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One of the main sources of the spread of germs that people often neglect is your door handles. The chances are that whenever you enter a room, you do so with the use of a handle. This is just one of those things that simply can’t be avoided. Even in your own home, the risk of spreading germs and, potentially, illness is high enough. Now imagine this on a door in a public place, such as a shop or even worse – a doctor’s surgery. The potential for bad germs to be picked up in these places is even higher, and many people don’t think to wash their hands after.

It’s the little instinctive things in life that often go unnoticed, and also contribute towards the spread of illness. For example, every time you cough or sneeze, your natural reaction is usually to put your hand in front of your mouth or nose to cover up. Whilst this has probably been taught to you from a young age to help prevent you passing on your germs to those around you, it can still have an effect if you don’t wash your hand straight after.

Even if you aren’t visibly ill, you are still able to spread potentially harmful germs in day to day life. You pick up germs when you touch your face and hair, and are likely to pass these on to surfaces and hardware such as door handles, all of which are used in day to day life. As a result of this, it’s important to try and minimise the chances of this happening. One way is to regularly wash your hands, either under the tap or with anti-bacterial hand gel. Realistically however, this is unlikely to happen.

Another way is to simply maintain clean door handles. There are a number of different ways you can do this, and the majority of choices depend on the material from which your door handles are made. All different materials will require a different treatment and cleaning solution. This is not only to help provide the cleanest, most health-friendly handles possible, but also to ensure that your home furnishings are looking as good as they possibly can. Here are a few tips for making your door handles less susceptible to holding onto germs.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, glass cleaner is the best option for door handles sculpted out of glass. This is one of the simpler ones to clean, as it just needs wiping down with a damp towel and its nice and healthy, as well as sporting a healthy shine.

Brass is a little more high maintenance and shouldn’t be cleaned with any harsh chemicals or aerosols. Fortunately, some soapy water or beeswax should do the trick. Similarly, chrome works best with non-abrasive wax polishes or specialised chrome cleaners. Another popular choice is stainless steel, which can be easily cleaned with the use of a soft cloth, warm water and a mild detergent. You can use non-abrasive household cleaners on stainless steel, but try to avoid using carbon steel brushes or steel wool.

It’s amazing how overlooked clean door handles are when it comes to personal hygiene in the home. Not only will your room be looking and feeling clean, but you will also be removing some potential bugs and germs that may be lingering.