Alternative Uses for Shower Caps:

Lurking nasties: A hotel's TV remote is one of the most likely surfaces to be contaminated with potentially sickening bacteria. 

Most hotels have disposable shower caps in their rooms. It occurred to me that they would make a sensible cover for the remote control. Few of us take sanitation sprays with us when travelling, but if any of you are like me, the bottle is usually in “my other bag”. I came across the article below and thought I would share it with you, especially as many of us will be travelling to sunnier destinations over the next few months.


Hotel health risks: Study reveals TV remote and light switch are among germ hotspots
By TRAVELMAIL REPORTER

It might be wise to pack a large bottle of hand sanitiser the next time you book a hotel stay. A new study has revealed that light switches and TV remote controls in hotel rooms are crawling with potentially sickening bacteria.
Other surfaces most likely to be contaminated include - unsurprisingly - toilets and bathroom sinks.

The study was carried out in three hotel rooms in three American states – Texas, Indiana and South Carolina. Researchers collected samples from 19 surfaces in the rooms and tested them for aerobic bacteria, which includes germs known to cause illnesses, such as streptococcus and staphylococcus. They also tested for the fecal bacteria coliform. Bathroom sinks were found to be hotspots for lurking nasties while floors were also found to be crawling with bacteria.

All the measurements were taken in colony-forming units of bacteria (CFU) per cubic centimetre squared. TV remotes were a major culprit of germs measuring an average of 67.6 CFU.

Researchers also took swabs from hotel cleaning equipment, including gloves, mops and sponges – noting that these items would easily carry the bacteria from room to room. These items were found to be infested with all sorts of bacteria, for example, the sponges were found to have 500 CFU of aerobic and fecal bacteria. 

Kirsch suggested that the findings could help hotels develop better cleaning practice'Currently, housekeepers clean 14 to 16 rooms per eight-hour shift, spending approximately 30 minutes on each room. Identifying high-risk items within a hotel room would allow housekeeping managers to strategically design cleaning practices and allocate time to efficiently reduce the potential health risks posed by microbial contamination in hotel rooms,' she explained.

Armed with that information – and short of taking your own remote control with you – or simply not watching the television, have a wonderful holiday wherever your destination.

Happy travelling!