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.

half term

I don't think you need to be worried at all tbh. Both floor and surfaces will presumably be cleaned with hot water and detergent which will significantly reduce any germs on both sponges. Also while floors can have a lot of germs on them, they're not an automatic passport to illness. We are quite hardy really. I think the thought of this is worse than the reality. If your mums having digestive issues, she needs to get that checked out separately though. It's unlikely to be caused by the sponge.

Much more likely that digestive problems are related to medications and reasons for said medications.

I can not visualise how one would have a similar piece of cloth to clean the floor and the dishes..

What’s a floor sponge? It must take ages to clean the floor!

But obviously this is not an issue to worry about.

I feel like I’m cleaning wrong. Why does she have a floor sponge? I sweep then mop. I’m trying to imagine cleaning whole floor with a sponge.

The cleaner has to wash the floor with a sponge? Like on her knees?

Your mother's house probably isn't that dirty. Maybe keep sponges for the counters and get the poor bugger some sort of mop/streamer to use on the floors.

OMG.

If you had to pay - let's say £50 for an email or telephone consult, obviously it would be a lot more than that in some countries - would you have emailed the GP?

The NHS. Free at the point of (ab)use.

Non issue.

Ooooh yay. You corrected a typo. Clever you.

here’s a medal.

Why should your very local power cut affect the rest of us? People post astonishing things on here all the time. It's nothing new.

I agree. I find it really concerning that people seem to genuinely lack even basic common sense.

You called the GP ….WTAF!

Washing up sponges stay moist so they grow bacteria anyway
a dish cloth is much better and you can bleach it

Btw
what power cut was that ?
and where

Just like that comment was!

It was a joke, ffs!
Dear god

Alternatively the cleaner simply made a mistake, as we all do. This would make her neither ‘ slovenly’ nor ‘ totally clueless’. The mistake itself is a non-issue. As others have said, unless the OP’s mother is actually ingesting the sponge, the chances of this causing any harm at all are zero. Yet somehow we have used this non-issue to denigrate the character of someone we don’t even know.

Unless she's spending hours licking the surfaces and/or the floor, she'll be absolutely fine.

Mostly unrelated, but I'm a bit confused by someone cleaning a floor with a sponge. A mop surely?? I thought the only time you'd use a sponge on the floor was if you dripped a little bit of something that you wanted to just quickly wipe up. A bit of sauce or something.

Washing up sponges are usually the most contaminated cleaning cloth so unlikely using the "wrong" one would cause any symptoms. Presumably they use appropriate cleaning products.

Feels like the fall of Rome really...

Calling GP ; ridiculous
Solution; buy a mop

@Switcher
Nearly as bad as the trauma of the Ms/Miss poster or she of the bedroom holiday drama

In future maybe cleaning cloths which get washed would be a better option for the floor, and a different style for surfaces then use the sponge just for dishes. Or one of those speed mops for the floor for absolute safety

Sorry, another one here who doesn't understand who uses a sponge on the floor? And if your dm is living alone I doubt the floors are that dirty? But yes - get a mop and bucket. I'm sure the cleaner resents having to get down on her knees and scrub the floor with a sponge!

Are we talking about those little washing up sponges that you can get in a multi pack for under a quid?
If so just get a new pack every time the cleaner comes.