According to a study, 33% of women admitted to having never cleaned their purse. No wonder they can have more bacteria on it than a toilet seat, as toilets are frequently seen as the dirtier place in house and as you pay attention to their hygiene, you tend to clean them more often. The cleaning experts of Helpling (www.helpling.ae), unveil the hidden threats in your handbag and gives you quick tips to keep it clean and free from germs.
Yes, your handbag is way dirtier than you imagined. Imagine where your handbag has been in just one day: desks, floors, bathrooms, chairs. There are all dirty contaminated places you will never touch, but your bag does. Now try to think how many times did you actually cleaned it properly and try to imagine how many bacteria and germs your handbag could have accumulated during the years.
If you are already feeling a bit guilty, well, you should! According to the Hygiene fact book, 10,000 bacteria can be found on just a few square centimetres of your handbag. From this amount, 30% of the bacteria are faecal ones! Also, a Science World Report interviewed specialists that stated that handbags can have 10 times more microbial activity than a toilet seat, inside, outside and especially in the handles.
Now think beyond all the places you carry your bag and focus on how many times you touch your bag. Now try to imagine how dirty your hands can be. To help you to have a full picture, The University of Colorado at Boulder published a study that pointed out 4,700 different bacteria species on the human hand.
Invisible threats can make you ill
Among these millions of bacteria’s, there are harmless ones but also dangerous ones. And when we say handbag, is not only your purse but also grocery bags.
A study from 2013, found dangerous bacteria in handbags, which are also present in grocery bags according to a study of University of Arizona. According to CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention), these types found can cause diarrhoea, urinary tract infections, respiratory illness or meningitis and pneumonia. So think twice before neglecting the hygiene of your bag.
Four easy tips to keep your handbag clean
After all facts about bacteria, you should think how to prevent it, right? It’s easier than you think. If you pay attention to four simple hygiene tips you can really decrease your chances to have a contaminated handbag.
- To make sure your handbags are clean, first wash your hands, then wipe the handbags with alcohol free wipes that can be easily found at any pharmacy. From time to time, empty your purse and shake it to get the larger pieces of dirt, after use a brush or lint roller to grab the most resistant crumbs.
- Be careful where you place your bag. Avoid contaminating it by leaving it on the floor (especially bathroom floors!). And when storing the bag, make sure you place them in the dust bag they came or in a pillowcase, so you can protect the bag and avoid cross contamination.
- Pay extra attention to clean your hands before grabbing things from your handbag. Wash or disinfect your hands and then touch the interior, especially if you been touching different surfaces or coming from public places like trains and buses etc.
- If you want to make it extra tidy, you can make baking soda sachets and keep in your handbag to get rid of any unpleasant odour.