The average person encounters thousands of different germs every day and the majority aren't a danger to our health. However, in your home, there's an array of potentially harmful bacteria, such as salmonella, E. coli and mould, lurking in places you wouldn't even have thought to look. Click or scroll through to discover where germs are hiding in your living spaces and find out how to banish them for good.

We all know public offices aren't the cleanest of places, but that stylish home office of yours can be just as bad. Areas on your desk where you rest your hands tend to accumulate the most germs, as well as equipment like keyboards. Try to disinfect the whole area with an antibacterial wipe once a day.

We put everything on our kitchen worktops, from raw meat and filthy sponges to shopping bags that have been on dirty floors, all of which carry an array of germs. In a study by independent public health and safety organisation NSF International, kitchen worktops had coliform bacteria present in 30% of the homes they tested. To keep bacteria at bay, it's best to clean natural solid surfaces like this with washing up liquid and hot water. 

As a rule, wherever water collects will be a breeding ground for bacteria and your refrigerator's water dispenser is a prime culprit - with the double threat of having many hands touching it repeatedly every day. Use an antibacterial spray on the push button and remove any exterior parts to wash in warm soapy water. To clean the inside, shut off the water connection and flush it with white vinegar. Make sure to rinse the line thoroughly before use and take an old toothbrush to any nozzles.

While there are many more obvious contenders for germ hotspots in your kitchen, believe it or not, the hob controls are one of the filthiest areas. Covered in food splatters and touched a number of times during food preparation, the best way to clean them is to remove the knobs and rinse them in hot soapy water. 

The very appliance that cleans your dirty plates is also a germ danger zone. The bottom of your dishwasher collects old food and grease, so it's important to wash any of the removable parts as frequently as you can. It's also a good idea to fill a dishwasher-safe mug with white vinegar and leave it on the top rack during an empty cycle, which will loosen up any residue and wash it away.

What's better than a freshly brewed cup of coffee? Well, you might want to think twice before you reach for a caffeine fix as the inside of these dark, damp machines is a prime spot for bacteria to grow. To keep your coffee maker clean, you can add four cups of undiluted vinegar to the reservoir, letting it stand for 30 minutes before running it through the machine. Follow this with three cycles of clean water.

The kitchen sink is one of the most germ-laden places in the house and can often be worse than the toilet. Particles of food from plates left to soak can provide a breeding ground for bacteria, including salmonella and E. coli. To keep germs at bay in the pipes as well as the sink, pour one cup of hot water into the drain, followed by a cup of bleach and leave overnight, repeating every week or so.

Chopping boards are used every day for food prep and can be laden with germs from raw meat and fish, so it's easy for them to collect bacteria. If you only have one chopping board, ditch this bad home habit and invest in multiple, colour-coded boards to avoid cross-contamination. For a wooden board that's likely to harbour more germs, white vinegar is a great cleaning tool. Simply apply with a clean cloth to disinfect and eliminate any odours.

Spatulas, especially the rubber variety, are full of nooks and crannies that were found to hide  E. coli, yeast and mould by NSF International – not the ingredients you want to be adding to your cooking! If your spatula is made from two parts, make sure to separate them when washing. Generally, metal models are better as they aren't as vulnerable to collecting germs. 

This one is pretty obvious – all bins are dirty, but pay special attention to the ones in your kitchen, especially when the weather gets warmer and bacteria starts to thrive even more in the heat. Make sure to wipe the lid over as much as possible with anti-bacterial wipes. To keep germs and nasty odours at bay, sprinkle the base of your bin with bicarbonate of soda.

Reusable water bottles are a great eco alternative in the home for cutting down single-use plastic but don't neglect to wash it in water soapy water after a day of use. The bottle neck, rim and any areas where you pick it up will be the high-risk areas for germs to breed.

Salt and pepper shakers are constantly picked up throughout the day by any number of family members and rarely get the cleaning that they need. A simple wipe over with an antibacterial product at the end of the day will do the trick.

Almost perpetually damp, shower curtains are the ideal breeding ground for mould, a serious hidden hazard in your home. A study conducted by SafeHome found that your shower curtain can hold up to 60 times more bacteria than your toilet seat. To keep it as clean as possible, you can spray your shower curtain with distilled white vinegar after showering to help kill any mould or mildew that has started to form. 

The grout between your bathroom tiles and the sealant around your bath both offer the perfect places for mould to lurk in. And that's not all, the drain itself could contain 119,468 bacteria per square inch according to a study by Soakology. It's a good idea to disinfect your bath with a bathroom cleaner and then wipe it down with a clean, dry towel. 

According to NSF International, it’s not the toilet that’s the dirtiest place in your bathroom, it's the toothbrush holder. Often placed in proximity to the toilet, they collect nasty germs transferred from flushes, plus bacteria from the toothbrush itself. It’s a good idea to give your toothbrush holder a deep clean once a week by either putting it in the dishwasher or giving it a rinse with soapy water. 

The bathroom taps don’t really stand a chance against germs, as you touch them after you go to the toilet and then again after you've cleaned your hands, transferring some germs back again. Be sure to minimise lingering microbes by cleaning them every day with a disinfectant wipe or spray.

While it's not something that most people remember to clean, remote controls are hotspots for bacteria as everyone in the house uses them, even when they are sick. To ward off harmful microbes and help stop the spread of germs, frequently wipe them with 60% alcohol wipes.

Thanks to any sweat, dirt or makeup that's left on your skin when you get into bed, just one night of peaceful sleep can leave dead skin cells, bacteria and many other undesirable particles and germs behind. Try and clean your sheets once a week at 60°C to make sure your bed is bacteria-free – washing your bedding on a high temperature will help kill dust mites too.

While we love to treat our pets to new toys, their cherished items are riddled with germs including mould, yeast and staph bacteria, NSF International found. Wash any rubber or plastic toys with hot soapy water and disinfect with diluted bleach every few weeks, making sure to thoroughly rinse afterward. To clean fabric toys, place in the washing machine at a hot temperature.

As well as toys, the dishes your furry friends eat out of are far from clean. Any food left on the dishes throughout the day can breed germs that can be passed onto them, so it's important to make sure you clean bowls with soap and hot water every day. For a thorough clean, soak in a diluted bleach solution (five tablespoons of bleach per gallon of water) once a week, making sure to rinse thoroughly.

Horrifyingly, the most germ-ridden place in your house is the kitchen sponge – the very item you use to clean dishes and surfaces. It's easy to let them become a breeding ground for germs, with NSF International finding coliform bacteria on 75% of sponges it tested. To stop them from breeding bacteria, clean your sponge daily and replace it every couple of weeks. Microfibre cloths are a cleaner alternative and can be put in the washing machine after use.

You may think that your washing machine is safe from germs, but you couldn't be further from the truth. To save energy, many machines wash clothing at a lower temperature, however, this means more bacteria survive, according to research by the American Society for Microbiology. Be sure to remove washed laundry as soon as possible and at least once a month, run an empty hot cycle with bleach. After an illness in the house, wash any clothes, sheets and towels at a high temperature.

The growing, harvesting and transportation of fruit involves many hands, as well as mud, manure and chemicals. Just as you should not eat fruit without washing it, you also should keep your fruit bowl clean before you stock it up. If it's safe to put it through the dishwasher, the steam will kill most bacteria. If not give it a good scrub with dish soap and hot water and allow to air dry on a rack.

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