ARE THERE GERMS IN YOUR BATH?

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19903, 24 September 1926, Page 15

ARE THERE GERMS IN YOUR BATH?

Some years ago—it was on the first occasion that I entered an operating theatre—l remember the surgeon turning to a group of students and saying shortly, “Get out; you’re all .dirty! (says an English writer). This seemed very offensive; we were a nice, clean-looking group of youths and maidens. , But wiiat he said was true. We were socially clean, but bacterially we were dirty. I wonder how many people realise that a socially spotless bathroom—you know the kind I mean, that is wiped round every day with a towel somebody has finished with—may be the hapnv huntingground of germs that can carry infection right through a family. Yet with very little thought your bathroom may become as clean bacterially as it is socially. The first principle to remember is that germs must have a home, and if there are no rough places on the bath they can cling to, or grease films and ‘high-water lines” in which they can multiply, they either die of exposure or decide to commit suicide down the drain. _ So an unblemished enamel surface is not just an aesthetic fad; it is thoroughly sound hygiene. , . . . , The obliteration of grease and uignwater marks is not as easy as may appear. Many housewives use powders. The trouble with these is two-fold. If they are coarse they scratch the enamel, and so establish a home for stray germs; and if smooth they arc generally insoluble in water and tend to clog the drains. St,!!, there is much to be said for whiting, followed by enough soap and hot water to carry the particles out of the traps. The trouble with antiseptics is that while they may kill germs effectively they cannot be depended on to keep the enamel smooth or to remove grease—that is, to prevent as well as temporarily cure the lodgment of germs. Bleaching powder, for example, does not remove grease; and kerosene, though very good, stains the bath and has a smell that is intense, penetrating, and lingering! For general use one would suggest hot water with naphtha soap. This is disinfectant and stainless; it will not scratch the enamel, it dissolves grease films easily, and can be rinsed away without difficulty.