The main causes are…
*Not cooking food properly
*Preparing food too far in advance
*Storing food wrongly
*Cross contamination from raw to cooked food
*Infected people handling food

Always keep separate towels in the kitchen and never dry hands on a tea towel because if there are germs on your hands they will be transferred to the tea towel and then on to the glass that you dry and then…an emergency visit to the loo could be in order. In fact sometimes safer to leave the dishes to air-dry!

While 99 per cent of bacteria are harmless, when it comes to make-up, particularly eye make-up, you need to be very careful.

Never, ever share mascara or eyeliner or shadow as while your body is accustomed to your own (sometimes disease-causing) bacteria, another person’s can be a different story and give rise to infection. Ditto with razors, particularly if the skin surface is broken.

How is it that we were all taught, when growing up, to put our hand in front of our mouth when we sneeze or cough?

It makes no sense at all, since all the germs are landing nicely in the hand, to be passed on to the next person or object we touch and then, surprise, surprise, that cold or flu is then adopted by someone else. W

e need to start teaching our kids to, ideally, sneeze into a tissue, and if that is not available, to use the forearm. Common sense, really, if you think about it…

There are always scare stories in the papers about the bacteria dangers lurking in everyday objects, from ‘bags for life’ to remote controls and cuddly toys.

Well I say don’t panic! Ninety-nine per cent of bacteria are harmless, and our bodies are covered in bacteria, which are necessary to keep healthy. And while we need to keep things reasonably clean, the single most important defense against harmful bacteria is to make sure you wash your hands thoroughly before cooking and eating, and dry on a clean towel.

Because heat attracts dust, radiators will accumulate a layer of the stuff in no time and, if you think about it, that will inhibit all that lovely (paid for!) heat from being released into the room.

How you clean them will depend on the shape of your rads, but a good idea is to kick off with the narrowest nozzle of the vacuum cleaner. Then take a duster – always very slightly dampened so that the dust will stick to it rather than fly around the room to land elsewhere – and get in to as many nooks and crannies as you can.

It can take a while, but it’s time well spent and you won’t have to do it that often.

I’ll never forget the state of some of the bathmats I encountered during my days of working on How Clean Is Your House?

Although they often looked a bit grubby, I was always amazed to discover how much faecal matter would be lurking in the fibres (we used to take swabs, send off to a lab and get the results back soon afterwards).

Just a little nudge to bear that in mind and to stick your mat in the hottest wash that it can bear – say once a week.

This is usually caused by water constantly being left behind in the folds.

One way to deal with it is to dry the seal every time after use (a bit of a faff) or wipe regularly with clear vinegar.

There is a sequence to this. First make sure your sink is clean (I hate a washing up bowl – they end up all greasy and horrid).

Then scrape off all the food debris.

Soak pots and pans and set aside.

Fill the sink with hot, soapy water and first do items you put in your mouth such as cutlery, glasses, cups.

Rinse under the tap.

Then plates; rinse. Now pots and pans.

Afterwards, remove any bits of food from the plughole and wipe out the sink.

Replug sink, run a little hot water with a capful of bleach and leave your cloth and scourer to soak overnight. All fresh for the next day!

Fill a plastic bag with ice and place over the area for a few minutes. This will harden the wax, then you can chip away with a plastic spatula or your fingernail.

Wipe away any remains with a damp cloth and finish by washing the floor with a general purpose cleaner.