Most people know that a clean bathroom is the basis for a clean house. Bathrooms generally are the one room in the house that can be full of germs and dirt, which is precisely why a thorough cleaning is a must. A tidy and spotless bathroom can a sanctuary in the house.

So how to get that spic and span spotless bathroom that all homeowners want?
The first step is to start by getting rid of any clutter that does not belong in the bathroom. Get the dirty towels and dirty clothes to the laundry room, then remove the shower curtain for washing.

Check the interior walls for any mould buildup and if any are found then spray them with water and bleach then try scrubbing it lightly. Keep scrubbing until the spots are cleaned. Remember to keep the windows open to remove odors from any products you are using and to bring in fresh air.

Pay extra care to ensure that the toilet is clean. You can do that by pouring bleach into the toilet bowl and let it sit while you clean the restroom. To thoroughly clean the toilet make sure you use a brush to clean under the rim well. Clean the rest of the toilet and wipe the area around the floor, as this is something that is forgotten in an everyday bathroom cleanup.

Don’t forget to shine the mirrors and shine the tap fixtures. Wash any soap dishes, toothbrush containers, and other items that are in the bathroom. Polish the sink and dry it immediately when finished to get it to be spotless.

Finally, you should direct your attention to the floor. If you have hard wood floors, remove any area rugs and clean them, then vacuum up any loose dirt. For tile floors you can start by mopping the floor with a product that is known to be safe without any harmful emissions. Pay close attention to corners and edges, to ensure there is no mold.

Once the floor is clean, put back the rugs and the shower curtains. Put a scented candle and the freshly cleaned bathroom is ready to complement your clean house!

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And yet, I don’t feel upset or anxious or as if I’m not good enough. I went on a trip with a couple of friends and only got back 4 days ago and I think it helped me realize something. When I don’t let my depression or anxiety get the better of me, when I let things slide a bit and just do something that makes me happy, I feel so much better. Christmas can be great if you don’t let all the obligations get to you. I will get my Secret Santa gift, and I will bake and send the cards and unpack and clean and do all the bunches of little things that should be done. And if some of them, like the 7 rum cakes, aren’t done until after Christmas, that’s fine too. It doesn’t make me a bad person, it doesn’t ruin Christmas, it is fine.

Take a deep breath of the smell of an evergreen, look at the Christmas lights, and just relax. It’s Christmas, it’s supposed to be nice. Let it be nice for you too.

Precautionary Measures

• Before cleaning bathtub with bleach, put on old clothes. Bleach is meant for whitening and removing stains so it may spoil colors of your clothes. To prevent your nice clothes from ruining, wear old and rough clothes.
• Bleach also produces chemical fumes which may harm your lungs. So purchase a paper face mask and put it on while using bleach for any purpose.
• Open windows of your bathroom or turn on ventilator so that dangerous fumes do not trap in bathroom.
• Also put on gloves while using bleach to clean bathtub. You may need to dispose off these gloves after using because bleach may spoil them. Wearing gloves is necessary as it may harm your hands.

Cleaning Tips

• After following all these precautionary measures, you can now start cleaning bathtub. Start with plugging the drain. Run warm water in tub and allow it to fill with sufficient water so that the water covers the entire bottom of bathtub.
• Now pour five to seven caps of bleach in water and let this solution stay for five minutes or so.
• Take an old sponge and dip it in solution. Gently scrub sides of bathtub using circular motions. Also scrub bottom of tub thoroughly. It will take ten minutes or so to clean bathtub unless it is very dirty.
• After rubbing well, allow solution of bleach and water to drain from tub. Wash your sponge thoroughly and rinse bathtub with warm water. Make sure to wash the tub to remove remaining bleach.
• After washing the tub, remove mask and gloves. Allow bathroom to ventilate for half an hour or more to ensure that bleach fumes are no more in your bathroom.

This was a simple process to clean bathtub with bleach. Bleach is an effective cleaning agent which can make your bathtub look brighter and clean again.

