Guys, Your Homes Are Filthy! (Girls, You're Not Much Better Off)

Guys, here's something that might make you a little more satisfied about your singledom: According to researchers from the University of Arizona, single men's apartments are covered in 15 times more bacteria than single women's are. The lead author, Charles Gerba, PhD, professor of microbiology, swabbed four common surfaces in 30 bachelor and 30 bachelorette pads—the coffee table, remote controls, doorknobs, and nightstands—and measured them for various bacteria. What he found would make any girl say "Ick!" Except that women's homes weren't exactly pristine either. Some of the surfaces in their homes contained equal, if not more, than what was found in guys' homes.

The study was funded by The Clorox Company, likely to sell more of its products as an antidote to all the lurking germs. But you don't have to resort to harsh cleaning products full of synthetic dyes and fragrances to disinfect your (or your significant other's) home. We've pulled out a few natural disinfectants from the bible of green cleaning, Home Enlightenment by green guru Annie Bond (Rodale, 2008). Each recipe can be whipped up using stuff you likely already have in your kitchen. Read on to find out more about what the germ study found, and how you can give the story a clean ending.

How to turn your home into an oasis of calm.

Doorknobs

The germ problems apparently start as soon as you're walking in the door. In the study, both the guys' and the girls' doorknobs were covered with bacteria, and the girls' even more so: They contained twice the bacteria levels the guys' doorknobs did.

Solution: Once a week, wipe down your doorknobs, and any other commonly touched surfaces such as light switches, cabinet pulls, and door handles, with this disinfecting spray.

Lavender Antibacterial Spray

• 1 cup water
• 20 drops pure essential oil of lavender (or tea tree, thyme, lemongrass, clove, or cinnamon, if you want a less feminine scent; all are antibacterial)

Pour the water into a spray bottle, add the oil, and shake to blend. Spray on the surface and let it dry or let it sit for 15 minutes before wiping with a clean, dry cloth.

More recipes for green cleaning supplies.

Coffee Tables

The next weird place that bacteria turn up is on your living room coffee table. Which is particularly unsettling if, as it does for many singles, your coffee table often doubles as your dining table. In the study, seven out of 10 coffee tables in guys' apartments were covered in coliform bacteria which—brace yourself—live in the feces of warm-blooded animals. What are they doing there? According to the study's lead researcher, about 90 percent of shoe soles end up with fecal bacteria on the bottom after you wear them for three months. So rule number one, keep your feet off the coffee table.

Rule number two, clean your coffee table regularly! The vinegar in the recipe below is a good natural disinfectant. Studies have shown that it can kill coliform bacteria as effectively as bleach. The cleaner will also work for any other wood surface that gets germy, including kitchen tables and nightstands (keep reading). It can be stored indefinitely in a glass jar.

Basic Wood Cleaning Formula

• ¼ cup white distilled vinegar
• ¼ cup water
• ½ teaspoon liquid soap or detergent
• A few drops of olive oil

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and dip a clean sponge or reusable wipe in it. Squeeze out the excess and wipe down your coffee table. Dry with a soft cloth.

Should you use bleach or vinegar to kill germs?

Remote Controls

By far, remote controls harbored the highest levels of bacteria in guys' apartments. 30 percent of the remotes tested contained those disturbing coliform fecal bacteria. But we can't be too critical of men. Past studies on hotel rooms have found that there, too, remote controls are ticking, germy timebombs.

If you're the handy sort, here's a YouTube video explaining how to take apart your remote and clean the individual components. This is the ideal way to clean it because you can use ordinary soap and water, which are nontoxic and also the best disinfectants around.

If you're not so handy, wipe down the face of the remote with standard rubbing alcohol. BE SURE TO REMOVE THE BATTERIES FIRST! Use an alcohol-dipped cotton swab or old toothbrush to clean in between the buttons, and dry the remote off afterwards with a lint-free brush, as rubbing alcohol contains some water, which could damage the electronic components.

Toilet Seats

Although toilet seats weren't included in Gerba's study, a dirty, grungy toilet seat is a strong signal to an visitor that keeping clean isn't much of a priority. The lavender spray suggested for doorknobs can be used to spray germy surfaces, such as toilet seats, in the bathroom.

Don't appreciate the flowery scent? Keep a bottle of 100 percent, undiluted white distilled vinegar, or 12 percent hydrogen peroxide, underneath your bathroom sink, and give all your bathroom surfaces a spritz once or twice a week before wiping them down. For your toilets, spray the seat with white vinegar, wipe down, and then spray with vinegar again. Let the vinegar dry the second time around.

When it's time for a full-on bathroom scrubdown, try this disinfecting recipe for tiles and countertops:

Homemade Soft Scrubber

• ½ cup baking soda
• Dish liquid or liquid soap (dish liquid is better if you have hard water)
• 5 to 10 drops of an antiseptic essential oil, such as tea tree, thyme, or lemongrass

Put the baking soda in a bowl and slowly add the liquid soap until you have a paste with the consistency of frosting. Then add your essential oil of choice. Scoop your mixture onto a sponge, scrub down your surfaces, and then rinse.

In the Bedroom

Gerba's study found that bedrooms are just as prone to coliform bacteria as coffee tables and doorknobs. In his tests, 63 percent of bachelors' nightstands and 60 percent of bachelorettes' nightstands tested positive for a variety of bacteria, including E. coli.

To rectify the situation, use the same wood cleaner on your nightstands as you used for your coffee table. But don't stop there. Bacteria can linger on your sheets, particularly at the bottom of the bed where your feet are. Bedding should be laundered once a week on your washer's and dryer's hottest temperature settings, and bedspreads, duvets, and comforters should be washed every one to two months. Don't forget your pillows, either. They're particularly prone to mold and mildew (and dust mite) growth because we perspire as we sleep. Hang pillows out in the sun to kill mold, mildew, and dust mites whenever good weather allows, and buy allergen-barrier pillow covers that can be laundered once a week with the rest of your bedding.