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While most of us learn pretty early that bad breath and BO is a recipe for zero social inclusion, that doesn’t mean that some showers and daily teeth cleaning is the be-all, end-all of health and hygiene. At the end of the day, our bodies need a lot of maintenance which most of us overlook, one way or another.
Someone asked “What’s a hygiene habit that people don't talk about but really should?” and people detailed all the things more folks need to start doing. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and share your own examples in the comments section below.
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#1
If you’re wearing protective/sterile gloves, they don’t continue to be sterile once you’ve touched something gross. The amount of times I’ve seen coworkers handle human specimens with their gloves on, and then touch their face, phone, or hair really shocks me. Same note of people handling raw chicken/meat with gloves and then proceeding to touch every surface imaginable with the gloves on drives me nuts.
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#2
Coughing and sneezing should always be inside your vampire cape or the very least covering your mouth so its not spewing out in front of you. I've lost count on how many people in public sneeze or cough without covering their mouth and see the germs being blasted throughout the area.
#3
The fact people had to be told to wash their hands during COVID. Why are you not washing your hands in the first place?
#4
Stay home if you’re coughing and sneezing, and aren’t required to be out. Went to a movie recently with reserved seats with a person behind me coughing non-stop… I could feel the air from his cough moving my hair. Thanks dude… can’t wait to give my grandparents whatever bug this is on Thanksgiving.
#6
Clean your dirty, stanky, musty, skid-marking butt holes. Trust me its not gay, you're not going to be emasculated or lose "alpha-ness". Its a body part to be cleaned. Get it together people.
#9
Using clean pillowcases.
Confused_Noodle:
Once I realized my acne flare ups were caused by dirty pillowcases, my constant acne problems disappeared
#11
Properly cleaning your feet rather than just letting the soapy water go on them in the shower.
#12
Tonsil stones.
LonelyOutWest:
Why is this so far down?? Scrolled forever to find this one. I can smell these in someone from several feet away. The cleaning kits are cheap on amazon.
#13
Not closing the lid on their toilet bowl during flushing. Not aware of the fact that millions of faeces particles are floating around during flushing. Yes, if you don't cover your toothbrush, you do have faeces particles when you brush your tooth with. Yuck…..
#14
Honestly, cleaning your phone screen regularly. It's basically a germ magnet we press to our face daily.
#18
How you wash your dishes. That sponge you bought 6 months ago is growing all sorts of bacteria.
#19
Cleaning your piercing holes no matter how old they are.
Take your earrings out and scrub bc even non-stretched lobes can get built up and [it's] nasty.
#20
The stagnant water in the washing machine. Please please please run a cycle through with nothing in it but a cup of vinegar. The water in the drum does not drain entirely. The mildewy smell in your towels? Use vinegar. It's a deorderizer as well as bringing the fluffyness back.
#21
Wash your hands after using the restroom. Especially public ones, nobody wants food poisoning because you were in a hurry, stupid or just plain lazy.
#22
Changing your bedsheets.
Vivienne1973:
Ugh. I had a roommate at college who changed her sheets at the end of each semester...and that was it.
Barf.
#23
Great tips here about just washing areas most people don't bother, I'll add that properly drying your feet, arm pits and groin area is just as important. We often ignore the moisture between our toes and genitals then proceed to cover them up with clothes and underwear. That moisture just sits and creates bacteria, properly drying them with warm air from a blow-dryer can make a huge difference with respect to smell and general health. Learned this after years of athlete foot issues, I never bothered drying between my toes. Just got out, toweled off and put on my clothes. Its been a game changer ever since.
#24
Women like to parrot what they’ve heard on the internet that the vagina is a self cleaning organ and not wash themselves. Yes the v*gina is a self cleaning organ but the vagina is the inside, meaning douching is unhealthy. The vulva which is actually what’s on the outside needs to be cleaned just like every other area of skin.
#25
You're not supposed to rinse your mouth after you brush your teeth with fluoride toothpaste.
#26
Apparently around my age using deodorant??
I swear I see s**t ton of guys on a normal day smelling worse than I did after a 13h shift during summer...
Just use soap and any kind of deodorant you like, it's that simple and only takes you a few minutes.
Please.
#27
Lifting up b**bs, fupas, etc, to wash. think a lot of people were once smaller and not used to sweat collecting certain places once we gain weight the smell is...interesting
#29
Lads, clean your f*****g facial hair. Too many guys I know don't wash it at all because they think the shampoo running off their head is enough. You're going to give your partners a rash/acne.
#30
Cleaning your keys. I know that sounds insane, but hear me out. My husband carries a set of about 20 keys on a daily basis. They end up on my kitchen counter and I pick them up to move them out of the way. I can FEEL the grunge on them. And my husband is fastidious about hand washing. Well, I take that set of keys and soak them in hot, soapy water, then rinse and lay them out to dry. Next morning, they feel clean. The difference is shocking. Grunge to glorious. He thinks I’m crazy for washing them. I think about everything he touches when he’s out working and I don’t want all those germs in my house.
#31
Wipe around the edges of your dishwasher door - the door itself and the door frame of the dishwasher.
Dishwasher Cleaner can’t reach the places around the door seal and when you start to clean it, you realise how much disgusting gunk builds up….