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Yes, that teeny tiny dot is called something. And there are probably thousands of us gals experiencing it this week. Fortunately, this go round is pretty easy on me, I’m thinking because there’s no full moon coinciding with it. Or perhaps spring time is in the air and has me in a good mood. Ah, who knows. But I will say, you are supposed to be ‘resting’ during days 15-28 of your female cycle, or so I have been told. The same person has said we ladies are most focused and active days 1-10 of our cycle, as in the day after flow leaves town- so that’s the time to get to some spring cleaning done.

Today I wanted to share a ‘resting’ pose in yoga (it’s actually a forward bend) that can relieve the symptoms of your lady time. It is also the most common yoga pose and probably the one that is most recognizable- Downward Facing Dog. After that, I’ll share some tips on spring cleaning from shine.com so you can truly get going the day after Ms. Punctuation bids adieu.

Adho Muka Svanasana: Downward Facing Dog

Downward Facing Dog, Palm Springs, 2011

1. Begin on all fours. Slide knees back a few inches.

2. With wrists under shoulders, spread the fingers wide apart. As wide as you can get em.

3. Exhale, lift hips up and back.

4. Press hands into mat, and firm triceps.

5. Keep shoulders lifted up and away from the ears.

6. Press triceps up and externally rotate them, while internally rotating your forearms.

7. Press inner thighs back and apart.

Alright, once you’ve ‘rested’, let’s get started on your spring cleaning. Day 1 of the new cycle.

This checklist comes from shine.com- you can read the full article here. I agree with much of it, and recommend you ‘deep clean’ your house at least once a year. It just feels good. I realize many of you in LA have maids to do this for you, but you don’t necessarily want them trifling through your bedside table and tossing stuff out, do you? (Or maybe they already are! heh heh).

Fresh Tiger Lillies, After Spring Clean, 2011

Day 1 & 2: De-clutter

Before you can actually clean, you need to de-clutter. Sort your unneeded items into three piles: recycle, trash, and donate.

Day 3: Actually Get Rid of the Junk

Now that you’ve chosen the items you can part with and divided them into separate piles, it’s time to actually get rid of them.  Instead, put the trash bag in the trash bin, put your recyclables in the recycling bin, and get in the car and drop off your donations at the nearest Goodwill.

Day 4: Take on the Kitchen

It’s usually best to clean room-by-room, as opposed to taking on various scrubbing projects all at once. Dust, mop the floor, and wipe down the refrigerator, cabinets, countertops, stove, microwave, and oven. You should have already tossed any expired food in the first two days, so you don’t have to worry about pulling everything out of the fridge-just give it a good scrub-down.

Day 5: Scrub the Bathroom

Take an hour to really scour the shower, tub, toilet, sink, wall tiles, and floor. If you have a shower curtain, look at the washing directions and proceed accordingly. Same goes for your bath mats. A quick wipe of any mirrors and countertops and voila: clean bathroom.

Day 6: Clean Up Living Space

Since the clutter is already gone, you can probably combine your bedroom and living room cleaning on the sixth day. Clean the floors, paying particular attention to the spaces under the bed and couch. Wipe down the surfaces of your furniture and clean all linens-couch cushions, chairs, blankets, pillows, whatever. If your space is carpeted, be sure to get the vacuum (and don’t cut corners).

Day 7: Finish the Job

Clean up any other floors and surfaces, like hallways and entryways. Toss out any garbage you’ve accumulated over the week. Wipe down the windows. For a finishing touch, put out some fresh flowers around the house.

This was an “aha” and a “duh” moment for me.  A few weeks ago, I cleaned my bathtub, a task which I abhor and have posted about in the past.  Perhaps if I do maintenance cleaning regularly, it will stay that way with little effort.

Here are my maintenance efforts thus far:

Week 1 post cleaning: Open window.  Remove shampoos and other assorted bottles from shower.  Spray shower walls and tub with harmful chemicals (actually, it was Dow’s Scrubbing Bubbles – I have no idea whether they’re harmful chemicals or not).  Shave legs at sink.  When legs are finished, rinse harmful chemicals (a removable shower head makes this easy).  Put shampoos back.  Take shower in clean tub.

