PSA: Wipe Your Bags Today
Posted by Cottontimer on 09 Jul 2006 | Tagged as: Health
My sister-in-law is a very clean person. VERY. I’ve always sort of scoffed at her when she wipes off her handbags, shoes, and everything else she can get her hands on. But now I’m starting to think she might be on to someting.
Christina at MRSA Notes posted last week that one out of four samples taken by swabbing purses with cotton swabs tested positive for E. coli. More details at Snopes.com.
Bags, backpacks, purses, briefcases, suitcases, etc. should all be wiped down regularly with soap and water, anti-bacterial spray or wipe. I’ve never bothered before but now I will.
NB: Doesn’t the print on that Emilio Pucci bag look bacteria-like?
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Oh god, I don’t even want to think about what’s growing on my bags. I’m always proud of myself if I clear everything out of a bag and toss it in the washing machine once a year or so….
river2sea72: Remember what was in my bag last year? heheee
ewwww…..i can’t imagine what’s on the diaper bags (one day i’ll get to carry a purse again!)
BTW-I miss the blue font.
Kerri: What’s on or in?
I finally spilled coffee on my favorite bag—a visible sign of what’s “in” it!
No way do I clean things! Sorry, but where do antibodies come from? I respect hygiene when I’m doing a dressing or caring for someone whose immune system is compromised…but the rest…NO!
We have defence mechanisms to deal with all that kind of thing, and if you don’t give them work to do then they will give up. I don’t fuss about sell by dates, or dirt you can’t see. And my children know that if you can pick up stuff before you count ten then the germs haven’t time to creep over to it!
PS, one exception, I wipe the tops on canned drinks…rats in warehouses running around peeing on cans, carrying Weils disease, which you might drink…yes I do occaisionally worry about that! How illogical we humans are? Did you ever hear about that actually happening…no, it’s probably an urban legend….
I still won’t be wiping things down. I think the overuse of antibacterials create far more problems then they help. I don’t use them at all in my house, except for bleach to deal with the occasional mold problems my damp old house has, and I think my kids are far healthier than many children (either that or they are secret uber-government kids, still haven’t disproved that theory). Yes, it’s freaky to read reports like that. But then why isn’t there some huge e-coli outbreak? Besides, I think the exposing my children to germs is sort of like a smallpox vaccine. They need to build up a natural immunity ahaha!
All joking aside, I do think you need to rely on natural immunities. Sure, wash your hands and be careful. But I try not to buy antibacterial stuff–hard to do! Because I think it breaks down our natural immunities. It kills the good bacteria with the bad.
Kristina: Mmmmm. Coffee! I love Peet’s.
Snowy: You might be interested in this little tidbit from Snopes about the five second rule
:
Donna: I don’t know about the antibacterial part either. Sometimes I’m all vigilent about NOT buying antibacterial soap and stuff but it’s in everything now so it just ends up driving me batty!
That is so disgusting. I want to burn all my bags now.
Abigail: Good idea! Then let’s go shopping for new ones.
Heh, yes, that would be a nice side effect of getting rid of everything.