A bathroom towel receive one thousand thousand upon millions of bacterial visitors after just a individual use , so it might worry you to discover that a concerning ratio of multitude only wash their towels a couple of clip a class ( at least if this sight from the UK is anything to go by ) .
Arecent studycourtesy of a shower company asked 2,200 people in the UK how often they wash their towel and had some highly worrying responses .
Almost a quarter ( 24 percentage ) of the answerer said they dampen their towel once a calendar week and one in 20 ( 5 percent ) said they do so after every individual bath or shower . Around one - third ( 33 per centum ) said they wash their bathroom towel just once every three months , while 8 pct only wash their bathroom towel twice a year .
Most worrying of all , 3 per centum of people survey only lave their privy towels once a class . If those finding are representative of the whole of the UK , that would compare to over 1.5 million people .
What bacteria live in dirty towels?
consort to data point cited by the study , a freshlywashedtowel is loaded with around 190,000 bacterium , but that increases to 17 million after just one day of use , and up to 94 million after a calendar week .
Many of these bacteria will be harmless , but some will have the potential difference to make you sick . One of the most likely suspects isEscherichia coli , bacteria found in poop that are pathogenic and can cause serious food intoxication in their hosts .
Astudyby microbiologists at the University of Arizona study dozens of kitchen towel and observe coliform bacteria in 89 percent of samples , plusE. coliin 25 pct of towels . Coliform bacteria , by the room , are typically found in animal shit and are a fairly salutary indicator ofunsanitary conditions .
Whilekitchenhand towels are exhibit to different risks like raw food , the same team hasreportedlymade alike findings in bathroom towel , with 90 percent carrying coliform bacteria and about 14 pct carryingE. coli .
fortuitously , unless you ’re eating your dirty towel , the risk of ingesting pathogenic bacteria while drying yourself is pretty low . However , a dingy towel does have the very real potency to introduce germs into the skin via cuts , scraping , and abrasions .
In 2003 , there was an unexpected irruption of MRSA among college football game players in Los Angeles . Scientistsstudied the outbreakand concluded that it was likely spur on by athlete sharing muddied towels , specifically , using them to dry out off sward sunburn they picked up during the plot .
Studieshave also found links between share dirty towel and outbreaks ofBacillus cereus , a potentially morbific bacteria commonly found in land and food .
“ Regular washing of bathroom towels is important to sustain cleanliness and abbreviate the risk of infection . Towels run to accumulate moisture , creating an surround contributive to bacterial and fungous growth , ” say Dr Hamdan Abdullah Hamed , a board - certified skin doctor and medical practician in the UAE , commentingon the survey findings .
“ Bacteria like[Staphylococcus ] aureuscan go to skin infections , while fungi likeCandidayeast can stimulate issues like athlete’sfootor barm infections . to boot , dirty towels may contain allergens that can trigger hypersensitised reactions or skin innervation in sensitive individuals , ” he supply .
How often should you wash your bathroom towel?
“ consider wash towel after every three to four uses to rule out bacteria , dirt , dead skin cell , and allergens , ensuring optimum hygiene and minimising health endangerment , ” explain Dr Hamed .
To cut the risk of lounge pathogens , theCleaning Institutealso commend washing bathroom towels after three to five uses , so about once or twice a week if you shower most days – although it reckon like only a quarter of Brits would agree .
