Emily Flores
Hand hygiene makes the difference between casually spreading residue everywhere and actually protecting yourself from accumulated contamination. You can’t control how many people touch that dollar bill before you. But you absolutely control what happens after these things reach your hands. Here are 10 such items that should send you straight to the sink.
Money
That crumpled bill in your pocket has lived a life you wouldn’t believe. Currency moves through an endless cycle of human contact, passed from person to person in grocery stores, gas stations, and street vendors without ever seeing a cleaning cloth. What makes this particularly nasty is where we store our money between transactions.
Handrails/Handles/Doorknobs
Every morning commute presents the same dilemma: grip the subway pole or risk falling over. Hundreds of strangers touch these surfaces throughout the day, each one leaving behind traces of their breakfast, their gym session, or whatever they just scratched. The reality gets worse when you consider cleaning schedules.
Restaurant Menus
Here’s something your server won’t mention: that menu in your hands is probably the dirtiest thing on your table. It is said that restaurant menus can harbor more concerning residue than toilet seats, which makes sense when you think about it—toilets get cleaned multiple times daily, while menus get an occasional wipe.
Doctor’s Office Items
The waiting room pen never lies. Its worn barrel tells stories of countless worried patients who’ve gripped it while filling out forms. What’s darkly ironic is that people handle these items while actively sick, turning every surface into a collection point for whatever’s going around.
Any Animals
Animals tend to investigate garbage bins, roll in questionable substances, and walk through whatever’s on the ground without a second thought. When you pet that soft fur or feel those paws on your lap during feeding time, you’re making direct contact with surfaces that have been literally everywhere your pet goes.
Touchscreens
Look at your phone screen right now. See those smudges? Each one is a residue trap, collecting and holding particles from every tap and swipe. Public touchscreens at airport check-in kiosks get hammered by travelers from dozens of countries every hour, yet cleaning crews typically ignore them during routine maintenance.
Cutting Boards/Kitchen Sponges
The damp kitchen sponge by your sink is hosting a party you definitely didn’t invite. These porous tools stay wet for hours after use, creating perfect environments for contamination to multiply exponentially. Most people give these items a cursory rinse and consider them clean, but that’s far from reality.
Soap Dispensers/Pumps
There’s a fundamental flaw in the handwashing system that nobody talks about: you must touch the soap dispenser with dirty hands to get the cleaning agent you need. Every single person in that restroom presses the pump or button at their absolute dirtiest moment, before any cleaning has occurred.
Trash Bins/Bags
Kitchen trash bins are particularly nasty because they mix food waste with other household garbage, creating a contaminated cocktail on every surface. Even outdoor bins present problems when you must wheel them to the curb, gripping handles that have been exposed to decomposing waste and whatever leaked through torn bags.
Shared Gym Equipment
Sweat is literally dripping onto that barbell you’re about to grip. Gym equipment presents a unique contamination challenge because people use it during their heaviest exertion. That treadmill handrail, those dumbbells, the leg press machine, all of them cycle through dozens of users during peak hours with minimal downtime between sessions.