Which Surfaces Are the Dirtiest—and How to Keep Them Clean

What is the dirtiest, funkiest, most germ covered surface around your office? Is it the toilet? Nope! How about the breakroom counter? Nope again.Your cleaning company should be cleaning these surfaces every time they’re servicing your office.What you need to think about are the surfaces that are frequently touched but not frequently cleaned. We’ve been compiling data while sanitizing high touch surfaces in over 100 buildings here in Illinois over the past 9 months. What we have learned will surprise you.The funkiest surface has 100 times more bacteria than the toilet seat, you eat with it, you cherish it, you spend more time with it than you family. More on this later.We’ve learned that the toilet is actually one of the cleanest surfaces we’ve tested. Seats and handles are typically disinfected once per day. Light switches were fairly clean too. Think about it. At your office lights are kicked on in the morning and left on all day. We really aren’t touching too often.Door handles were another hot spot.But it’s not the doors you would think. Interior handles of restroom doors were pretty clean. Exterior handles of the same restrooms were filthy. Think about it; when you enter a restroom, you touch all over everything. When you leave a restroom you just washed your hands, you shut the water off with a towel and bootie bump the door to exit.Computer keyboards and chair handles are pretty funky too.The good thing this funk is typically your funk so you shouldn’t be too grossed out by the high numbers of bacteria we have found.Community copy machines, touchscreens and security keypads were germ havens.These are things many cleaning companies miss or hit inconsistently. This is a prime area to place a container of sanitizing wipes.Ok it’s been long enough. Here’s the funkiest surface in your office:Your Cell Phone!! You take it in the restroom to lay it on the germ covered counter, your put it in you filthy pockets or you ‘never cleaned’ purse. You give it to your kids; you snuggle it to your face when you talk. You spit on it, drop it on the floor, touch it, swipe it; all things that transfer funk and filth. Yet you rarely clean and sanitize it. Its typically the first thing you touch in the morning and the last thing you touch at night and I bet you don’t wash your hands after you fondle this funk fest.All you need to do is be aware.Set a reminder to sanitize and pay attention to what surfaces you put you phone on. Be safe and be educated on how to keep you, your family and your staff safe and healthy.