Good bathroom hygiene

Working in a hospital pre-retirement, albeit in an administration role, certainly made me pay attention to good hygiene practices.

Did you know though that, however clean you may think your bathroom is, it could be a veritable minefield of germs and bacteria?

There are a few obvious, and some not so obvious, ways that your bathroom may be germ-filled.

Of course first and foremost good regular cleaning is essential. I hold my hands up to having peaks and troughs as far as home cleaning goes these days tough. After all there are so many other demands on our time.

Hopefully this will act as a gentle reminder to us all about the potential hazards in our bathrooms and toilets, and just how we can minimise them.

Shut that lid

Let's start with one of the most important things to do in your bathroom.

ALWAYS close the toilet lid before you flush.

Did you know that, as you flush, your toilet can spray a fine mist of faecal matter for quite a distance. If you have your toothbrushes placed within six feet of the toilet bowl there is a fair chance that they will be covered. So, instead of cleaning your teeth you could actually be brushing them with a mixture of toothpaste and poo. Yuk.

The importance of regular wipe downs

Toilet handles, light switches. taps or faucets, toilet seats or what you will are regularly touched with unwashed hands.

Of course, a few germs keep our bodies on their toes and are necessary. It is probably fair to say though that, most bathrooms would not pass rigorous hygiene testing.

Faucets, taps, handles, switches and the like will more often than not have germs and bacteria present. Some may even have E Coli which can be a serious health risk. Keep some anti-bacterial wipes in the bathroom, so that you can have a quick wipe down regularly, apart from your proper cleaning.

Remember that often a bar of used soap carries the most germs!

Location, location

Give some thought about where you are going to place toothbrushes, sponges, hand-wash, towels and the like. Apart from the spray from the toilet bowl there may be some spray from the shower. This does depend on if you have a shower cubicle or perhaps just a shower curtain. If, like me, you have a pocket sized bathroom it may not be easy but a small set of bathroom drawers could be used to house items rather than leave them on display.

Shower heads need to be cleaned

Guilty. I do not clean my shower-head enough but here is why you should. If you live in a hard water area the odds are the shower head will be full of limescale. This reduces its performance. It also can mean that you are spraying yourself with gunge, mold or even, yes you've guessed it, faecal matter.

Shower curtains, cubicles, tiles, screens and the like need cleaning alsoIt is just as important to clean items such as shower screens. These will often house the remnants of the previous person's shower which does not make for a good companion to your ablutions. Clean regularly to extend their longevity but also to remove germs, scum and limescale.

Towels, sponges and flannelsAs you jump out of your shower, all fresh and sweet smelling, you grab that soft fluffy clean towel or do you?

Unless towels, flannels and sponges are regularly washed, and kept personal, you may be rubbing germs onto yourself. There may even be that faecal matter again.What a thought.

Exercise caution with your cleaning productsThese days there are many aids to cleaning and good hygiene. Some are merely cosmetic whilst others claim to kill the worst bacteria and germs. Always read the label of such products before you buy. Personally I find that some are too lethal to have around the home. A child or animal could easily suffer if you are not careful. Store such items out of reach and harm's way. You may even have an allergy or risk skin damage by using a particular product, so be sensible.

The most care needs to be taken when mixing such products. Guilty again. Many people now have a toilet block or gel in their toilet bowl which activates with each flush. Bleach or toilet cleaner is still usually added to the bowl on a regular basis. In fact many different products may be added.

If you are not careful this practice could cause a noxious gas or your toilet bowl to catch fire and, or, explode. I am no chemist and yet regularly I mix a lethal cocktail of chemicals in my loo. Yes I want a clean and hygienic toilet but not if I am going to gas myself!

Finally

Do what you can to keep your bathroom and toilet clean, protect yourself and your health but keep a sense of proportion. I guess it is fair to say that despite your best efforts some bacteria and germs will survive. That's life I'm afraid. Just make sure that they do not have a pleasant breeding ground to multiply.