CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- NBC Charlotte is blowing the lid off a dirty little secret: Just how "germ-infested" are the common things you touch every day?
We've shown you how germs can spread -- invisible to the naked eye. Now we're measuring how many pathogens you're exposed to throughout the day, starting with the dirtiest.
Unless you're driving a plug-in or a Tesla, you have to fill up with gas. That means touching the pumps -- along with everyone else. We used the "filth finder" to test them.
The "filth finder" tests for living material that can make you sick to your stomach, vomit or give you a cold. Under 30 is clean, over 30 is dirty and a disinfectant wipe will usually get it into the safe range.
The gas pump handle got a score of 531 -- more than 17 times the limit. But wait, the keypad is much, much worse with a score of 5,947. That's the highest reading we've ever recorded.
These numbers may come as no surprise since we all know gas pumps are dirty. Movie theaters should be cleaner, right?
Before you even get inside, you pick up your tickets, probably at a kiosk. That touchscreen comes in at comes in at 92 -- three times over the limit. We're not even through the door yet.
In the bathroom, we're checking the one thing that's supposed to keep you clean: The soap dispenser handle. It's at double the limit, 60.
Physician Andrew Carroll said that's not too surprising.
"Hopefully, you are in the process of washing your hands right after you touch that. You wouldn't just touch the back of it and then leave the bathroom. It's also a surface that the cleaners don't think about cleaning."
The same situation applies to armrests in the theater; your arm and everyone else's has rested on there. At the first showing, 11 a.m., the armrest came in at 135 -- four times the limit.
However, here's the biggest shock of the test. You know the sticky movie theater floor? Who knows what's been spilled on it? We swabbed that too, and the floor was immaculate. It was a one; that's almost sanitized.
"I think probably overnight the janitorial crew is giving it a very, very, very good clean."
That's what you hope for at a hotel, too. Test number one: The TV stand. The result? 56. Remember, anything over 30 is dirty. The phone looked like it was wiped down. Appearances can be deceiving; the score was 115.
Then the moment of truth; the hotel bathroom was tested. The toilet seat came in at 21; that's clean. The shower head registered four, even cleaner.
The dirtiest thing in the room was the TV remote; it registered 295, ten times the limit. So you may have second thoughts about changing the channel the next time you book a room.