A quick “Eeewww! Don’t touch that!” exclamation to one of my kids got me thinking about germs and brought about a kid level discussion about the germy things you touch every day. After that kid level discussion I got thinking more and more on the adult level about the germy things you touch every day. There are quite a lot of them and if you think too hard about them all, you just might start taking hand sanitizer everywhere you go.

We have always been warned of the germs on things like drinking fountains and public restroom door handles, but what about all of the other nasty germy things you touch every day. Now, I’m not saying that those things aren’t germy. In fact, research has shown that drinking fountains contain twice as many germs as a toilet seat – eeeeewww! But there are so many more things that are germy and I think most of us don’t think of them that way at all.

Money
Money is something most of us handle every day and we probably don’t think twice about it usually. It is definitely one of the worst germy things you touch every day. One study found a quarter had five times more germs than a toilet seat! Yuck!

Phones
It doesn’t matter if we are talking about cell phones, home phones or public phones – all of them are covered with germs. Germy things you touch every day – cell phone for sure! Think of all the places you set it down, all the times you touch it while doing something else, all the germs that can be transferred to it. Nasty!

Card swipe machines
You’ve shopped and shopped and now you are checking out. How many other people have touched those same buttons in the last hour? Or even last half hour? Ick! Lots of germs there! It is enough to make you want to carry a can of Lysol spray with you right?

Shopping carts
Another shopping germ fest! We often think about the handle having germs and we probably all use the store provided disinfectant wipes to wipe off the handle. But there is more, how about the other germs? How about the germs on the seat where children and pets (yup – I know – gag) have been? Did you just set your produce where someone sat with a dirty diaper just a hour ago? Makes you want to wipe off a few more areas with that disinfectant wipe now right?

Computer keyboards
Even if you are the only one who uses your keyboard, I am sure you leave lots of germs there as you go about your day. Chances are that your connection to the internet is also one of those germy things you touch every day.

Can of soda
I’m guilty of this one and now I say never again! Many of us drink soda right from the can without thinking twice about where that can has been and what has touched it. From dirt to animals to chemicals, there is so much yuck on these cans. Not only are they germy things you touch every day, you put your mouth on them. Ick!

There are so many more germy things you touch every day. Stay tuned tomorrow when we look at even more germy bad habits!