Week 2 post cleaning:  Saturday – ok, fine, the tub is getting a tiny bit dingy.  Scrub with Bar Keeper’s Friend cleanser.  Because it hadn’t gotten too dingy yet, it didn’t require too much effort.  Sunday, repeat process from week 1 but only the shower walls because the tub’s already clean.

This is what you get in a family with three girls. Shower clutter. Hair needs take precedence.

And here is my reward to myself for keeping the shower clean for two weeks.  Maybe if I’m lucky, I may never have to scrub again.

1. Bleach: Cleans grout, drains and toilet bowls, and is much cheaper than any of the specialised products.

2. Put a ‘toilet hippo‘ (or an ice-cream tub) in your toilet cistern; it reduces the amount of water you use when you flush.

3. Vinegar: Cleans, disinfects and shines surfaces such as the bath, sink, mirrors, tiles and floor. Dirt cheap! People always claim it ‘doesn’t smell at all’; it does, but not much, and if it bothers you then mixing in a few drops of an essential oil or perfume before you use it will cover the smell up. You can also dilute it down with water before use.

4. Solid soap: Use it. It’s significantly cheaper than liquid soaps and body washes, and goes a lot further. You can lather it up on a fuzzy-cleany-thing as well; it makes it as easier to apply. Also liquid soap irritates my skin so I’m biased!

What on earth are these things called?

5. Bath oils: 2-3 drops of essential oil will produce as much scent as a huge dollop of an expensive bath oil, and are probably better for your skin too.

6. Bubble bath: Cheap is as good as expensive, especially for the kids! If it doesn’t smell strong enough, add a drop of essential oil. Put a smaller amount in when you start running it to get more bubbles from less; another way to increase the bubbles is to do a helicopter impression with your hands on the surface of the water.

7. Shampoo: Unless you have severe dandruff or scalp issues, cheap is as good as expensive.

8. Conditioner: Not actually a necessary part of your self-cleaning reigime.

9. Vinegar (again): Rinsing your hair with some vinegar (a cup of apple cider vinegar is what I hear is recommended) cuts through grease and makes it nice and shiny!

10. Baking soda: Just like my wee kitten, your hair too can benefit from baking soda mixed with water; a cheap alternative to shampoo. It can also be used to clean (and whiten!) your teeth: mix a small bit of water in and use it as a paste.

11. Shampoo (again): Not actually necessary either; but it takes a while to wean yourself off of it because your hair is used to it. One tip I’ve read is to dilute your shampoo down steadily until it’s basically water; another is to switch to something cheaper like baking soda or vinegar.

12. Share your bath water. Small kids can bath together; older family members can take it in turns to use the same water.

13. Re-use your towels. They’re not a one-use-then-wash item! They can dry many people in turn and/or one person repeatedly; they are being used to dry clean people, after all.

14. If you have trouble with mould, open your window after a hot shower/bath to let the room dry out.

15. Hanging a shirt in the room while you have a very hot shower will provide it with an effortless iron.

16. Use a paint tube squeezer to get the last of your toothpaste out, or cut the tube open. (I picked my squeezer up for about 20p at an art store).

Don't brush your teeth with paint, though

17. Squish your toilet-roll slightly to prevent copious amounts being pulled off with ease by over-zealous family members and pets.

18. Don’t run the tap whilst you’re washing your face/brushing your teeth, etc. It wastes a huge amount of water.

19. Actually only use a pea-sized amount of toothpaste. You don’t need any more than that; it’s the brushing motion that’s doing most of the job, not the paste. If you use less, you buy less.

20. Don’t bother buying cleaning cloths and scrubbers; re-use old socks or other mangy material for cloths, and ex-toothbrushes to scour.

Then today, I cleaned the bathroom… a particularly unexciting task made more unpleasant today especially, as following a slightly disgruntled tip-off from my father, I had been instructed to ‘look in the shower plug hole’. And thus, I did.