#33
Please increase your fibre intake so your poops come out cleanly and not make you wipe for days.
#34
Adjacent: Clean the bottom of your purse. You set it down everywhere, all the time and then you plop it in the kitchen counter. Barf.
#35
Quarantine your bags and clothes when you get back home and have been sleeping somewhere else ( hotels, airbnbs, friend's place, your coach's car...) it helps avoid bedbugs.
#36
I don’t understand why would anyone wear shoes on their bed and put their luggage on their bed?
#37
You don't put wooden utensils in a dishwasher, they'll trap moisture and get more bacteria in them, and they'll get ruined fast.
#38
I'm now middle aged and have noticed that young people don't pay attention to cleaning kitchens and dining areas after meals like they should... pet peeve, but I now realize that most pest infestations in my buildings have been young people, including my former self, who don't have good eating routines.
#39
A hygiene habit people don’t talk about enough is cleaning your earbuds regularly because they can get really gross and full of bacteria from daily use.
#40
I've scrolled quite far and nobody has mentioned this (and it's probably going to be buried), but washing of your private parts BEFORE and AFTER s*x.
#41
Wiping your dog’s paws and snout after a walk!!!! I judge pet parents if they do or not! And then some of them let their dog climb on their bed ugh!!! They have paw wipes guys!! They’re not expensive at all!!!
#42
For the ladies...Which way to wipe yourself.
For the men....how to clean your "member" correctly including under the foreskin.
#43
Take your earrings out when showering and rings off when prepping food. Nasty stuff gets trapped in there and it stinks.
#46
Men really should start sitting at toilet in their homes to pee. I don't really know why some people think its not natural... When visiting other people houses its your choice standing/sitting but for all that is saint if you spray some pee on seat use paper to clean it.
#47
Cleaning the outside of your ears with alcohol wipes. No one wants to smell like earing backs.
Using a nail brush to clean under your nails.
#48
Being conscious of touching your face and connected to that washing your hands a bit more often than you think you need to.
I do remember not to touch my face when I'm in public, but at home the same should apply. There's so many germs in our home environment and by touching our face and nose we may get sick. And we all do it unconsciously.
And yeah my body is super sensitive now so I'm overreacting maybe.
#49
A hygiene habit that people don’t often talk about but really should is cleaning everyday items like phones, keyboards, and remote controls. These items can harbor a lot of bacteria and are often overlooked in our cleaning routines. Regularly disinfecting them can significantly improve hygiene and reduce the risk of illness.
#51
For the dudes. Finger nails are still sharp after you trim them. If you are expecting sexy times, trim them a couple of days earlier so they lose that sharp edge.
Even after filing them down, they can still feel sharp for your partner’s sensitive bits during play.
#53
1) Sleep hygiene: not providing oneself with the right environment to get a solid good sleep frequently (includes keeping phones away from bed, not eating too much before bed time, reducing screen time before bed, getting a good pillow that is affordable etc).
2) dental hygiene: going to the dental hygienist once every six months, reducing intake of drinks/foods that will stain teeth or cause more cavities. Not flossing enough. Rushing through brushing.
3) mental hygiene: not reducing consumption of materials that will cause overstimulation and overdrive. Not nitpicking the type of digital media material to be consuming. Like books, digital content should be “few” and good. Not enough emotion regulation/mental check in on a frequent basis.
These are my observations and am still learning. Cheers!
#54
This is for all my girlies...
D O N T S H A R E M A K E U P
no makeup. all products should never be shared. its your literal face.
#55
If you have smelly pits, scrub really well with an antibacterial soap (I use a rubber scrub brush), apply a low percentage glycolic acid after your shower, and then an antiperspirant. You will no longer have stinky pits.
#56
If you sweat a lot under your arms, apply antiperspirant right after showering while your skin is still damp. For a while in my first year of college I struggled with this (I felt like I was going through puberty again) but then I switched from deodorant to antiperspirant, and put it on shortly after getting out of the shower and I hardly sweat under my arms now!
#57
When someone in your home is sick, open the windows and clean all surfaces and door handles daily to prevent others from catching it. Also, don’t share a tube of toothpaste or soap with sick people obviously.
#60
If you want to get into a heated discussion, ask your friends if they sit or stand to wipe and why.
#61
Carry tissues around to make sure you're cleaning out your nose often, no outside shoes in the house - have separate shoes for your floors, have respect for yourself.
#63
Preparing for rage replies. I'll probably get downvoted into oblivion.
Don't let your animals in your bedroom. If you must, don't let them on the bed. Unless you're washing your pet every night before they get on your bed, they're tracking everything they've walked through all day onto your bed. At best, maybe a little dirt. At worst, animal feces.
I've seen/heard about far too many cat people allowing their cats to sleep on their pillow. It doesn't matter how often you wash your pillowcase if your cat sleeps on it and you put your face there.
We never let our dog in our bedroom, let alone sleep on the bed. Dart would sit in the doorway waiting for us to come out. Sometimes, he would try to push it and crawl a little into the room, knowing he wasn't allowed in.
Keeping him out of the bedroom and running an air purifier did wonders for my wife's allergies.
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