Sun Lite, Las Vegas Sun, July 19, 2004

Columnist Lisa Ferguson: Sun Lite for July 19, 2004 Lisa Ferguson Monday, July 19, 2004 | 8:09 a.m. The gross-out season The sun is shining. The weather is warm. Who's thinking about germs at a time like this? Why, Dr. Charles Gerba, of course. The University of Arizona professor is a germ expert who was called on earlier this year by GOJO Industries, the Akron, Ohio, producers of Purell hand sanitizer and other skin-care products, to assist in a survey sponsored by the company. Gerba set out swabbing all sorts of surfaces at "outdoor places" frequented during the summer months - including playgrounds, publics restrooms and picnic areas - in search of germs. Meanwhile GOJO's telephone survey of 1,000 adults revealed that a good many are clueless about where germs live. Despite what 64 percent of those polled may think, the buttons on ATM machines are actually home to more germs than doorknobs in public restrooms. Likewise, Gerba found that picnic tables and the handles on shopping carts and escalators are more germ infested than the average outdoor Porta Potti (trademark). The dirtiest of the lot tested - named by only 9 percent of respondents - was playground equipment. (No info was provided about how the remaining 27 percent of those queried answered.) On the home front, it turns out that most kitchen sinks fester with germs, even more so than the average household toilet bowl and garbage can. Go figure: Commodes in the employee washrooms at office buildings, Gerba discovered, are generally less germ-ridden than the bulk of workplace desks, computer keyboards and elevator buttons. All washed up If those disgusting findings don't give you an overwhelming urge to pick up a mop and get busy cleaning, maybe this will: Quickie Manufacturing Corporation, the maker of Quickie-brand mops, brushes and other cleaning tools, is celebrating the launch of its new Web site, www.quickie.com. It features information about the Cinnaminson, N.J.-based company's line of products and instructions on how to use them; the "Ask Mary" question-and-answer section; and even a link for completing applications for employment with the company. Quickie is also sponsoring its "Around the Home" sweepstakes. From Aug. 1 through Oct. 31, visitors to the site who complete a brief survey are entered into the contest. A pair of grand-prize winners will receive $1,000 and a cache of cleaning tools for tidying up their kitchens, living rooms and bathrooms. Those winners (along with five first-prize, 10 second-prize and 20 third-prize winners) will be selected at random Dec. 1. Bar none The party animals at Proctor & Gamble are getting down with their bad selves, too, throwing a 125th birthday bash for Ivory soap. The first bar of the snow-white stuff was sold in July of 1879. Of course, you may already have known that if you've visited the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History Web site (www.americanhistory.si.edu/ archives/ivory), which recently made available online "The Ivory Project: Advertising Soap in America 1838-1998," highlighting a slew of Ivory ads and other artifacts. A bit of trivia: Proctor & Gamble claims just five months after television was launched in this country, the soap famous for its floating abilities made its small-screen advertising debut during a 1939 baseball game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers. Of course, after 1 1/4 centuries, who wouldn't be in serious need of a makeover? This month the Ivory aloe bar was unveiled, marking "the first major formula change" in the soap's sudsy history.