Oh horror of horrible horrors! The plug hole was filled with hair. A tentative tug pulled strings from the murky depths, black and much longer than I had remembered it being. It looked like it had grown, fed by the various shampoo remnants and belly-button fluff. A diet of kings! I fought to stop myself from retching. The shame was almost unbearable but was placed aside momentarily by the dreadful thought of, well… at least it wasn’t pubes.

I pulled it all out with baited breath- more than I could ever have remembered shedding, enough to make fluffy creepy pillows for everyone on my street. Disturbing. I put the hairs in the bin and continued victoriously to clean the shower. The little toothbrush I was using to clean the mould from the tiles seemed also to share the joy in my victory cleaning. The shower would now be clean and hair-free and no longer would I be ashamed and traumatized. It had been a good day.

But then… it began. A distant rumbling sound came from behind me. Perhaps it was a helicopter outside, chasing some teapot-stealing arsonist with a thing for, uh, teapots?… but no! It was coming from inside the bathroom! I turned in terror, toothbrush still in hand, just in time to see it rise from the bin… a hair ball monster! I stood, fixated, barricaded by the shower curtain, enraptured by the hairy being that was now climbing its way out of the bin. I was frozen with fear. As it made its way towards me, I could see its features more clearly now… it was round and fluffy, and a bit damp… it might have been quite cute had it not been for the glowing red eyes and two-inch fangs. I barely had time to splutter, ‘What the fuck?’ before it had attached itself to my face.

Flailing wildly I tried to stab it with the toothbrush, but it had already started pulling at my eyelids. Shrieking slightly, I fell into the shelf of shampoos; suddenly, I was covered in goo and had the hair ball monster trying to eat my eyeballs. I smashed my face into the side of the bath and loosened its grip, but it had already drawn its weapon; the prodigious hairclip. The epic battle was upon us. Toothbrush v. Hairclip: the Ultimate Deathmatch.

The hair ball monster leaped from the side of the bath and onto my chest, stabbing frantically at my heart. Suddenly, I managed to use the toothbrush to block the attacks and began to gain the advantage, ‘Ha ha ha!’ Battling the hair ball monster to the edges of the bath we both pushed with all our might against the other, his hairy form straining against my plastic sword of righteousness; but then, slowly, the hair ball monster lost his balance… throwing his hairclip in the general direction of my face in a last desperate attempt, he slipped… and fell the eternal distance from the edge of the bath, to the bathroom floor… the fake wood tiles were unforgiving to him… my enemy had been defeated.

The battle was won. I lay, panting, in the shell of the bath, my heart brimming with triumph. As I steadily rose to my feet, I started to hear slight noises coming from the plug hole… almost like cries. Woefully tiny cries. Once more, I looked into the plug hole and it was then that I saw three little baby hair ball monsters. Suddenly my heart cracked; what had I done?!

I scooped up the babies from the plug hole and made them a new nest in a shoebox under my bed. I fed them with strengthening shampoo, hoping they would become stronger, and also hoping that terrible supermarket-brand provisions would be to their liking. As they began to snuggle up together after they had eaten, all hairy and strange, I walked back into the bathroom with a heavy heart to finish my cleaning.

I really hate cleaning the bathroom. Shit like this always happens.

• Start by collecting the dirty clothing and put them in a hamper. Avoid the temptation of dealing with other items except the dirty clothing and do not even bother about turning out the socks. This process simply entails the throwing of dirty clothes in the hamper, just they way they are.

• Once you have done this, you can now move to collecting dirt and trash, throwing them into the trash can.

• The next step involves disinfecting the tub and sink. Here all you need to do is make these spaces presentable. While wiping the tub is easier, you might spend more time working on the sink. Remember to put on disposable gloves to protect yourself so that you can carry out the cleaning without worrying about the surfaces and stuff you will touch. While cleaning the sink, do not leave out the mirrors. Use newspapers to clean and dry the mirrors so that you avoid streaks.  You can also use vinegar and glass cleaner to make the mirror spotless. Also using the right furniture for your bathroom can help you store all your bathroom accessories at one place.

