Disinfecting should be the second step in your housework routine, after dusting. That doesn't mean you have to don surgical scrubs and autoclave everything in sight. There's a difference, after all, between disinfecting and sterilizing, and chlorine bleach is usually overkill (with the exception of occasional use on food-preparation surfaces that come into contact with raw meat and potentially harmful bacteria).

According to Cheryl Mendelson, author of Home Comforts (Scribner, $24, www.amazon.com), "you do need to sanitize occasionally in the kitchen, but by and large, using detergent and hot water is enough."

Chlorine bleach doesn't really deserve its gleaming reputation anyway. "People don't use bleach correctly," says cleaning authority and author Don Aslett. "It rots mops, oxidizes toilets, and makes the ring on the toilet white but doesn't clean it."