I’ve occasionally wondered about this while sitting and thinking. I’ve decided it must be the handle on the paper towel dispenser. Because it’s generally not touched by people who don’t wash their hands, and touched by people who do when their hands are at their cleanest.
Caveat: Places like the ceiling don’t count, I’m limiting to places a patron would come in contact with.
Any other thoughts? If so, please show your work.
From what I’ve read, the toilet seats are actually quite clean, if not the cleanest. The door handles are the worst.
You’re right about the people who don’t wash their hands, but you must not forget the people who splash some water on their hands (soap optional) as sort of a brief cleansing ritual, then proceed to dispense paper towels with their freshly moistened poo hands.
I wonder. Here, the sinks and toilets get cleaned at least once a day. The paper towel dispenser handle is probably touched most often by people who have just, at least nominally, washed, but it probably rarely gets cleaned itself.
My WAG would be the flush handle on the urinals.
It wouldn’t be anything people touch regularly, whether they had just washed their hands or not.
I’d wager the cleanest spot is somewhere on the mirror.
Edit: next time read the OP. Although technically it might quality as a place “patrons come in contact with” because at least a few people have probably touched the mirror, just not that many.
The back of the toilet. It’s cleaned several times a night by people doing blow on the back of it.
The opening of the spigot. It gets washed out every time water flows.
It’s the interior door handle. Studies have been done; all those public hygiene messages are working.
(My company Health and Safety Officer recently celebrated National Hand Washing Week for us.)
I saw a documentary where the head of infectious diseases at NYU medical center said he would rather eat a carrot dipped into a toilet than one thats been touched by the average kitchen sponge.