• Work on the toilet- using the toilet cleaner and a toilet brush; scrub the toilet, ensuring that you have not missed out any place.  Make sure you also deal with the handles, the crevices outside the toilet as well as the surfaces underneath it.

• Deal with the cabinets. Start by emptying out the contents, getting rid of medicine you no longer use in the medical cabinet. You should also take an inventory of the things you have in both the linen and medical cabinet. Make a list of the items that you need to buy or replace.  Wash the cabinets, both the interior and the exterior, before drying them and placing the necessary items back.

• Once you have done all that, it is time for you to sweep and mop the floor. It is recommended that you wipe the floor while on your hands and knees so that you deal with all spaces. If you are not able to do so, use a large towel and step on it, scooting it all over the floor of the bathroom.  Do not forget to shake out the bathroom mats before placing them back to their initial positions. You can also clean and hung them to dry to make them fresh.

• The trash can has now collected quite a number of things, and the next step is to empty it.  Afterwards, clean it and the line it commercial trash or used grocery sack so that you save time when it comes to emptying.

I want everyone to make a journal.  We shall call this our household journal.  Our first page in this journal will be our daily routine.  We are going to start out crawling. I don’t want everyone to get overwhelmed with a huge daily routine.  So for today our jobs is to add our first three items to this page. Ready?  Here we go

Daily Routine

1) Make my bed.

2) Wipe down the bathroom.

3) Get ready for the day.

These are very simple.  Making the bed obviously is very easy, pull the covers up to the pillows and TADA, your bed is made.

As for the second item.  I know you’re looking at your mess of a bathroom going…wipe it down…this is going to take an hour.  I don’t want you to fully clean the bathroom, just wipe it down, spray some glass cleaner on the mirrors and get them shiny so that you can see yourself.  Next take EVERYTHING off the top of the counter, spray that with the glass cleaner to and make it shine like you’ve never seen.  This should take all of about 2 minutes.  Oh yes, now put everything back on top of that nice clean counter.

Our third item is to get ready for the day.  Do your hair up nice, put makeup on if you so choose, and as your doing this, if you use something that is sitting on top of your nice clean sink counter, put it away where it belongs.  In one week we will be revisiting the counter top in here, and whatever is left on the counter is obviously stuff that you are making no use of, so it will be removed from the house!

Are you excited yet, I’m getting there.  In the last week, my bed has always been made and my bathroom is almost totally de-cluttered.

Now don’t forget, do not rush yourself to do too much in one day.  It will take time to get our houses back into a presentable shape. If you do too much at once you will become overwhelmed and discouraged, and that is the last thing that we want.

So enough for today. We have 3 items in our routine… go do them and I will see you back here tomorrow.

~Kara~

1. Be wise, but not cowardly: Because wisdom is a relative state in any society, it must be infused with practicality and insight to be useful. Trust your ability to express the all-wise God. Don’t’ mess with clever clichés which are cowards that live in royal solitude and ambitiously pursue a personal social agenda that serves no end. Be wise. Wisdom is the grasp on Life, Truth, Love. Actually, wisdom is Truth’s grasp on Us.
2. Be sober but not infatuated: Sobriety is not a state of sedateness, a.k.a. pious attitude. Sobriety is a state of being able to keep within the bounds of honesty and progress. And, in all honesty, having a fascination for spirituality will not secure spirituality, just like being infatuated with Brad Pitt and Angelino Jolie won’t secure quality acting skills or fame.  Seriously pursue your spiritual journey even when it goes against the trend of what we are use to, but do it with moderation.
3. Don’t take yourself so seriously: It helps to remember not to take your personal self so seriously as if spirituality depends on it. Be mindful of divine Spirit, God, and thankfully acknowledge every teeny tiny spiritual experience until you see they mass together and make for a great force in life.

With that said on the ongoing topic of spirituality, I’ll go clean the bathroom now!

I was home alone.

So I got up, and played a few games of Halo.

