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Toilet Seats Or Keyboard, Which Has More Bacteria?

Mar 12, 2020
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When we think of toilets, we generally think of places with a propensity to get really filled up with dirt and germs. That's why we spend loads of time cleaning our toilets and bathrooms.

But what of our keyboards? Do we pay our workspaces the same attention? We use them for days on end without cleaning. So how dirty can they really get?

The Swinburne University of Technology in Australia did some research on this question and came up with some really interesting answers. The researchers studied keyboards, office spaces and had some telling discoveries.

They discovered that the bacteria on keyboards tend to be a lot, and that shared keyboards usually have more bacteria on them than keyboards used by only one person.

It gets even more disturbing. The researchers discovered that the average keyboard tends to have about 400 times more germs than the average toilet seat. That is, licking the seat of an average toilet seat will expose you to fewer germs than licking the G-E-R-M-S keys on a keyboard.

Well, technically, you shouldn't try either. But if you absolutely have to, licking a toilet seat will expose you to less germs.

Another study at Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial Hospital discovered that drug-resistant bacteria like vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) could survive for more than twenty-four hours on the surface of a keyboard, while a less deadly one like the Pseudomonas aeruginosa could live on the surface of a keyboard for more than an hour.

I know the question you must be asking yourself. How do germs get on keyboards? Exactly what do keyboards dabble in that makes them dirtier than toilet seats?

Well, there's an answer. Most of the bacteria found on keyboards are the kinds that live on human beings. They live on our skin, mouths and nasal passages. So, you guessed right. They most likely came from our hands.

Thankfully, most of these bacteria won't hurt you unless your immune system is weak. They could also attack you through an infection if you have an open wound. But asides that? You're pretty much safe.

However, it's still very important to take safety precautions especially if you're sharing the computer with other people. You never quite know what your immune system can handle, so it's important that you help your ability to beat diseases.

What Can You Do To Keep Your Computer Cleaner Than A Toilet?

Well, there are several safety steps that you could take to ensure that your computer doesn't pose a health risk to you and others.

The first step, of course, is to regularly wash your hands with antibacterial soap or, failing that, regular bar soap. Washing your hands before and after using your keyboard will ensure that you don't bring germs to your computer and that you don't break germs away either.

Better still, you could get a MonitorStand Workstation that comes with a UV light. This light automatically sterilizes your keyboard and desk, so you don't have any germs whatsoever on it.

If you want to clean your keyboard because something extremely disgusting happened to it, then follow the next few steps;

1) Shut down and unplug the computer from the power source

2) Turn the keyboard down and empty whatever dirt may be between the keys

3) Use a damp cotton swab to clean in-between the keys

4) Use a damp lint-free cloth to wipe down the rest of the keyboard

Most times, this is enough to get the dirt out.  However, you could also remove individual keys for cleaning if you're not satisfied. 

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