10 grossest things in your house [6-10]

No. 06 - Your refrigerator

whole intention of a refrigerator is to prevent grossness (in the form of spoilage and decay) ... so why does yours sometimes smell so foul?

We all let things go and cold temperatures don't actually totally stop the spread of mold, bacteria and the like; they just slow them, since microbes move and reproduce a whole lot slower in the cold.

And, by the way, mold likes to move. So if you have some moldy strawberries in your fridge, there are probably mold spores floating around the air in there, ready to land on whatever else you put in there.

Now you know why plastic wrap is such a good idea.


No. 07 - Your drain

Drains are gross.

Hey, there's a reason plumbers cost so much. Some parts of your home, like drains, just act like giant incubators, as reservoirs for ick.

But what about drain bugs? It turns out your drains may not be quite as disgusting as you think. Most bathroom bugs enter through cracks, crevices and doors. They end up in bathtubs and kitchen sinks only because they get trapped and can't climb out.

Or, maybe because they smell that disgusting, rotting food that's trapped in your kitchen drain or (eek) garbage disposal. Might make sense to give that a good scrub - and make sure you use some bleach while you're at it.


No. 08 - Your toothbrush

Ick. It's probably not what you wanted to hear, but your toothbrush (and anything else left out in your bathroom) may be really, really disgusting.

The reason? That foul beast living next door to your toothbrush. That's right, it's your toilet.

If you don't close the lid when you flush, you can actually aerosolize all the filth (including fecal bacteria) that lurk in the ceramic monster.

And a toothbrush, with it's moist, bacteria-friendly environment and plenty of microbe-ready hiding spots in between its bristles, might be the home of a bacterium's dreams.

Please, just close the lid. Is it that hard to do?

No. 09 - Your sheets

Did you know that you shed as many as 1.5 million skin flakes every hour?

And do you know what really like skin flakes? Dust mites.

That's right, the disgusting, dead-skin eating, allergen-causing bugs are all over your bedding.

And if that's not bad enough, you know what's also possibly a bedfellow? Fecal bacteria.

Thinking that you'd better go home and wash your sheets, like, NOW? Well, be careful: you might want to leave out your underwear.

The washing machine itself can be a source of the above-mentioned fecal bacteria (from underwear and towels) and those germs can and will survive detergent, cold water and a dryer's heat.

To be safe, you can bleach the hell out of everything, scald it in hot water, dry it in the UV-rich rays of the sun and wash your underwear separately from your sheets and towels.

You can also invest in some silver or copper or bamboo-infused anti-bacterial sheets.


No. 10 - Your books and papers

Ever heard of book lice?

They live in paper, but they're not particular: they'll take flour, grain or cardboard if that's all you got.

Also known as psocids, the small, colorless insects feed on the mold and mildew that grow on books.

Relax, they don’t bite humans ... but they are really disgusting and can reach infestation proportions pretty quickly. How quickly? Well, parthenogenesis isn't unheard of in psocids, meaning the females can lay eggs without ever having mated.

It's kind of a favorable trait, if you're looking to build your population.