A steering wheel can be up to four times dirtier than a toilet

The dirt that a steering wheel can accumulate can be surprisingly greater than other elements or public access areas

To begin with, the study we are covering was carried out by the American website CarRentals.com, so we are talking about habits and routines of users in the USA regarding the care and cleaning of the interior of their cars.

A piece of research that could mark a before and after for people with a phobia of germs, of dirt, or could even foster hypochondria, since, according to the analysis of the samples collected, one of the main concentration and spread points of dirt is the most decisive and most used element in driving a car: the steering wheel.

But before getting into the analyses and conclusions after the microbial examinations, we cannot miss the opportunity to remind you that we have already proposed our tips for washing your car like a professional, a routine that, possibly and after reading this article, many of our readers will surely extend by also taking care of the cabin of their cars.

The interior cleaning habits of Americans’ cars

Starting from the premise that this task takes an average of almost 300 hours a year behind the wheel, the first conclusion is that 12 percent of the thousand North American users surveyed have never carried out an interior cleaning treatment of their car.

The figure rises when compared with those who state they have cleaned the cabin at least once a year, which is 32 percent of participants. Adding both percentages, we get close to almost half of cars maintaining a poor or non-existent cabin cleaning.

Up to 700 types of bacteria and fungi live inside a car

The reasons why the bacterial ecosystem expands to around 700 different types of living organisms are varied. From those that enter through the air to those carried on shoes or clothing.

But this study pays special attention to those that appear due to eating and drinking inside the car.

Food or drink residues that fall in the car are a breeding ground for microorganisms that develop and reproduce quickly. Especially on the steering wheel.

According to the tests carried out based on visible microbial count procedures, a steering wheel can concentrate up to 629 CFU, Colony Forming Units, or, put another way, each square centimetre could hold up to 629 microscopic organisms living in that tiny space.

If this figure is surprising, it is even more so considering the average amounts that other objects usually register, such as the mobile phone with 100 CFU, a public toilet with 172, or public lift buttons with 313 Colony Forming Units.

In other words, the steering wheel contains almost four times more live microscopic organisms than a public toilet.

But is there anything dirtier than a car’s steering wheel?

Well, according to this study, there is, and it is also closely related to hygiene, not only of the steering wheel but of the car in general, since, for those responsible for finding the dirtiest points related to a car, petrol pumps take the dubious first place.

From the nozzle itself to the trigger that opens the flow of petrol, the massive use of these dispensers and the lack of cleaning them allows, from the outset, the establishment of microorganisms and colonies that settle on them and, through use, pass to the hands of users.

Once refuelling is done, the bacteria and fungi left on the hands pass to the steering wheel, boosting microbial growth in the car’s cabin, that is, increasing the invisible ecosystem of the car.