How Clean is Your Purse?
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free skin care · Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:22 pm

How Clean Is Your Purse?

Have you ever noticed gals who sit their purses on public restroom floors -that go directly to their dining tables? Happens a lot!

It's not always the 'restaurant food' that causes stomach distress. Sometimes "what you don't know 'will' hurt you"!

Read on...one Mom I know got so upset when a guest came in the door and plopped their purses down on the counter where she was cooking or setting up the buffet.S he always said that purses are really dirty, because of where they have been. Smart Momma!

It's something just about every woman carries with them. While we may know what's inside our purses, do you have any idea what's on the outside?

Shauna Lake put purses to the test,for bacteria, with surprising results. You may think twice about where you put your purse. Women carry purses everywhere; from the office to public restrooms to the floor of the car.
Most women won't be caught without their purses, but did you ever stop to think about where your purse goes during the day?

"I drive a school bus, so my purse has been on the floor of the bus a lot," says 1 woman. "On the floor of my car, probably in restrooms." "I put my purse in grocery shopping carts, on the floor of bathroom stalls while changing a diaper," says another woman, "and of course in my home which should be clean."

We decided to find out if purses harbor a lot of bacteria. We learned how to test them at Nelson Laboratories in Salt Lake, then we set out to test the average woman's purse.

Most women told us they didn't stop to think about what was on the bottom of their purse. Most said they usually set their purses on top of kitchen tables and counters where food is prepared. Most of the ladies we talked to
told us they wouldn't be surprised if their purses were at least a little bit dirty.

It turns out purses are so surprisingly dirty, even the microbiologist who tested them was shocked. Microbiologist Amy Karen of Nelson Labs says nearly all of the purses tested were not only high in bacteria, but high in harmful
kinds of bacteria.

Pseudomonas can cause eye infections, staphylococcus aurous can cause serious skin infections, and salmonella and e-coli found on the purses could make people very sick. In one sampling, four of five purses tested positive
for salmonella, and that's not the worst of it. "There is fecal contamination on the purses," says Amy.

Leather or vinyl purses tended to be cleaner than cloth purses, and lifestyle seemed to play a role. People with kids tended to have
dirtier purses than those without, with one exception. The purse of one single
woman who frequented nightclubs had one of the worst contaminations of all. "Some type of feces, or even possibly vomit or something like that," says Amy.

So, the moral of this story--your purse won't kill you, but it does has the potential to make you very sick if you keep it on places where you eat. Use hooks to hang your purse at home and in restrooms, and don't put it on
your desk, a restaurant table, or on your kitchen countertop.

Experts say you should think of your purse the same way you would a pair of shoes. "If you think about putting a pair of shoes onto your
countertops, that's the same thing you're doing when you put your purse on the
countertops"--your purse has gone where every individual before you has
spat, coughed, urinated, emptied bowels, etc! Do you really want to bring that home with you?

The microbiologists at Nelson also said cleaning a purse will help. Wash cloth purses and use leather cleaner to clean the bottom of leather purses.

And just when we thought we didn't have enough to worry about... Rolling Eyes

free skin care · Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:46 pm

Same with school bags, Candy.. Most places at university don't even have hooks on the back of doors, so you have to either somehow carry your bags on your lap while you sit, or plop them down on the ground and who knows what is on there Neutral

free skin care · Mon Oct 09, 2006 9:55 pm

I knew it! I always hang my purse on the door or just hold onto it when I use a public bathroom (quite a balancing act, I assure you!)

free skin care · Mon Oct 09, 2006 10:09 pm

I was a bit torn when it came to hanging the purse on the door part. Hygenically - yes, definitely the way to go. Target for a thief - ABSOLUTELY!! Sounds silly, and trends are moving back toward larger bags with a strap, hang your purse over your neck. Keeps it off the floor, keeps it away from undesirables & ensures you don't leave it behind!! LOL

free skin care · Tue Oct 10, 2006 5:52 am

Reading the title I grinned to myself and thought "clean purse = empty purse = mine!" LOL

but totally aggree - yuck yuck yuck

free skin care · Tue Oct 10, 2006 7:18 am

Oh, Lord! I thought this was a thread for how well organized your purse is. Ha! Good reminder, Candy. I hate, hate, hate touching anything in a public restroom and generally hang my purse on my luggage - even hate that touching the public domain.

I've noticed when traveling that the hooks are now being mounted inside the stall much lower and on the interior wall. It's a much better location and not easily accessible from the exterior. Also, the idea of putting hooks BEHIND (i.e.; the back of the stall) is the dumbest thing ever...almost a guarantee you'll forget it.

free skin care · Tue Oct 10, 2006 10:51 am

It's very interesting to read this through. I've thought about it before but never really paid much attention. I guess it also helps to change the purse every now and then, which gives us good excuses to buy new ones.
By the way, my sister-in-law left her purse behind the door at a public restroom. Most unfortunately, she had $700 cash in it. And for sure, 10 minutes later, it was gone! It was a bad memory for her.

free skin care · Tue Oct 10, 2006 11:14 am

Oh, heck no! Not getting rid of my Francesco Biasia babies!!! I'll run a cleaner around their little bottoms before I give 'em up. They are my new-found naughty habit but I've been bargain shopping.

