The weather is turning cooler and thoughts of the dreaded cold and flu season are beginning to fill your head. You may need to stock up on Kleenex and cough drops and chicken soup. But while these things are good you might consider eradicating the germs from your home by being cleaner and more vigilant. You remember that old saying an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Well it is true.



Contact surfaces are prime areas for germs to lurk in your home. This includes everywhere you touch from the front door to the refrigerator door germs are lurking and growing. Since everyone in your family touches them, germs are constantly added and transferred since these are spots that aren't often cleaned. Here's how it works your husband or whoever comes home touching the door knob after being in a public bathroom, holding the escalator handrail at the mall and blowing their nose. He or she than goes to the refrigerator because they want a drink or a snack and so proceeds to touch the refrigerator handle, containers and cabinets. Then you come home and open the refrigerator and proceed to collectively inherit all the germs from your husband's or whoever's day.

Now this may seem gross, but there are easy things you can do to prevent this from happening. One is diligent hand washing. Thorough hand washing can eliminate a lot of germs but it is hard to ensure everyone in your household is as diligent as you. So in order to combat their germs it is necessary to clean all of the contact surfaces in your home on a regular basis.

If you can't recall the last time you cleaned your refrigerator and other appliance handles you could consider purchasing new ones. That's right one of the current trends in interior design is matching appliance handles and cabinet hardware and they come in a variety of designs. One of the most popular is the modern European bar pull which is a sleek, clean-lined, usually silver pull in sizes big enough for a refrigerator or freezer and small enough for a drawer or cabinet. The great thing about this style is that they are easy to clean because they are just a straight line, no crevices here.

Now if that is not your style you could go for something tropical like a set of palm tree pulls or something more traditional looking with curved sections leading to a ball shape in the center in classic brass. All appliance pulls are available in a wide variety of finishes from satin nickel to copper and oil rubbed bronze. No matter what style and finish you choose your kitchen will have a complete and cohesive look and if you wipe down these new handles regularly your home could be nearly germ free.

So while cold medicine and hot soup may come in handy when and if you get that dreaded, last forever winter cold a thorough cleaning of your new or old appliance handles and cabinet hardware may keep you from ever getting sick in the first place.