due to the fact that contacts are always kept wet – that makes them a breeding ground for bacteria.

3. The faucet

And the faucet in the bathroom or toilet in particular. This gets touched by a lot of dirty hands, of course. Research has shown that it contains no less than 2.7 million bacteria. Yikes!

4. Tea towels

89 per cent of all tea towels contains E.coli, a bacteria that can be found on raw meat and raw dairy products and can cause a nasty infection. Apart from this infamous bacteria, tea towels contain a lot of other bacteria as well. That’s why you should change your tea towels every two to three days and wash them at 60 degrees Celsius. One last thing: never use them to dry your hands with!

5. Your purse

You take your purse or bag with you everywhere you go and you regularly put it on the ground in the bus, train or on public toilets. No wonder your bag is a source of bacteria! There are easily 10,000 bacteria on a purse.

6. Stuffed animals

Stuffed animals are adorable to see, of course. But most of them rarely get washed and that makes them a source of germs and bacteria. A whopping 80 per cent of all teddybears contains contagious bacteria that can cause diarrhoea, asthma or urinary tract infections.

7. Pyjamas

Research shows that men wear their pyjamas for 13 days on average without washing and women for 17 days. That’s way too long and not very hygienic. Wash your pyjamas every few days, preferably at 60 degrees Celsius. If you don’t do this, you can get yourself a urinary infection before you know it.

8. Nail clippers

This might come as a surprise, but nail clippers are one of the items that can make you ill. This is because there are bacteria underneath your fingernails that are transferred to the nail clippers. Among these bacteria are bacteria from your intestines, which can cause diarrhoea. That’s why you should clean your nail clippers once a month using a disinfecting cleaning product. Also, don’t share your clippers with other people.

9. Sponges

An old sponge spreads more dirt than it cleans. On average, a used sponge contains more than 10 million bacteria per square metre. Do you use sponges on a daily basis? Take out a new one every week.