A SURVEY CONCERNING the cleanliness of handbags has revealed that the most unhygienic item in the average bag is a bunch of keys – followed by the zip on a purse or wallet and, finally, the handbag zip itself.

The study claimed that door and car keys were, on average, 33 per cent dirtier than what is considered to be a “clean” surface.

In a seperate survey b y the same company, Initial Washroom Solutions, 51 per cent of respondents said they believed their phone would be the least clean item in their handbang, while 22 per cent thought their keys were the dirtiest.

Of those who took part in the survey, 53 per cent said they regularly disinfected their phone, less than 5 per cent regularly disinfected their purse and just 3 per cent regularly disinfected their keys.

Twenty-nine per cent of respondents said they cleaned their handbag “every few weeks”, and 74 per cent of those said removing rubbish and old receipts was the full extent of their cleaning.

Those who did decide to spring clean their bags found a range of charming items – including old tissues (66 per cent), old sweet wrappers (75 per cent) and crumbs (34 per cent) – unsurprising, perhaps, as 52 per cent admitted to keeping food in their handbag.

Are you one of the (apparently few) people that braves peering into the dark recesses of your handbag every now and then? If so, we’d like to know…

What’s the weirdest thing you have ever come across in your bag?