Guide for Replacing Household Items

This intelligence could help you stay healthy – or even save your life. It comes from Prevention magazine.

• Your toothbrush. Replace itevery three to four MONTHS. The American Dental Association recommends a three to four month rotation because frayed and worn bristles don't clean as well - leaving teeth more vulnerable to decay. Plus, damp toothbrushes are perfect playgrounds for bacteria – and after a while you’re just scrubbing your teeth with a germ stick.
  
  
• What about your air conditioner? This is a good question with summer coming up. With proper maintenance - including annual servicing - a room or central air conditioner can easily run for up to 15 years. Especially if you don't operate it year round. So says Bill Harrison - president of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers. Make sure you replace your air-conditioner filter. Clogged filters allow dirt to settle on an air conditioner’s coils, which leads to mud forming whenever the coils get wet. That’s a perfect recipe for mold spores, which then get blown all over your house. Also, enough grime can cause your whole A/C system to break down. You can avoid an expensive repair by installing a new filter each month the air conditioner is in use.
  
  
• What about antibacterial cream – like Neosporin? Toss it after a YEAR. Beyond a year, the antibiotic is probably still good, but the chemical mix in the ointment may start to go bad, which may make the product less effective.
  
  
• Finally, here’s an expiration date that could save your life: When should you replace your fire extinguishers? Replace them every 10 YEARS. Portable extinguishers may lose pressure over time and become ineffective - whether or not they've been triggered. That’s the word from the National Fire Protection Association. Replace your smoke alarms after 10 years, too. You should also replace the batteries every year, and test your alarms monthly. If one flunks, throw it out.