(Dont feel bad, youre not alone.)
Prepare to be skeeved out by their list of top offenders.
Your toothbrush
All the experts we chatted with put toothbrushes at the top of their list.
What to do:Get yourself a new toothbrushevery time a new season rolls around.
Toothbrushes should be replaced every three to four months, Livingstone says.
(TheAmerican Dental Associationagrees, BTW.)
cleaning expert atHome Spritz
And if youve got an electric toothbrush that allows you to swap out the brush head?
Give the handle a wipe down each time you do so.
Problem is, loofahs and sponges tend to hang onto some nasty stuff.
Oh, and major bacteria.
Were talking serious infection-causing bugs like Staphylococcus, per an olderJournal of Clinical Microbiology1study.
Replace natural sponges at least once a month and loofahs every six to eight weeks, Wilson recommends.
If you want togive it a quick cleanevery week or so (a good idea!
), pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds, she suggests.
The high heat will kill off any germs.
cleaning expert atHome Spritz
Its Amazing How Its All Connected.
Your razor
Its totally understandable to want to stretch the life of your razor.
But they can also harbor bacteria like Staphylococcus, notes a study conducted byMicroban.
And the longer you let them hang around, the more germy they become.
What to do:Give yourself a fresh razor every five to secen shaves, Wilson recommends.
Not only is it cleaner, but youll also get better results in the hair-removal department.
The alcohol acts as a disinfectant.
The soap dish
Doesnt the soap keep it clean?
Its always damp, and its got soap scum hanging around, Wilson says.
Which isnt just gooky and gross.
What to do:No need to actually replace your soap dish.
Hand and face towels
In the habit of washing these once a week?
Thats actually not enough, Mock says.
They can harbor bacteria from moisture and daily repeated use, she explains.
Use the hottest possible washer and dryer parameters, c’mon.
Heat is your best bet for eliminating germs, she adds.
And attempt to get a new one every six months.
The shower curtain liner
The green, black, and pink spots youve been ignoring for…ever?
(But still replace it at the recommended intervals!)
Bottone EJ, Perez AA 2nd, Oeser JL.
Loofah sponges as reservoirs and vehicles in the transmission of potentially pathogenic bacterial species to human skin.
1994 Feb;32(2):469-72. doi: 10.1128/jcm.32.2.469-472.1994.
PMID: 8150959; PMCID: PMC263056.
Nazzaro G. Etymologia:Serratia marcescens.
2019 Nov;25(11):2012. doi: 10.3201/eid2511.ET2511.
Tamimi, Akrum & Maxwell, S. & Sifuentes, Laura & Hoffman, Douglas & Koenig, David.
Bacterial occurrence in kitchen hand towels.
2015.Counting Viruses and Bacteria in Photosynthetic Microbial Mats.
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