A study revealed that more than 95 percent of handbags harbor some kind of bacteria. If that wasn’t bad enough, viruses can live on handbag surfaces for hours or even days at a time. The good news is that regularly cleaning your handbag can help keep pathogens at bay. Here’s how to do it.

Clean Out Your Handbag

Those old tissues and tubes of lipstick are probably only adding to the germ count. Plus, it’s a lot easier to give your handbag a good cleaning with less stuff in the way. Remove everything from your handbag, making sure to ditch anything that’s old or that you don’t use. Also, take some time to clean your wallet.

Clean Your Payment Cards

Don’t neglect to disinfect your credit and debit cards, which research shows are the dirtiest items in your handbag. There are two ways to clean payment cards: with good old soap and water or with an EPA-approved disinfectant for killing viruses. Just check to make sure your signature is still visible. If not, sign the card again after it dries.