Home is where the heart is. It’s also where most of our colds and more than half of our food-borne illnesses are. While most of the things we do are done with the best intentions, many of the habits we have may put us at risk for illness.

Using a Sponge

When we think about the dirtiest room in the house, we may tend to think of the bathroom (and depending on who lives in the house, that may be the case!). But most often, the dirtiest room in the house is actually the kitchen, according to Dr. Phillip Tierno, Ph.D., director of clinical microbiology and diagnostic immunology at the New York University Langone Medical Center. Why so dirty? Because we’re essentially dealing with dead animal carcasses on our countertops and in the sink on a daily basis.

Most of us turn to one handy tool to clean off our kitchen surfaces after meals: the sponge. Because sponges come in contact with countless body fluids and other messes in the kitchen, these cleaning tools can carry E. coli, salmonella, and other viruses and bacteria. Essentially, using a sponge to clean countertops is really spreading germs evenly across our kitchen surfaces. And the longer you have your sponge, the dirtier it gets -- it can be teeming with millions of bacteria and other organisms with which you’re contaminating your countertops.

If you’re going to use a sponge to clean your countertops, dip the sponge into a solution of bleach and water first to kill off bacteria in the sponge and those bacteria to which you’ll be exposing the sponge while cleaning. Once you’ve finished cleaning, be sure to let the sponge dry thoroughly. You also can put your sponge in the dishwasher every few days and run the sanitize or heat dry cycle, or put your sponge in the microwave in a bowl of water for one to two minutes. By bringing the water to a boil, you’re killing off all the bacteria that have accumulated.