After that, I demolished an entire stack of dishes. Washed, dried, put away.

Then, to reward myself for such good dish-washing, I played a few games of Halo.

Once I was done with that, I decided to clean the whole kitchen. Counters wiped, floor mopped, garbage out.

Then, to reward myself for such a clean kitchen, I played a few games of Halo.

Next I tackled an entire bathroom. Tub, sink, counter, mirrors, floor, all cleaned.

Which earned me a few more games.

So when Lauren came back, looked at our clean home, and said in amazement, “How did you do all this?” I was happy to reply,

“I couldn’t have done it without Halo.”

Your showerhead may deliver more than a refreshing spray of water. New research suggests disease-causing bacteria hide out inside showerheads, hitching a ride to your face and body inside water droplets.

The grimy results come from genetic tests run on samples from 45 showerheads in homes, apartment buildings and public places from nine U.S. cities in five states: New York, Illinois, Colorado, Tennessee and North Dakota.

About 20 percent of the showerhead swabs harbored significant levels of Mycobacterium avium, bacteria linked to pulmonary disease that most often infects people with compromised immune systems, said lead researcher Norman Pace of the University of Colorado, Boulder.

dirty toilet

Ok, so I commented in my introduction that my husband is a loving and caring person – no really, he is! There are so many things that he does around the house and I am very fortunate and lucky for his willingness to partake in keeping the house clean….BUT….

Is it not common sense to keep toilet cleaning materials, brushes away from the bathroom counter & sinks????

I was simply jesting about the past (in my introduction) when I commented that my husband, along with being loving and caring, also cleaned the counters with the same sponge he used to clean the toilets! And don’t get me started on how he using a sponge (repeatedly) to clean – EW!

I came home from work to find every bathroom light on – oh because in addition to the issue of toilets & sinks, he insists on cleaning one item at a time in each bathroom (toilets,then counters, then mirrors, etc) – I find this very strange and impractical, but whatever. I made my way up the staircase and into our Master Bathroom and almost shrieked for the HORROR that I found!

The toilet bowl brush cleaner was sitting in my husband’s bathroom sink dripping with wet, disgusting, feces-bacteria filled droplets into the basin. I was good…instead of making a big deal of it at first, I nicely asked “oh, and you’re cleaning the counters & sinks next?” My ears pierced when hearing the response, “Oh, I cleaned the sinks and counters last time I did the bathrooms.” – Ok, so for those of you who don’t know my husband….when he decides to clean one item at a time in each bathroom…he never gets the entire chore done, so the sinks and counters were cleaned 2-3 weeks ago while the toilets, mirrors, and tubs remained untouched until now – which is why I keep on making my husband clean OUR bathroom until he finally gets it all cleaned at once. Not fair that I would have to clean a toilet or shower scum with 4-5 weeks of crud built up.

Back to what I was saying…In addition to hearing this outrageous explanation of not needing the clean the counters & sinks again, my ears begin to shut down and my eyes began to engage in the NEXT disturbing act…..as he is talking (wonk wonk wonk is what I hear), I watch as he takes the poop brush, rinses it and then begins to shake it and tap it within the ceramic sink. I’m watching as particles are now manifesting into their new home. My eyes get bigger and bigger and just stare in ultimate disgust.

Needless to say, our counters and sinks were cleaned immediately thereafter (not by me).

The day in the life of Little Mrs.30-Something.

Living the Dream.

…..

Just  an aside the dog gets bathed about as often as the girls’ bathroom gets cleaned.  Hmmm, wonder if there is a connection between the Husky/German Shephard mix getting a bath and the bathroom becoming uninhabitable? I think there is. If you know a trick to get your dog to shake the excess water off at the right time, please let me know.

…..

Anyway this is not about dog hair, it’s about toothpaste.

….

My title is definitely not in jest, I honest to goodness wonder if any of the toothpaste gets on their teeth.  I found it on the counter, mirror, floor, wall, towels, baseboards, step stools and everywhere else imaginable.

….

How is it possible to get toothpaste everywhere?

