Look Beyond the Restroom for the Germiest Areas in Your Home or Office

If you’ve been focusing your cleaning efforts on the restroom thinking it is the dirtiest area of a home or office, you’re not alone in your thinking.

However, the toilets are generally not the germiest areas of a residential or commercial facility because they are cleaned frequently. You’ll usually find far more germs in a kitchen or breakroom sink, according to microbiologist Charles Gerba, a professor of public health, environmental science and immunology at the University of Arizona, CNN reports

Gerba is known as Dr. Germ because he has tested nearly every surface for pathogens that cause illness. His tests reveal kitchen sinks are a reservoir for bacteria, as many people defrost and rinse raw meat in sinks then only spray the sink with water to clean it instead of using disinfectant. Kitchen cutting boards are another germy area, as Gerba found more fecal bacteria on cutting boards than on the toilet seat in the average home.

Other dirty kitchen areas include refrigerator handles as well as the kitchen towels many people hang on the handles. The coffee pot water reservoir may be the dirtiest place in the kitchen. Coffee pot manufacturers recommend cleaning the reservoir monthly by pouring up to four cups of vinegar in the reservoir, letting it sit for 30 minutes, then turning on the pot and running the vinegar through the unit, then running through two to three cycles of fresh water.

Learn other germ hot spots Gerba has pinpointed, such as upholstered furniture and carpeting.