Here's the dirt on the germiest items in your day-to-day life

Your home – considered to be one of the safest havens from all the external stresses – is filthy.

Life gets busy, hectic even. For some, the morning routine is a bustling, but completely necessary task.

Here's the scenario:

You get up, take a shower and dry off with your 'slightly fresh' towel. You brush your teeth, make a hot morning beverage then grab the dish towel and wipe the spill where you accidentally choked on your drink. Make toast, accidentally drop it, then immediately pick it back up from the ground – thankfully, it fell butter-side up.

You eat that, then whip out the cutting board and start chopping veggies for your lunch. After that, you grab the sponge and wash your plate and knife because there's no room in the dishwasher and you're out of dish pods. Out the door with minutes to spare, praying you don't hit that dreaded train.

You're at your office building now. The elevator thankfully opens as you approach as you weave past the other suits to get to your office – press your floor number ... Press it again, since the doors were taking too long and we all know that pressing the button multiple times makes it work faster. The doors shut and you're there ready for the day – but not before a visit to the communal candy dish at reception for that last pick-me-up before you login and dive into work.

Now, let me ask that boogeyman question: how many times did you wash your hands during the morning routine? How many times do you think you should have washed them?

In this hypothetical morning routine, there are 11 instances – excluding all the times you've touched a door handle, cell phone or a sink – where you've been exposed to some of the germiest household and office items.