During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have all learnt the importance of personal hygiene and general cleaning right? 

As I am a clean freak, I’m glad that people are becoming more conscious about cleanliness and hygiene, even if it’s temporary. 

However, there are things that we should be cleaning regularly, whether it’s coronavirus or not. They are either overlooked or are simply forgotten about when it comes to cleaning. 

My rule of thumb is:

"The more often something is touched, the more often it needs to be cleaned and disinfected.” 

Below are 12 things you should be cleaning regularly: 

Mobile Device/Phone

The phone is almost everyone’s bestie. It probably gets more attention than your partner does, so you should give some love. Not in the way that your partner receives, but in a different way that involves some cleaning wipes. 

Earphones/Headphones

If you love your music, receive many daily calls or go to the gym, it’s most likely that you would be using your earphones or headphones. The natural moisture and heat from your ear is a breeding ground for bacteria, along with the sweat build up from those gym sessions. Make sure you disinfect them regularly.

Laptop

Who has been guilty of snacking while on their laptop? I am, and I’m sure most of you have. Imagine the oil from the chips on your hands smudging onto the keyboard of your laptop, and then closing your laptop where your screen then sits on top of the keyboard. Also, think about the numerous surfaces you place your laptop on. Disgusting right? Time to clean. 

Charging Cables

If you own an Apple devices, you’ll be aware of this. Have you ever noticed your pristine white charging cables gradually becoming darker with hints of grey? It’s because of all the dirt and grime it attracts, especially if you’re someone like me who leaves their cables laying on the floor when they’re unused. 

I do a lot of work either at my desk or in my bed, and when I’m charging my devices, the cables are in contact with desk or my clean bed sheets, so I make sure that I regularly wipe them down. 

Glasses and Sunglasses 

This isn’t about simply wiping off smudges from your lenses. There is a lot of oil build up and sweat from your skin along with any makeup residue on your frames. So, you should remember to regularly clean the arms, rims and nose pad. 

Wallet

This lives in your bag, pocket or lays on a desk, whilst being handled multiple times a day. And because of this, you should be cleaning your wallet and the cards inside often. 

Keys

Similar to your wallet, your keys are handled everyday, hence, they should be cleaned often. Whether it’s your house or car keys, wipe them down. 

Pillow case 

Cleaning your pillow case regularly is important for your skin. The bacteria in your hair, particularly if you don’t wash it daily, and the general exposure of your face to dirt lives on your pillow case. So, laying on that every night for an extensive period without washing your pillow case means you’re voluntarily placing your face on a bacteria-filled pit. My personal recommendation is to wash your pillow cases on a weekly basis at the minimum. 

Car Seats and Steering Wheel 

Your car seats and steering wheel are high-contact surfaces. Throughout the day, the clothes that you wear have contact with the chairs that you sit on, air pollution that you’re exposed to and have the occasional food and/or drink spillage as well. After all that, you’ll sit in your car. In the neighbouring car seat, you may place your bag there (which most likely would have been placed on several surfaces, along with potentially some shopping as well or maybe have a passenger. 

We have several clothing options, and most of us would use one or two cars. Some clothes, we probably once every few months, compared to our car that is heavily used. However, our clothes receive the special treatment where they are washed regularly, whereas our expensive form of transportation doesn’t? 

Also, think about the times you’ve sit in your seat eating a meal that was purchased via drive thru. Now reflect on all the potential bacteria build up on your car seats and steering wheel. Yeah, you should clean it more regularly. 

Shoes

Using the same concept of how we wash our clothes regularly, why doesn’t the same cleaning mindset apply to shoes? They are constantly in contact with the ground, so they would be the dirtiest item that you’re wearing. And I’m not just mentioning this because I have a love for shoes, it’s just a hygiene thing. I’m a little OCD with my shoes, where I dedicate a few hours to cleaning them thoroughly at least once a month. My recommendation to you would be just give them a quick wipe down every few weeks. But if you’ve gone somewhere dirty such as a festival, you need give that pair of shoes some TLC. A simple wipe down in that instance wouldn’t suffice. 

Watch & Jewellery 

Your watch and jewellery come into contact with your clothes and your skin. If they are left without being cleaned for a while, the steel begins to rust or the leather watch strap begins to smell funny. Get a Q-tip and start rubbing off the black grime on the crevices of your watch and jewellery. 

Hats 

When it comes to hats, we’ll see some general dirty marks on the exterior of the hat, and that’ll send a strong evident indication that it needs to be cleaned. But what if the outside of the hat appears to be clean? Do you ever consider the amount of sweat and dead skin that falls into the inside of your hat? The bacteria left there contributes to the pimples that we get on our forehead and near our temple. Either you can throw it in with your washing or simply hand wash it every week or so.