WELCOME TO NERDTWIST
Pretty much all aspects of your daily
routine tend to be disgusting and your
hygiene habits are way worse than you
think. Although this list doesn’t cover
absolutely every way your life is a fungal-
fueled fiasco, these are some of the more
pressing habits you should probably
address as soon as humanly possible.
1. Your antibacterial hand soap could be
messing with your hormonal chemistry.
Also, it’s not as effective as you think.
Antibacterial soaps contain a chemical called
triclosan that has been shown to alter
hormone levels when tested on animals.
Triclosan is in about 75 percent of
antibacterial soaps, and also can be found in
household cleaning products and some
toothpastes. Regardless of the potential
effects of triclosan, antibacterial soap is no
more effective than regular soap at
preventing illness.
2. Washing your clothes might get rid of
dirt, but it also has a good chance of
covering your laundry in E. coli and feces.
Research by microbiologists has shown that
doing just one load of underwear in the
washing machine can transmit 100 million E.
coli into the water, which can then transfer
over to the next load. To reduce the problem,
it is suggested you run the washer at 150
degrees and transfer laundry to the dryer as
quickly as possible, since bacteria multiply in
damp areas. None of this may help, however.
At any rate, we’re all wearing at little bit of
feces. It’s unavoidable.
3. You probably spend a lot of time getting
up close and personal with the dirtiest part
of your home.
Bathroom floors can be home to 2 million
bacteria per square inch, while more than
500,000 bacteria per square inch can live in
just the kitchen sink’s drain alone.
Researchers claim the kitchen sink is far less
sanitary than your toilet bowl, as those plates
and pots left to soak are breeding grounds
for bacteria like E. coli and salmonella.
4. Not everything you put into the toilet
stays there when you flush.
Flushing open toilets causes fecal matter to
fly into the air. And yep, your toothbrush is
covered in fecal germs, if you have a joined
WC and a bathroom. With the lid open, the
particles will float as far as 6 feet away so
make sure at the very least that top is down
and your toothbrush is out of range or
covered.
5. If you’ve been drying your hands with
air dryers, it might be time to switch back
to paper towels.
Epidemiologists, after conductingvarious
studies, have concluded that paper towels
are actually more hygienic than hand dryers
(while also using less energy to make than
what is needed to produce the air in the
dryer). When testing the effectiveness
between paper towels, and a warm air dryer,
researchers also found that paper towels are
the cleanest way to go. Much of the benefit
comes from how quickly paper towels get
your hands dry, as leaving them wet makes
them bacteria magnets. Paper towels have
been found to take about 15 seconds, while
air dryers take 45 seconds – too long,
considering people usually only spend 13 to
17 seconds drying off.
6. Don’t eat food that has been picked up
from the floor.
According to a recent study, 99 percent of
bacteria is transferred immediately when
food hits the floor. Some floors might be
more dangerous than others, as dry, hard
surfaces have a much harder time harboring
bacteria than wet or carpeted areas. The type
of food also matters. Those withhigher salt
and sugar contents seem to pick up germs
much more slowly.
7. You haven’t been scrubbing your belly
button as much as you’re about to.
Researchers found 2,368 unique species of
bacteria after swabbing just 60 belly buttons.
Of these, 1,458 may have been completely
new to science. In this same study, one
man’s belly button was found to be home to
bacteria previously known to exist only in the
soil of Japan. Scrub those navels…
8. Your daily shower and shampoo routine
is overkill.
Dermatologists say if you wash your hair
every day, you’re removing the sebum
(natural hair oils). Then the oil glands
compensate by producing more oil. They
recommend washing your hair only 2 or 3
times a week. If you do end up feeling the
need to still wash your hair every day, just
make sure it’s a gentle shampoo — and don’t
rinse and repeat!
9. You’re probably taking care of your
contacts all wrong.
Virtually nobody is taking proper care of their
lenses. It’s fairly easy to getbiofilm on the
contacts, which is a thin layer of bacteria.
Rinsing with tap water causes the lenses to
soak up the non-sterile water. Re-using
contact solution day to day will cause the
contacts to be contaminated with germs and
greatly increases the risk of eye infection.
Also, make sure to replace those cases often
and remove all residue liquid after rinsing,
because once again bacteria builds up on wet
surfaces.
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