You know the saying "ignorance is bliss?" If that's your mantra and you travel often, you may want to stop reading this article NOW! However, if you find yourself in a different Hotel on a regular basis, you probably should read ahead for your health's sake.
Let me start by saying I do not have Germophobia, well, maybe a little, but let's just say my suitcase has gotten considerably heavier over the years as I have discovered more and more ways that my hotel rooms can be unsanitary at no fault of the establishments I stay in.
Think of all of the surfaces in a hotel room that are just SWAMPED with germs and bacteria because deifferent people are touching them on a regular basis. The TV remote, the coffee maker, the hairdryer, even the light switches and door handles.
Readers Digest posted a story about a recent study at University of Minnesota School of Public Health has determined the one spot that might be worse than ALL of those: The CHAIR in the corner of the room.
The study says "Chairs can often be made of hard-to-clean fabric and upholstery, and are definitely not cleaned [like] sheets and towels . . . often, stains on chairs are dabbed and rubbed, but other germs that are not noticeable to the eye remain."
Dr. Nidhi Ghildayal, PhD, says that since hotel chairs are such a high traffic area, individuals can track bed bugs, viruses, or worse on them without even knowing that can get passed on to the next guest.
Also, people throw all sorts of things onto the chairs like their dirty clothes, shoes, and bags, which means the fabric and then the bacteria and germs usually get cleaned off between guests.
So now I take all kinds of travel sanitizers and other protectors when I stay in Hotels no matter how many stars it has!.
- Small pack of Sanitizer wipes to wipe remotes, coffee pot, hairdryer and even light switches
- Small spray bottle of Febreeze to spray bed
- Small blanket (like the kind you get on airplanes) to throw over chairs or couches
- Flip flops or extra socks to wear on carpet
- Pillow cases to put over the hotel pillow cases already on (I just feel like that extra layer helps!)
- Travel blanket big enough for bed.
Have any other tips? Let me know via @angiewardonline!