I have 6 and counting:

-Hypnotic in white AND black (love this purse)
-Satchel in black w/gold
-Satchel in tan/dark brown w/gold
-Square satchel in dark brown w/silver
-Small satchel in black w/silver and gold everywhere!

So, I'm covered for every occasion along w/my other 15 purses. Wink

free skin care · Tue Oct 10, 2006 12:46 pm

miranets wrote:

Same with school bags, Candy.. Most places at university don't even have hooks on the back of doors, so you have to either somehow carry your bags on your lap while you sit, or plop them down on the ground and who knows what is on there Neutral

I guess I'm a bit lucky to be attending a university that has hooks on the inside of the stall (however, they are a bit high, being at the very top of the stall door). After reading this thread, I had to rush off to class. Afterwords though, I went into the restroom and just got the chills thinking about this thread. You guys sure did bring a hightened level of awareness for me Laughing

. I do hang my backpack on those hooks. And when I am not in school and carrying a purse, I have never set it down on the floor. Even in my car, my purse is always in the passenger seat (can anyone say attached? Embarassed

). Now, though, I think I will be on the lookout for an affordable vinyl/ leather purse as I'm using a cloth one right now. Oh, and I've used my antibacterial lotion a record amount of times today, and its only 1:40pm here.

free skin care · Tue Oct 10, 2006 12:47 pm

My purse is always a mess on the inside, but I'm obsessed with keeping the outside clean. No bathroom floors for my purse.

free skin care · Tue Oct 10, 2006 3:27 pm

scalawaggirl wrote:

Also, the idea of putting hooks BEHIND (i.e.; the back of the stall) is the dumbest thing ever...almost a guarantee you'll forget it.

Not to mention the germs that FLY out of a flushing commode....

girldelvov wrote:

Even in my car, my purse is always in the passenger seat (can anyone say attached? ).

K, time for me to be policey again. DO NOT travel with your purse on the seat next to you. It's called 'Smash n Grab'. You pull up to a light, an undesirable spots your purse on the seat & you invariably busy doing something else. The rest speaks for itself. If you're gonna put it on the floor, put it behind the front passenger seat. Accessible to you, not so easily seen. Going along the train of this thread - share your seat with your purse - hmm

m, may even prompt ya to clean it out to make it a better fit Laughing

I didn't post this to cause a big ole Whooha. Just something to think about. Wipe your purses regularly, don't put them on the counter or table. It's more important you RETAIN your purse to get sick from it! Laughing

free skin care · Tue Oct 10, 2006 6:17 pm

Nijey wrote:

I knew it! I always hang my purse on the door or just hold onto it when I use a public bathroom (quite a balancing act, I assure you!)

Me too.

free skin care · Tue Oct 10, 2006 6:28 pm

I was told once that putting ur purse on the floor was very bad luck, ever since then, it's always been off the floor!!! Little did I know that the bad luck was illness Laughing

!! When going to bathroom, in say a resturant, I try to leave it at table with whoever I am eating with and just take my cosmetic bag....Not sure why or that I've ever thought of it, but I've never set my purse down on my kitchen counters, it always goes into a chair, no one every uses and stays there all day. But they also did that same test on makeup in womans purses, and it was shocking what they found, even in some makeup that was only a few weeks old, it was scary. BTW lipglosses were the very worst.

free skin care · Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:25 am

Not clean at all! I get in a hurry and throw what I can in there.....yuck!!

free skin care · Fri Oct 13, 2006 10:01 pm

Candy8865 wrote:

How Clean Is Your Purse?
... In one sampling, four of five purses tested positive for salmonella, and that's not the worst of it. "There is fecal contamination on the purses," says Amy. ... The purse of one single woman who frequented nightclubs had one of the worst contaminations of all. "Some type of feces, or even possibly vomit or something like that," says Amy.

Oh dear lord! Now I'M going to hurl!

We just don't think about this stuff because we can't see those little nasty germs and microbes. If a place was obviously dirty, we'd never put our purses on the floor, but oftentime we just don't think things could be filthy unless they look that way to the naked eye.

I promise to hook up my purse everytime I go into a public restroom. I used to put it on the floor ... *groan* oh, dear ... where ARE those Clorox Handiwipes?!

free skin care · Sat Oct 14, 2006 7:34 pm

I have never put mine on the floor. Even at home.
When at home, I have this neet hook in my closet where I would hang my current bag. The only thing that would have been on the floor would be my cord. sport bag. It is usually covered with dust, sand, straw and maybe horse saliva if they deceided to check if I brought a treat! Laughing

free skin care · Sun Oct 15, 2006 7:37 pm

Mine is really dirty, thinking of buying one. I haven't found one that I really like.

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