Hygiene in the household? where is the middle ground?
There are people who disinfect their doorknobs every day and others happily use one and the same kitchen towel for two weeks. There are many views on household hygiene, but there are also scientific insights that help to find the golden mean.
Clean is good. Too clean is dangerous
First of all, a little bit of dirt has not harmed anyone yet. With small amounts of dirt and bacteria, our body is easily coping with it, on the contrary, there is the theory that too much cleanliness can contribute to allergies because the immune system is bored? and turns to one's own body. Even children have to treat their portion of uncleanliness? It is training for the immune system, which gets to know germs in youth years and later remembers them. Therefore, sanitizers or disinfectants in children's rooms of healthy children are really unnecessary. You have to be careful where infectious diseases are rampant, immunocompromised people live or an excess of bacterial contamination.
Where are the most germs?
The biggest filth and bacteria spinner in the household is the human. That is why the first rule for household hygiene is: washing hands. Regularly, after each visit to the toilet, after handling meat in the kitchen, after caressing pets, just like that. We also get more cleanliness when we look down on the Japanese: no street shoes in the house. Just think about what's stuck to the shoes (especially in soles!), Look at the carpet in the living room and banish shoes.
Whoever thinks that a toilet bowl is a true oasis of bacteria, is wrong. Microbes do not like smooth surfaces and are also regularly washed away. But watch out: To be on the safe side, always rinse with the lid closed, so that the germs are not sprayed on the adjoining toothbrush. Significantly more bacteria than in the toilet bowl can be found on remote controls, telephones and doorknobs. And up to 400 times more on sponge, kitchen towels & Co.
Love goes through the stomach, health through the kitchen
Here you should take hygiene very important. The rinse sponge, the wipe? ideal habitat for bacteria. As soon as a rag comes into contact with meat or fish, the bacteria celebrate the party, the rag begins to smother. At the latest then it says: off to the bin. Rinse with clear water, disinfect in the microwave? Does not bring anything, it has been proven that the sponges are even more contaminated within a very short time. You could also breed your own resistant strains. So, buy cheaper sponges and replace them with new ones every few days. Even kitchen towels regularly and often change and wash at least 60 °, better still 90 °.
An alternative to the conventional sponge are those made of silicone, here bacteria have little livelihood. Unfortunately, they surrender in my experience before sirloin, so you probably can not get around the conventional sponge.
If you wash by hand, you can reduce the germ count by rinsing and rinsing each piece with clean water.
cutting boards
Plastic or plastic? That's a matter of taste. The advantage of plastic is that it can be cleaned in the dishwasher (but please at least 60 °, everything else will survive the little shit). The advantage of wood is that it has certain antibacterial properties because of its resins, oils and tannins. With wooden boards you have to make sure that they are dried standing and quickly, because germs do not like to be dry either. If cutting boards have clear cutting notches, they should be replaced, since the germs can persist in these furrows.
Incidentally, it is advisable to use different cutting boards for different foods, especially poultry requires an absolute extra sausage. Salmonella are tough and can be transferred to the tomato, for example, by a dirty knife. And then you have the salad! Color coding helps.
cleaning supplies
Hygienic cleaners and disinfectants should only be used if recommended by the doctor. Otherwise, do they harm more than they use by their aggressiveness? our health and the environment. Also, all the means that promise ease, are usually very sharp, harmful to the environment and not soooo effective. The A & O of cleanliness is still lard. Therefore, in a normal household four different cleaning products are sufficient: lemon or vinegar cleaner against lime, scrub milk, toilet cleaner and all-purpose cleaner
For different tasks (toilet, tiles, kitchen surfaces, floor, etc.) should you also use different cleaning cloths? it is best to think about a color coding, so you do not get confused.
