When we think of things that are making us sick, the first images that generally pop in our heads are the door handles at cafes, subway railings, and those frighteningly dirty restaurant forks. They're full of germs and diseases and sadness — they're the very reasons portable hand sanitizers were invented! But unfortunately, it turns out that there are plenty more little things to worry about when it comes to our overall health, many of which live comfortably in our home. We generally don't think twice about how surrounding household items affect our well being, but it's often the things right under our noses that could be causing that common cold, or the persistent cough at night that's keeping us wide awake.

Here are things in your home that might be making you sick — and how to keep things clean and safe.

1.Your Refrigerator Trays & Drawers

Even if the fruit and vegetable drawers in your refrigerator appear to be clean and sterile, they could be hiding a mass of dangerous microorganisms, including E. coli, salmonella, and more.

Other than cleaning out the leftover noodles and pizza on the regular (which you're doing, right?!), your fridge has some sneaky areas that might be giving you nasty germs. For one, anything liquid that spills over onto the shelves and trays collects mold and could get into your other fresh food.

There is also an electric coil in your freezer that has a bad habit of melting every few hours, and that liquid drips into a little pan. If you haven't given that pan some TLC in a while, there is dust in there; so when the liquid evaporates from the pan, it carries the dusty grime across your home, perhaps gifting you with a phlegmy cough.

Of course, don't forget the fruit and vegetable drawers way down at the bottom you so conveniently manage to ignore. They could be cesspools of microorganisms that cause infection. Don't be shy — get down into the little corners and clean them out using warm water and baking soda.

Another potential source of sickness in your kitchen is your sink and taps! Some kitchen faucet handles can harbor up to 44 times the bacteria of your toilet seat. Think about it, if you're handling raw meat, chances are you wash your hands after, but you've touched the taps with your dirty hands. One bacterial study found there's more fecal bacteria in the kitchen sink than in the toilet immediately after flushing. So wipe it down and sanitize often by using vinegar to clean your sink and your taps.

2.Secret strips of mold

Hidden patches of mold can lurk in all different areas of your home, from your shower head to your drywall to your basement. Mold tends to build up in damp areas, especially if there’s not much airflow or room for the moisture to escape. The potential effects of these hidden stretches of mold are frightening, as exposure can lead to nausea, headaches, nasal congestion, and more, and it can further exacerbate asthma symptoms.

You should consider having a professional check out your home's mold situation if there are any visual indications of discoloration, peeling, or water intrusion. Furthermore, faint musty smells anywhere are good reasons to call in an expert. If you're also battling constant physical symptoms such as sneezing, coughing, dry eyes, or rashes, don't hesitate to schedule a mold specialist to come by.

3.Your Bath Mat

That fluffy little pad you step on every time you come out of the shower squeaky clean is really no more than a playground for mold, bacteria, and dust mites. All of these can lead to colds and debilitating allergies. If you're a baby powder (or cornstarch, if you're trying to avoid talcum) user, particularly one who doles out the product on top of the bath mat, it's even easier for the nasties to gather and eventually make you sick. Wash that mat more often, maybe a couple times a month. You should also try to towel off in the tub, to ensure you don't step on that fluffy little pad sopping wet.

4. Pet’s fur

Furry friends can be as loved and valued as human family members, but unfortunately, the danger they leave behind has the potential to make you sick. Made up of microscopic bits of dead skin, pet dander is notorious for causing people to sneeze and sniffle, especially people with pet allergies. The best way to prevent your allergies from flaring up around your pet is to keep it off of your furniture, fabrics, and carpets as much as possible. You should also be sure to dust and clean your home often, to stop dander from piling up.

5.Contaminated heating and cooling vents

If all of a sudden you begin feeling extra allergic or sick for no apparent reason, contaminated heating and cool ducts may be to blame. The Environmental Protection Agency explains that a little bit of dust in these pipes is normal and largely harmless, but in some cases mold and other debris can build up, wreaking havoc on your health.

6. Your Central Heating System

If the temperature in each room of your house isn't regulated the same way, your body has to constantly adjust from hot to cold, which could disrupt the blood supply going to your heart. The central heating system could also be messing with the natural oil gland in your eyes and subsequently drying them out. Hello, eye infection. Another consequence is frequent coughing at night due to the surface membranes of your lungs not getting enough moisture.

You may have to install a humidifier to counteract all this irritation. Also, make sure every room of the house is set to the same temperature. That way, your body doesn't have to go through a huge adjustment every time you need to pee.

7.Your Bed Sheets

This is the last thing you want to hear, but your pretty white sheets are prime time real estate for dust mites. These little buggers make it very easy for you to catch a common cold, worsen your allergies, and cause hay fever. They accumulate when the environment of your bedroom is enclosed, with tightly shut windows and a nicely made bed. The consequential dampness encourages bacteria to fester, the kind that leads to the flu or stomach poisoning.

We should air out our room on the daily and wash our linens at 60 degrees or lower with antibacterial laundry detergent. Also, sleeping naked all the time may not be the best idea — it spreads germs — and regular vacuuming is a must.

It's recommended you wash your bedding weekly in hot water and make sure they're thoroughly dried. You should also replace your pillows every one-two years and replace your mattress every five-ten years.

8. Your Cleaning Products

We're learning more and more about the toxic side effects of the everyday cleaning products we've got tucked away under the kitchen sink. While most of them have a fresh, lemony scent, they're actually packed with chemicals that could irritate our skin, damage our kidneys and livers, and depress the central nervous system.

To make things even scarier, there's only so much we know. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, only seven percent of the top selling products make the toxicity information available to the public. If you have these leading cleaners in your home, make sure you're using rubber gloves and opening the windows when you use them, and dilute the product with water to lessen the nasty effects.

9. Your Shower Head

A study across nine American cities showed that 30 percent of people's shower heads carried scarily high amounts of a group of bacteria called Mycobacterium avium. Researchers found that, compared to the rest of the household, the water dripping out of the shower heads had 100-times more of this particular bacteria that the rest of the house's H2O.

Mycobacterium avium is the kind of bacteria that means business. Once inhaled or swallowed, it can cause lung infections and pulmonary disease. Symptoms include breathlessness, constant coughing, and fatigue. These complications are most worrisome for people with weak immune systems, but that doesn't mean it can't affect anyone.

The solution? Clean that shower head! Seriously, clean it. The longer you let it sit there, the more it will build up moisture, thus becoming the perfect feeding ground for mean bacteria. You should change it out regularly too; according to the experts, every six to eight months.

Let us all keep the surroundings clean, and make it a habit to maintain your place neat and fresh looking! Always Green Cleaning Services is  always at your service. Committed at what we do most to preserve and take care of those things that are truly important to you.

Attentive and ready to assist you! Give us a call (872) 356-0166