…..

If there was a way to gather up and measure how much toothpaste I found, I am certain it would have been at least one full tube of it. I know it’s only going to get worse in their bathroom from here on out.  So the question then becomes, how old is old enough to start cleaning it themselves?

1. Empty all drawers & shelves. Discard those products that have expired.
Give away or discard what you don’t use. Put back what is left.

2. Purchase cosmetic organizers to keep your makeup neat and handy.
These can be found at http://www.theorganizedlifestylestore.com

3. Insert drawer organizers to keep all grooming supplies. Check the same
website
above for these organizers which come in bamboo wood and plastic.

4. Store all cosmetics, colognes and shaving supplies in a cool, dry place
away
from direct heat sources to extend shelf life.

5. Place shelves over the toilet to make use of space.

Anyway, the prize winner this month is a little girl in a Cracker Barrel restaurant who was asking her parents to explain Lenin and Stalin.

Not that thoughtful people don’t eat at Cracker Barrel… but it’s just that for me, when I go there I get so euphoric about all that butter that I forget that my brain cells need feeding too.  I mean “feedin’.”  I LOVE Southern accents.

When the waitress says, in our first interaction, all of the following, I just get distracted:

• Can I go ahead and get you started with some of our raspberry tea?
• Just so ya know… we do have the dumplin’ special tonight. 
• You’ll wanna save room for blackberry cobbler.  I’m tellin’ ya now.

Nature vs. nurture… what difference does it make?  I come from Southern people, and I am a Southern person, transplanted though I am.  I just get excited when under one roof I can find Goo Goo Clusters, country music, Whoppers, hush puppies, extremely soft green beans, discount John Deere baby clothes (which I bought, with nary a baby in sight) and a clean bathroom.  Road trip heaven.

So what does this have to do with Lenin and Stalin?  I just didn’t expect to find them there, and it was fun to be surprised.

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) – Most of us have them — the personal ritual to deal with the “ick” of a public bathroom: wiping the seat with toilet paper, using a paper seat cover or even rolling up several pieces of toilet paper to create a thicker barrier between the skin and … the unknown.

But the toilet seat is actually the cleanest part of the bathroom, one expert says.

Charles Gerba, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona who has studied restrooms and other germ-infested environments for more than 20 years, says that because of the care people take when they’re about to sit, other parts of the bathroom are much more prone to delivering bacterial infections.

“One of the cleanest things in the bathrooms we find are the toilet seats,” Gerba said. “I’d put my fanny on it any time — unless it’s wet; then you’d want to wipe it first.” Avoiding bathroom ‘hot spots’ »

The Internet has come through for people who just want a clean place to go. New tools like MizPee (nationwide) and Diaroogle (New York only) will point you to the nearest public restroom and display extensive comments about those facilities from users, even delivering the information to your mobile phone. (Warning: CNN makes no promises about the cleanliness of the language in these bathroom locators.)

MizPee launched a year ago for people in San Francisco, California, after co-founder Peter Olfe saw that the city’s public library bathroom was “so disgusting,” said Dhana Pawar, vice president and co-founder of Yojo Mobile, which created MizPee. “Unfortunately, [MizPee] was inspired by that trip.”

Fueled by demand, MizPee has expanded to more than 22 cities in America and six in Europe, and has had more than 300,000 unique visitors. Users rate toilets on a scale from one to five toilet paper rolls and nominate the best and worst toilets for the Flush of the Year award. The site also gives users information on deals at restaurants, shops and services nearby, in addition to toilet trivia called “looisms.”

Women tend to have higher standards for bathroom cleanliness than men, often rating any given unisex bathroom lower than men, Pawar said. In general, many more women than men use the site, but male bikers and older men, especially colitis patients, also come to MizPee.

Women are also particularly concerned about finding clean bathrooms with changing stations, Pawar said. “You’d be surprised how few there are.”

Pawar said she herself is “really paranoid” when it comes to the restroom.

“I’m one of those really anal people who have to have a clean bathroom,” she said.

