Grab Bag Disinfectant Dilemma:

I’m not a big disinfectant advocate.

Surgery prep, of course.

Hospitals in general, check.

But I am not a fastidious antibacterialist – which sounds like a political party from the late 19th century… but I digress.

I was an early surfer on the wave of the now-growing belief that wholesale use of “antibacterial” soaps and cleaning products in our homes is not a great idea, as it promotes super-bugs that become resistant to antibiotics. Both the American Medical Association and the Center for Disease Control now agree that soap and water is all that is needed in the home.

But I will admit that I am becoming a little OCD about the cleanliness of two things:

1. My cell phone. Cell phones tested carry large amounts of multiple bacterias… staph was found on nearly half. Eeeewwww. Why?

1. They are often in our hands between the times we can wash up (after shaking hands, touching money, opening doors, etc.)

2. They often get passed to other hands for phone conversations or looking at pictures and videos,

3. They are next to our mouths and faces (and the mouths of others who you may pass the phone to), and…

4. They are warm… warmed by use, warmed by hands, warmed by a pocket… a perfect petri dish, if you will, for a plethora of pathogens.

For the record… the photo below is NOT my cell phone and related petri dish. This person knows people in low places, methinks 🙂

2. And my second focus is ….. TV remote controls. Those in the home are used by many family members and are probably rarely cleaned. (Ditto for the computer keyboard.) But for REAL horror, consider the remote controls in hotel rooms (and especially hospital rooms). They are…. do I really need to spell this one out?

But what’s a soap-and-water girl to do? Here’s what.

Moisten a cotton ball or pad with diluted rubbing alcohol (1:1 parts alcohol and water), wring excess moisture from the pad and wipe your cell phone down frequently (just make sure you don’t allow any liquid to squeeze into speaker holes or keyboard slots). Use a tissue or another cotton pad to dry.

And I have taken to traveling with a small bottle of rubbing alcohol that I can use in the same way for hotel TV remotes. Alternatively, travel with a few zip lock bags, and slip the hotel remote inside a bag. Practice safe remote 🙂

3. If you need a hand “sanitizer” (good for those times when you’re pumping gas and don’t have time to rush to wash your hands), stay away from anything containing triclosan. Recent studies on triclosan have raised suspicions and it is under review by the FDA at the moment, with conclusions expected in the spring of next year.

For a much better  option– Please look for these products, available widely now. Clean Well rates a beloved ⓶ on Cosmetics Database.

Let me know if you have a better, greener way of effectively cleaning YOUR pet peeves… and what are they?

Grab Bag Groupie:

Do you Groupon? No, not grope-on.

Groupon…. as in Groupon.com… like coupon, but in a group?

No? Check this out… Some young whippersnapper whiz kids figured out that volume drives discounts, and if you could get a group together, you could probably get a discount. So now you have a group, at Groupon.com:

You sign up for free, tell them what area you live in, and they’ll send you at least one deal a day at a serious discount for some service or product. If you want it (like a double value gift card to your favorite restaurant, a manicure for half off at a new salon, or museum tickets for your vacation) you buy it within the allotted time. If not, you ignore it and tomorrow there’s another group coupon coming your way. Pretty nifty, huh? Groupon is in most major cities and metropolitan areas, with more added all the time.

Grab Bag Sleep Scents:

Back in 2002, researchers at a small university in West Virginia reported findings indicating that the scent of jasmine was an effective sleep aid, giving participants a more restful sleep than lavender or no scent. Cute. Interesting. Forgotten.

Cut to 2010… German researchers take the “common scents” thing to a whole new level. Not only did humans and mice calm down and sleep better when exposed to jasmine, but their genetically modified mice, designed to lose the receptor (and therefore a reaction) for propofol (yes, the infamous Michael Jackson sleep aid), also did not respond to jasmine, thereby providing a “cross-check” proof for the indicator that jasmine affects specific receptors in the brain.

The Germans have even been granted a related patent for this. No doubt some drug company will find a way to charge insane prices for a chemical inhaler that is infused with the jasmine “magic”.

But the benefits can be yours today, docs say. Try a jasmine scented bath before bed or a diffuser in your bedroom with jasmine oil. Non-addictive, sweet and simple. Night night.

Grab Bag Carving Cred:

Need inspiration? Grab Bag has collected some favorite Jack o’ Lantern images to give ghoulish guidance:

Grab Bag Inner Therapy:

Whether you live in an apartment, an estate or an igloo, this site has some great tips, simply implemented design ideas and general inspiration for interior living spaces that make your exterior smile 🙂

APARTMENT THERAPY

Grab Bag Bear Bag:

All in a day’s work…. in Canada, eh?

Grab Bag Brain Game:

For all you frustrated lumberjacks:

SPLITTER

Grab Bag Funny Stuff:

These singers, all anesthesiologists from Minneapolis, started performing serious songs, when a friend suggested a parody of “Breaking Up is Hard to Do”. They found their niche. They have been performing at nursing and anesthesiology conferences for two decades.

Thanks to nurse and sister Tally D. for this one.