How clean is that escalator? Woman goes around Singapore checking how dirty the handrails are

We're always reminded to hold the handrails of an escalator for safety purposes. However, with so many people doing so daily, it isn't surprising that these aren't exactly the cleanest place to put your hands on. 

Curious to know how filthy the ones in Singapore are, TikTok user Jessicalohmy, 33, who goes by the name Jessica, posted a series of videos of herself using a wet wipe to swipe several escalators handrails located in different parts of Singapore to check for grime.

Over in the US, several TikTok users have also hoped onto this trend posting similar videos.

Speaking to AsiaOne, Jessica said that she conducted the experiment to show her children how dirty handrails actually are to discourage them from "running their hands through it". 

Her first video, which was posted last Friday (Aug 12) shows her wiping the handrail of an escalator located at City Square Mall's basement.

After a few seconds of leaving the wet wipe on the moving handrail, she removed it, revealing several dark stains. 

"Where next?" she asked in the captions and audio of the video, encouraging netizens to propose more places for her to run this experiment. 

And that's exactly what they did where some of the suggestions thrown up by netizens include Hougang Green Shopping Mall, Toa Payoh MRT station and Golden Mile Complex. 

One cheeky netizen asked her to go to her house to help clean all the window grilles and windows, while another even recommended her to try the experiment on a karaoke lounge sofa. 

The next few places she visited included Suntec City and Sun Plaza.

One netizen also suggested Woodlands Bus Interchange, pointing out that the escalators there are supposed to have an automatic sanitisation function. 

And the TikTok user delivered once again, attempting the experiment at an escalator at Woodlands Bus Interchange with a video uploaded on the same day (Aug 16).

However, the handrails of this escalator turned out to be just as dirty as the previous ones, according to her video.

Another highly requested place was Golden Mile Complex and in her fifth and most recent video, which was uploaded yesterday (Aug 16), the user swiped the escalator located on level one of the mall. 

Out of the five places she experimented on, Jessica told us that Golden Mile Complex had one of the dirtiest escalator handrails. 

Despite the dirt Jessica unearthed, some netizens were surprised Singapore's handrails are actually quite clean compared to those in other countries. 

Jessica told AsiaOne that most of the handrails were "cleaner than expected".

There were also netizens who pointed out that her videos may get some of the cleaners into trouble as their managers may think that they are not doing their job. 

However, Jessica told AsiaOne that she thinks the cleaners are doing their job and the dirt situation is "not so bad".

Apart from escalators, there are other unsuspecting objects we touch every day that is filthier than you think including money, ATM machines and light switches. 

ALSO READ: 'This may be the dirtiest place in Singapore': Chinese student dismayed by the filth in Chinatown

melissateo@asiaone.com