5 Travel Items You Never Knew Were THIS Dirty (and what to do!)

I’ve written about how my husband is such a germophobe. So it was really a no-brainer when UV Care asked if we would like to do a swab test and check the bacteria count of different things around the house; of course I said yes!

I wanted to do something different though. So instead of things around the house, let’s find out just how dirty the different things we use for travel are. Find out which of your favorite travel items are in need of some serious disinfecting!

(NOTE: UV Care carries products that utilizes UV light to sterilize.)

5. Travel Toothbrush

Did you know that the average toothbrush can contain 10 million bacteria or more—including E. coli and Staph, according to a study at the University of Manchester in England? And to think that we put this in our mouth! EW.

This was how much the bacteria count was in mine when we checked:

If you bring a travel toothbrush, like me, you probably think that it’s not as dirty since you only use it for a few days. But if you pack our toothbrushes away immediately before letting it dry completely, molds or bacteria may grow. Also, it could get contaminated from other items inside your toiletry kit.

SOLUTION:

We used UV Care’s pocket sterilizer to sanitize the bristles and the part of the cap where the bristles touch. The pocket sterilizer is like a wand that’s super light and portable. We just waved the light for about a minute and swabbed it again. Here’s the result after:

From 103, we’re down to 18 rlu. Pretty impressive. UV Care actually has a toothbrush sterilizer but it’s too big for travel. It’s meant more for home use as it can sanitize 4 at the same time.

4. Inside Your Luggage

Everyone knows that it’s important to clean your luggage after a trip (if you don’t do this, you should start now!) It’s been thrown around the aircraft (and at the airport) and who knows what sort of things are stuck in the wheels! BUT have you ever thought about how dirty the insides of your suitcases are?

Some people unpack and just leave the insides as is. I’m sometimes guilty of this. Check out how dirty our suitcase was after an overnight trip to the beach.

To think it was just an overnight trip! I’m sure the count would be so much higher if we swabbed it right after a 2-week long trip where dirty clothes have been lying there for days!

SOLUTION:

We used the UV Care Deluxe Germ Terminator, which is also a wand like the pocket sterilizer I mentioned earlier, but this is bigger and the wattage is higher, which means it can sterilize bigger surfaces faster. This is personally my favorite from their range.

So we waved the wand all around for a few minutes (section by section) and when we swabbed it after, we were down to 13 rlu! YAY!

By the way, the longer that you wave the wand on a particular area, the more germs it can kill. This is why the count for all the items are different. If we were to wave it again, of course the count will be even lower.

3. Inner Part of Your Shoes

Like your suitcases, you obviously know that the your shoes are extremely dirty outside but the insides are just as, if not even more, bacteria infested! This is because our feet sweat. Especially if we keep our shoes in dark places that don’t get much air, bacteria can thrive! Now you know why you have smelly shoes.

We swabbed 2 pairs of shoes (one mine and one Luke’s) and got this:

So embarrassing! Haha! And it’s so interesting that Luke’s shoes are just as dirty, isn’t it? We something think that babies or toddlers don’t have dirty shoes but they’re just as bad as adult ones!

SOLUTION:

This time, we used the UV Care Shoe Sterilizer and Deodorizer made specifically for shoes.

You just place it inside, set the timer and wait. For our shoes, we waited 15 minutes each. Down to 46 rlu. Not bad at all!

2. Baby Stroller

Same idea; we know the outside of the stroller is really dirty. So instead, we swabbed the inside where Luke sits.

We expected the stroller to be a little dirty but not THIS dirty! And to think that because we got this stroller when Luke was already 2 years + and potty trained, he has never peed or vomited on it. So I have absolutely no idea where all that bacteria came from. Maybe from his sweat? Or from things gathered outside?

SOLUTION:

We used theUV Care Deluxe Germ Terminator wand for around 10 minutes and we were down to 29 rlu after. Yay!

1. Camera

And lastly, what was most surprising to me (although now that I think about it, shouldn’t be surprising at all) was just how much bacteria my camera had! I guess it just never crossed my mind to clean my camera as much despite the fact that I use it ALL the time!

It has more bacteria than our shoes!! Eww! We swabbed the buttons and the body: the parts that usually comes in contact with my fingers. I shudder at the thought of holding something with this much bacteria everyday.

SOLUTION:

So it looks like my camera needs some serious cleaning. I used the UV Care Deluxe Germ Terminator again for this one, which is the bigger wand instead of the pocket version just so it’s stronger and faster. Haha.

Spent a few minutes waving it over my camera and when we swabbed it, it was down to 363. Still a few left BUT imagine that we were able to kill 1,745 already!

Like mentioned earlier, the longer you wave it on the surface, the more germs it can kill. So after this, I continued using the wand over it. Unfortunately, we didn’t swab it anymore to check again but I’m sure the bacteria count is now a whole lot less!

FINAL THOUGHTS ON UV CARE

• The process of our test: To give you an idea of how we did the whole test, UV Care staff swabbed different items one by one and placed them inside the bacteria counter. Then we would proceed to clean using UV Care products and do one more swab test after.
• WARNING: Be careful with exposing your skin and eyes to UV light. They have strict warnings on their labels about it. You have to use it properly and keep it out of reach of children.
• I know there are a lot of concerns if UV light is safe. The people from UV Care warned us against exposing it to the “4 p’s” which are people, pets, plants and paintings. Do your own research as well as I have checked that it might also not be advisable on other material such as leather.

I’m not a UV light expert so for more information or other concerns, you can visit their website at UVCare.net!

Overall, I’m pretty happy with our UV Care products. Like in all things though, I believe that moderation is key. I don’t plan on sanitizing every little item in our home everyday. But once in a while, especially if someone at home catches a virus, I’m definitely coming out with all my UV sterilizing weapons. Haha.