Hygiene Tips

Withour being obsessive about it, it is important to keep things clean in kitches, bathrooms and toilets.

• Rinse after washing up. It flushes the germs on hands, textiles and dishes down the drain.
• Loos have lids for a reason. Close the lid before flushing to prevent contaminated droplets landing on taps, cosmetics or your toothbrush - they can travel for almost two metres (6 feet).
• Buy his and hers bath towels. Intaimacy is wonderful, but sometimes hygiene comes first. Give everyone in the family their own towel and facecloth so they keep their germs to themselves.
• Bin the kitchen cloth. Once used, a kitchen cloth or sponge turns into a germ factory and may contain 10,000 bacteria per square inch, including E. coli and salmonella. Disinfect them regularly with sterilising fluid or buy disposables.
• Ignore 'clean' dirt. Dusting behind the bookshelves makes little difference to our health. Germs come from a source such as raw chicken, human waste or a pet, so targeted hygiene is needed to break the chain of infection. As bacteria and viruses can survive on surfaces for several hours or even longer, be vigilant about cleaning kitchen sinks and chopping boards, door knobs, fridge handles, phones, keyboards, the tv remote and our hands.

 Good Housekeeping, November 2013