Let's Talk Dirty

The next time you cut up chicken for dinner, do it on a clean surface: like your toilet seat. "It has the least amount of bacteria of all the spots in your home," says Charles Gerba, Ph.D., a professor of environmental microbiology at the University of Arizona. In fact, there are 200 times more fecal coliforms—otherwise known as feces bacteria—on the average cutting board than on the typical commode.

Sheets: You never really sleep alone
When you're rolling around between the sheets, you're basically rolling around in your own filth. Studies have found feces, salmonella, and E. coli on bed linens—even ones fresh out of a washer, Gerba says. His research shows that sheets can contain 0.1 gram of feces, salmonella, and E. coli after just one night's rest. That means they'd collectively contain about 10 billion microbes.
Your cleanup: Wash your sheets once a week, and make sure the water is hot

Water bottle: Bacteria to go
What better way to save cash and keep trash out of landfills than to drink from reusable plastic water bottles? Just don't let the bottles become bacterial bombs. Researchers at the University of Calgary found significant levels of coliform bacteria in 9 percent of water bottles used by elementary school students—suggesting that when thirsty youngsters open the bottles with dirty hands, they can dump a host of fecal matter into the water. When they empty the bottle, the damp, warm, closed space becomes a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. Your cleanup: Since water bottles tend to have narrow necks, they can't undergo a thorough cleaning in the dishwasher. If you must reuse your bottle, wash it with hot, soapy water and use a bottle brush. Feel free to reuse the bottle, as long as you wash it after every use and air-dry both the bottle and cap completely, Gerba says.

Gym bag: Have you ever cleaned it?
Probably not, but you should. Now. Think about it: Even though spray bottles are usually placed around gyms to wipe down equipment, most people don't use them. When you toss your clothes into your gym bag, the sweat from who-knows-how-many people transfers to the bag. Your cleanup: After you remove your gear, sanitize the inside of the bag with a disinfectant wipe. You can stash packets in one of the side pockets so they stay handy but separated from the clothes. But if the bag is machine washable, you should also toss it into the machine every week.

Carpet: Wall-to-wall germs
Your carpet probably contains about 200,000 bacteria per square inch, making it 4,000 times dirtier than your toilet seat. Rugs are botanical and zoological park. Hundreds of thousands of different types of species live there. These invasions occur because the average person sheds about 1.5 million skin cells every hour; these skin cells hit the rug and serve as food for germs. Add in food particles, pollen, and pet dander, and you have a gratis buffet. And since a vacuum cleaner's suction and rotating beater brush don't usually reach the bottom of the carpet, you're bound to have communities of E. coli, salmonella, staphylococcus, and other bacteria down there. Every time you walk on the carpet or roll around on it with your kids, you disrupt the bacteria, bringing some closer to the surface. Your cleanup: Hire a company to do a deep steam-cleaning at least once a year, and consider covering high-traffic areas with machine-washable area rugs.

Remote control: Channels of high-def filth
One day we'll change channels using our brain waves. When that day comes, we'll all be a lot healthier, because 50 percent of television remotes tested positive for rhinovirus, according to a University of Virginia study. The rhinovirus can live there for a few days, and other germs can survive for up to a few months, thanks to the many hideouts found amid the rubber buttons and various LEDs. Ever have popcorn with your DVD movies? You're making matters worse. If you eat something greasy, then cough in your hands and go back to the remote, you've deposited an organism with some oil, which offers the germs protection on a device that isn't cleaned very often to begin with. Your cleanup: Sanitizers don't work well on remotes because you can't get the cleaner into the cracks. Try a plastic-sleeve protector that can be wiped clean daily with a disinfecting wipe or other type of sanitizer. When you're traveling, bring along a few ziplock bags to slip onto the remotes in hotels.

Watchband: Time's up
Ever wonder why leather watchbands start to stink after a few months? That smell is most likely caused by microbes, possibly Staphylococcus aureus, a type of bacteria that can cause skin infections. Because leather is porous, it absorbs sweat and skin cells that serve as food for bacterial growth. Your cleanup: Rubber and plastic are safer than leather because they don't absorb sweat as readily, and they can be cleaned with soapy water. If you prefer a leather strap, wipe it down once a week with a leather cleaner

Things that aren't gross
We live in a microbe-laden world. But there are things you don't need to be particularly obsessive about. Here are three of them:

1. Your hairbrush. The only reason you'd want to clean out the brush would be to remove gel or spray residue and unclog hair from the bristle. Infections from hairbrushes are rare, she says. So if those residues and hair knots don't bother you, leave them alone.

2. Your jeans. There are no studied health risks associated with wearing most clothing items several times without washing them. (Your underwear, however, contains feces, and needs to be washed after each wearing.)

3. Your body. Daily showering strips away necessary oils and some of the 150 good kinds of bacteria found on your skin, says New York University microbiologist Philip Tierno Jr., Ph.D. The bacteria guard against pathogens that can cause infections. The average person can shower every other day—or at least skip one shower a week, Tierno says.