If your bathroom has original Victorian or interesting 20th-century fittings, however, it’s possible these are part of why the house is listed, and you will be expected to keep them, as well as features such as tiling or fitted mirrors. Hidden rear or side elevations are the best place for vents and new pipework. Likewise, soil and waste pipes can be intrusive on the front of your property. If a new hole is necessary, make sure that it is drilled from the outside, to avoid unintended damage to the visible wall. Try to avoid cutting a new hole in an old wall for a vent, and make sure the vent does not spoil the outside of the house. You may need to improve ventilation to deal with condensation, so make sure the bathroom window opens. Installing new pipes or extra equipment could affect the historic fabric of the house, and it’s important to avoid cutting into beams or removing historic timber floors and ceilings. You do not usually need permission to change modern bathroom fittings in a listed building, unless you are also planning to alter the size of the room or undertake some structural work at the same time. However, doorknobs in the bathroom and the kitchen are bound to catch a lot more bacteria, so disinfecting them at least once a week might be a good idea, especially if there’s an illness in the house.If you want to simply replace the fittings and refurbish your existing bathroom, this should be fairly straightforward. Though doorknobs accumulate a lot of bacteria, they need only need to be washed infrequently, says Rapinchuk. Because washing sponges with soap and water doesn’t really work, Tetro recommends dropping them into boiling water for 2 minutes, putting them in the microwave for 2 minutes while damp every couple of days, and replacing them when they deteriorate. But don’t get freaked out - most of the bacteria isn’t harmful. Your kitchen sponge gets awfully germy, with billions of bacteria on every square inch, says Tetro. In that case, wash the towel immediately. Tetro recommends washing those weekly, unless you handled raw meat. Your kitchen towels collect bacteria every time you handle food and wash your hands. Plus, dandruff-causing fungi can also grow in them, Rapinchuk recommends swapping out bath towels every other day. Bath towels become loaded with bacteria (including staph and fecal) and if your towel doesn’t fully dry, that bacteria can grow. Your shower curtains should be disinfected weekly to avoid mildew, which can cause skin, eye and throat irritation in some people. To keep it at bay, disinfect the toilet and sink at least once weekly, and the bathtub every two weeks - more if you shower often. Tetro says your bathroom is the ultimate bacteria host E.coli can be found within six feet of the toilet and in the sink. You might want to wash your kitchen floors a little more often, due to food bacteria that can spread around. Give floors a good wash or steam once every couple of weeks, says Tetro. Rugs should be vacuumed weekly (more often if you have pets) to keep dust, dirt and allergens at bay. To stay on the safe side, wipe down your sinks daily. When water splashes back up onto your hands, they’re contaminated, too. Also, bacteria from food, like E.Coli and Salmonella, can contaminate the kitchen sink, especially if you’ve been handling raw meat. Even if they look clean, sinks can get really gross - Tetro says the bathroom sink accumulates fecal matter (from washing your hands after you use the bathroom). To keep your bed clean, change your sheets once a week (as Rapinchuk recommends), or a minimum of every two weeks (as Tetro recommends), and wash them in hot water. Though most bacteria on sheets is environmental (like dust) and mostly harmless, the bacteria and fungi, along with the dirt and oils sloughed off during sleep, can cling to sheets and your skin, contributing to acne and dandruff. We asked two experts, Jason Tetro, microbiologist, visiting scientist at the University of Guelph and author of The Germ Code and The Germ Files, and Becky Rapinchuk, a cleaning expert, and author of the books Simply Clean and The Organically Clean Home, for their advice. Try This Science-Backed Cleaning Schedule So how often should you clean your tub, or wipe down your toilet or change your sheets, before they become something of a biohazard? Probably more often than you think. the stomach flu) can live for days or weeks. coli (intestinal bacteria that can make you sick) can live for a few hours to a full day, while the calicivirus (a.k.a. According to research in Popular Science, the life span of a germ varies greatly depending on the bacteria and the surface. If you saw what lived on your surfaces under a microscope, your skin might crawl: Teeny tiny bacteria and microbes consisting of viruses, soil, fungi, bacteria, animal dander, pollen, sweat, excretions and skin cells all invade your spaces on a regular basis.
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