If You Have A Knife Block At Home, You Need To Clean It Immediately

There are certain things in your home that wouldn't surprise you to learn that they are dirty - toilet bowls, garbage cans, doorknobs - but it turns out that there is another gross place where bacteria is growing and you would have no idea - your knife block.

Even though you are putting the utensils in there after cleaning them, germs and bacteria still find a way down those slits in the block, and the conditions are just right for some nasty things to live and breed in there. TikToker @HowDirtyIs, who uses his account to investigate potentially dirty places, did a video on the knife block and what he found has commenters pretty disgusted. After swabbing the inside of a slot on a knife block, he cultivated what was on the swab in a petri dish and tons of bacteria wound up growing.

Plenty of commenters expressed disgust, with many writing "gross" and others lamenting about how they were left "feeling sick." Another person asked, "But for real... how are we supposed to clean it AND why have I never even thought to ask??!!" while someone else wrote, "I see a magnetic knife block in your future."

According to Delish, wooden knife blocks can be a breeding ground for E. coli, Salmonella and Staphylococcus because the shape of the blocks trap moisture and sometimes crumbs and food particles. Not surprisingly, it is recommended to clean in those crevices and let them dry regularly.