For many people, public bathrooms generate feelings of anxiety, fear and disgust.

“Basically, everybody is fearful of public restrooms,” said Dr. Lisa Bernstein, assistant professor at Emory University School of Medicine, who admitted that her mother always told her that she should never make direct contact with a toilet seat.

Research indicates that fear of the commode itself may be misdirected.

Public bathrooms may contain several kinds of harmful bacteria, including E. coli, salmonella, coliform, rotavirus, cold virus and the potentially deadly form of staph known as MRSA, experts say. But people are more likely to pick up these nasty bugs through touching things in the bathroom with their hands, not their behinds.

“I don’t think anyone would voluntarily sit on a seat with urine, but, in reality, urine touching intact skin on the tush won’t do anything,” Bernstein said.

More concerning, however, is a child who steadies himself or herself on a toilet seat by holding onto it and then leaving without washing hands, she said. Those germs could lead to an infection once the child’s hands touch the nose, mouth or eyes.

And don’t forget that unwashed hands have handled everything from the door knob to the lock to the flusher. Again, if you touch one of these objects and then rub your eye, nose or mouth, you’re apt to transmit that bacteria.

But there is hope. Here are hygiene helpers:

Wash your hands

Yes, it’s basic. But, in general, washing your hands is the most effective action you can take to prevent bacterial infections from a public bathroom, experts say.

“You can remove all gastrointestinal and respiratory infection bacteria by washing hands,” said Judy Daly, clinical microbiologist at the University of Utah and spokesperson for the Clean Hands Campaign. “Seventeen seconds of a little bit of friction, water and soap will really mediate bacteria.”

The American Society for Microbiology, which sponsors the Clean Hands Campaign, found in a study last year that about 77 percent of men and women washed their hands in public restrooms, down 6 percent from 2005. The observational study also found that women washed their hands more than men.

“It’s such an easy intervention,” Daly said. “If you get it to be a habit for a 30-day period, it’s something you do automatically.”

Use automatic devices

Recent bathroom additions like automatic hands-free faucets and paper towel dispensers diminish contact between your hands and bathroom items that may bear bacteria, Bernstein said.

Don’t let your belongings touch the floor

Gerba’s research found that the highest concentration of germs in a public bathroom are on the floor, the outside of the sanitary napkin disposal and the sink and water taps.

When Gerba looked at women’s purses, he found that one-third of them had fecal bacteria on the bottom. Make sure you hang your shoulder bag on a hook. If none is available, some people swear by hanging the strap around their necks.

Use the first stall

The middle stall of a public restroom usually has the most bacteria because people use it the most. “I guess people like company,” Gerba said. The first stall will probably be cleaner.

Recognize the best and the worst

As a rule, the cleanest toilets are usually in hospitals, because they use disinfectants heavily, but the worst are in airports and airplanes, Gerba said. The small size of airplane bathrooms, including the sinks themselves, make it hard for people to wash their hands — in fact, Gerba’s study found a thin layer of E. coli in an airplane bathroom.

As for the airports themselves, “In the men’s room at Chicago O’Hare, I don’t think the toilet seat ever gets cold,” Gerba said.

Don’t hold back

It’s fine for a woman to hover over the toilet seat if she doesn’t want to sit down, but if she doesn’t empty her bladder completely, she’s at risk for a urinary infection, Bernstein said.

“You may be doing yourself more harm than good,” she said.

Along the same lines, you can develop urinary infections from “holding it in” too long just because you don’t want to use a particular facility. Better in a public stall than not at all.

Put it in perspective

Although the bathroom seems like a nasty place, the possible infections from the dreaded stall are no different from the ones you can get anywhere else in public.

“They’re the same bugs we transmit shaking hands,” Bernstein said. “People are more freaked out about restrooms, but the same thing applies anywhere in public.”

After all that research — he’s had the cops called on him while prowling around bathroom floors — Gerba has no problem with sitting down on public toilets. But Bernstein still uses one or two seat covers, “because of what my mother taught me,” she said.

By Elizabeth Landau
CNN