Household Items You Need To Replace More Often
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No matter how clean and tidy you are, you can’t help the fact that as a living being, you emit germs as part of your biological processes. It’s just what it means to be a human. In addition to the bacteria that you naturally produce, you also drag bacteria in from the outside. One study that examined what types of bacteria live on common household surfaces found that Staphylococcus aureus (Staph), yeast, mold, salmonella, escherichia coli, (E. coli) and fecal matter might all be living in your home. It’s no reflection of cleanliness habits – even those who live as if they’re in a plastic bubble will still find these germs in their homes. Think about it: you eat and groom yourself and sleep and drool in your home. You use the toilet. Germs are bound to happen.
Even if you run anti-bacterial wipes over every surface on a regular basis, there could be one thing you’re still overlooking. Or lots of things: the exposed items you use on a regular basis. Not everything gets stored comfortably in an airtight baggy or sealed container. You have a lot of things, from bars of soap to toothbrushes that are simply exposed to the air all day. While it can be a nuisance to remember to replace or clean these things regularly, it would be far more of a nuisance to treat an infection that came from not cycling them out.
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Makeup sponges
Your skin contains a complex microbiome that’s made up of several types of bacteria. It’s good bacteria that’s meant to be there, but many of the things we use do alter it. That’s one reason dermatologists ask you to stick to gentle face wash since the harsh, chemical-loaded ones can mess up your microbiome. Really, anytime you interact with it, you disrupt it, and that applies to when you use a makeup sponge. You aren’t just putting makeup on your skin, but you’re also pulling bacteria off of your skin that then sits on the sponge. It might sit in a warm, humid environment like your bathroom where the bacteria can fester and grow. It’s a good idea to replace these every three months.
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Dish towels
Think of what you do with your dish towel. You run it over dishes that were dirty just moments before. There’s a chance that you didn’t get all of the bacteria off. You probably also use that towel to occasionally dry your hands since, let’s be honest, most of us don’t keep both a hand and separate dish towel by the kitchen sink. So you’re getting bacteria all over this thing, and then it sits, damp. Bacteria loves damp environments. Dish towels should be cleaned and swapped out a few times a week. Throw them in whenever you’re doing your regular laundry, and keep a few on hand so you can swap in a clean one when the others are in the wash.
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Hand towels
You probably have a hand towel by every sink. Maybe you don’t have one in your personal bathroom because you’ve become lazy and use your big bath towel for that, but what about in the guest bathroom? You need something there. Because it’s the guest bathroom, that immediately means that mostly outsiders use it – people who have just come in from the outside world, dragging in germs. Hand towels are used a lot, too. Unlike your bath towel that goes to work just once or twice a day, hand towels might be used a dozen times a day! Consider cleaning and swapping these out for a fresh one every other day.
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Pet bowls
We would never eat off a plate, lick it clean, stick it on the counter, and use it later. But some expect their pets to do exactly that, over and over again. And they really get in there, running their tongue over the whole thing to get every morsel of food. Research has found quite a bit of bacteria in Fido’s bowl, and while the largest count of bacteria was found on plastic bowls, the most dangerous bacteria (namely E. coli and MRSA) was found in ceramic bowls. Put your pet’s bowls in the dishwasher every time you run it, just like you do with all other recently soiled dishwares. Be sure to use the highest temperature setting, as some strains of salmonella can survive low heat.
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Kitchen sponges
It would be nice if the water running from your kitchen faucet removed all food particles from your dishes before you put a soapy sponge to them, but it doesn’t. That sponge collects little bits of pasta sauce and raw egg and sour cream and ground turkey over the weeks. Would you ever eat a plate containing week-old egg and sauce? No? So then why do we clean our dishes with a sponge containing just that? Ideally, you should replace your kitchen sponges at least once a month, and even every two weeks if they get a lot of use. There are tricks to clean out your sponge but when you buy a six-pack of sponges, what does each cost? Not much. It’s not worth the bacterial risk to try cleaning it, so just replace it.
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Eye makeup
Your eyes are, by nature, very moist, and as such contain certain healthy bacteria that’s meant to be there. However, that very same bacteria isn’t really meant to go anywhere else. When you put your mascara wand or eyeliner pencil onto your eye, and then dip it back in its container, you’ve dragged bacteria into the container. Then you close it up for that bacteria to fester in a damp environment. Over time, experts say that bacteria can grow and eventually cause an allergic reaction or an infection. Replace wet eye makeup like mascara or liquid eyeliner every three months.
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Water filter
Every time you grab a glass of tap water you may say, “How bad can it be?” Well, one study from the National Resources Defense Council found that as many as 77 million Americans got water from systems that didn’t follow federal guidelines back in 2015. So keep using your filters, and more importantly, keep replacing them. Failing to replace your filter regularly could mean that you aren’t removing the contaminants that you hoped to remove. Also, on a financial note, failing to replace filters in your refrigerator can harm your fridge, according to experts in that area.
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Contact lens case
The eyes, like the skin, contain a unique microbiome of bacteria. If a tiny drop of that bacteria from an eyeliner can do a lot of damage, imagine what the bacteria on a contact lens, which covers the whole eye for hours at a time, can do. And you place those lenses in the same case, night after night. The American Optometric Association suggests replacing contact lens cases every three months. They also recommend reading the instructions on your contact solution carefully. While some solution is suitable for holding lenses for 24 hours, others are only meant for shorter periods of time, and beyond that, may not be protecting your lenses from germs.
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Pillows
You wash and replace your pillowcases, which is great, but unless you sleep on plastic cases, germs get down to the pillow beneath them. It’s not like silk, cotton, or linen is impermeable. Your drool, sweat, tears, makeup, and more get through the tiny openings in your fabric cases and onto your pillows. You probably already know that, since when you look at the bare pillows, they’re covered in stains. How did that happen? The best practice is to replace your pillows every one to two years. Of course, if the tag says it’s safe, you can also wash these in your washing machine to extend their life.
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Fire extinguisher
This is one item that, when you need it, you really need it, so you can’t afford to slip up on inspecting or replacing it. The National Fire Protection Agency reports that most extinguishers should be inspected at least every six years. Keep in mind there are two types of extinguishers: rechargeable and disposable. Rechargeable ones have a gauge that you can check, and when the needle is no longer in the green, it’s time to recharge (typically every six years). Disposable fire extinguishers have a lifespan of about 12 years. This might get you thinking, have you ever checked the gauge on your rechargeable extinguisher? Or if you live in a building with one, has the extinguisher ever been checked or replaced?
