Mum's cleaner using wrong sponges - how worrying is this?

[Itsfreezingcold]

Mum instructed her cleaner which sponge to use on the kitchen floor and which one to use on the surfaces.
She just found out that the cleaner has been doing the opposite, for a long time.
So Mum has, herself, been using a sponge on the surfaces and sometimes the dishes (she usually uses the dishwasher) that has been used on the floor. She says she tends not to put things directly on the countertop.
She has mild digestive symptoms which I attributed to stress and medicines.
I sent a message to the GP, but wondering how worried I should be.

What is going on today?
Has yhe power cut we had last night sent MNetters squiffy? This post, someone slating their fwb because they wear glasses...
Or is it me? Is this the new normal?

Non issue - both use cleaning products and are then rinsed.
Younhave wasted the GPs time here, this is a common sense thing . Do you have health anxiety ?

Hopefully the GP will offer you something for your anxiety when they read your message.

How long was it taking to clean the floor? I’m picturing a small dishwashing sponge with green scourer on top. Brilliant. Also, cleaning by hand is the only way to get your floor properly clean. Mops are strange things.

How worried should you be? Not at all! Forget about it.

Mop for floor , cloth for surfaces. Sponges aren’t great tbh.
you are over reacting. If it had made your mum be ill- she’d be proper ill, not mild digestive issues.

Treat your mum to a steam.mop. the mop cloth goes straight into the dirty cloth bucket. As does the daily teatowel and the daily dishcloths. Wash weekly at 95° with bio powder and a handful of soda. Keeps the machine sweet too.

Hopefully your mother washes the cloths regularly. Even if not, probably not a problem.

GP's should introuduce charges for time wasters.

I'm sure I've read more than once that your surfaces are more likely to harbour dangerous bacteria than your floors are - raw meat is a bigger risk than mud (and aren't babies' highchairs usually dirtier than toilet seats, or is that an urban myth?!)

Basically, it's a bit grim, but everyone's fine, and she'll stop now anyway.

Sorry you’ve had such dismissive and actually mean answers OP when you’re worrying about your mum who for all we know may be elderly or otherwise vulnerable. Some of the chemicals in cleaning products are very strong and toxic, and although as PP have said any amounts ingested will have been minimal, I don’t think it was unreasonable of you to want to check with the GP. If nothing else the GP can look into your mum’s digestive symptoms which is a perfectly valid use of NHS time. Yes the NHS has been horribly shamefully under resourced, but that doesn’t mean we should feel we can’t seek medical advice when we have a genuine concern - that will only play into the hands of those who want the US system of abysmal free healthcare for the poor and everyone else paying into the huge profits of private healthcare.

Why is her cleaner being expected to clean the floor using a sponge which is the same size as a dish sponge in the first place?

We once had a cleaner who used a cloth on the toilet and then was going to use the same cloth on the kitchen bench. I was stunned.

Why on earth would you message the GP about this?

Imagine being the GP that gets a message about the sponges. 🥴

Shouldn't sponges be getting washed every day or two anyway?

It's stressful working in an underfunded and overworked NHS service where moral is at an all time low and service are being cut and leaving staff not replaced. Your surgery will be very thankful for your email because they'll still be laughing about it for years to come "Remember that time we got that email off that woman wanting medical advice about the kitchen sponge mix up?". You've provided cheer at a bleak time.

We saw a maid do that in a self catering holiday apartment. It was a rainy day so we were sat in the lounge. She came in with one cloth and one squirty bottle. Went to clean the toilet first and then came back into the living area with the same single cloth and squirty bottle and started cleaning the kitchen worktops with it! We quickly ushered her out and put on the "no cleaning required" sign on the door for the rest of the holiday. Now in hotels etc., we do the same, and don't have them in at all - if we need a towel swap, we ask them in the corridor or at reception. We just keep hotel rooms clean ourselves - better than having a manky cloth run round that could have been anywhere!

My first thought was why would you expect the floor to be cleaned with a tiny sponge? And not replace it regularly?

I can’t see how floor cleaner chemicals are any worse than surface cleaner chemicals. Most people rinse the sponge/cloth after use too so I can’t see how it would be an issue.

Give over. If the symptoms were bad enough she'd have already contacted the surgery for advice. All she needs to do is ensure it doesn't happen again. There was no need to contact the surgery.

How did the sponges even get mixed up?

Surely the answer is simple - now that they are both using the same sponges for the same things, get new sponges.

OP, I’m sorry but I am absolutely HOWLING at this. Your poor mum has been scrubbing the floor and then wiping down the worktops (and THE DISHES?!) with the same sponge for how long?!Yes, it’s utterly rank, but let’s be real—most of us have eaten something questionable off the floor before and lived to tell the tale. The human body is surprisingly resilient. If she’s not been keeling over with full-blown food poisoning, it’s probably more of a “mildly disgusting but survivable” situation rather than an “imminent death” one.That said, BIN THE SPONGES. Dettol the whole kitchen within an inch of its life. Maybe invest in some colour-coded cleaning cloths and possibly a new cleaner while you're at it?!As for the digestive symptoms, it’s possible there’s a link, but given she’s already got stress and meds in the mix, it’s not necessarily the culprit. Definitely worth mentioning to the GP just in case, but unless she’s suddenly projectile vomiting or worse, I wouldn’t be calling 999 just yet.Also, I need to know—has she told the cleaner? Because that’s a conversation I’d love to witness…

I'm sure your mum will be fine. Do seek medical advice if your Mum becomes unwell, but this is vanishingly unlikely so you don't need to do it "just in case".

This is also not the cleaners fault. I know you haven't said that, but I feel it's important to be clear.

When mistakes are investigated, common themes are communication failures and system failures. By having sponges that could become confused you had a system at risk of failure, which became confused by a communication breakdown.

Set up a clear, safe and understandable system and there will be no further errors.

I personally, wouldn't use a sponge for washing up or floor cleaning. The washing up sponge will harbour millions of bacteria, and the floor will be hard to dry leading to a risk of falls.

Use a microfibre cloth or similar to wash up and put it in the wash along with tea towels at the end of the day.

Use a mop, or an electric mop/steamer on the floor so that it can dry. This has the added benefit of not resembling a washing up cloth.

Who cleans the floor with a little sponge?

Studies have kitchen sponges have large colonies of bacteria - and can be dirtier than the toilet. Leaving aside the current issue, change to something else (washable kitchen dishcloths as an example)