How often should you brush your teeth? Change your linens or towels? Is bathing every day even necessary? Here are a few hygiene tips worth sharing with family and friends. Nothing says “love” like stopping bad breath and communicable diseases in their tracks.
Our daily bath
According to Dr. Robert Shmerling of Harvard Medical School, approximately two-thirds of Americans bathe or shower daily. This habit usually starts around puberty and continues into old age, but is it necessary?
While it might be a good way for Big Bathroom to sell you more products in order to conform to social norms, showering daily might do more harm than good. You can dry out your skin, scrub away good bacteria and weaken your immune system, not to mention come into contact with more chemicals and additives from scrubs and sprays, Shmerling notes.
If you’re typically dirty, sweaty or have other health reasons to shower daily, go for it. But you might want to consider backing down to a few times a week. Keep it as brief as possible to avoid drying out your skin with hot water. Try short showers lasting three to four minutes where you concentrate on high-humidity areas like skin folds and your “pits-n-bits” (armpits, groin and rear end).
Lather, rinse, repeat?
Loathed by toddlers everywhere, bath time is a simple process that humans, unsurprisingly, tend to overcomplicate. For some, cleanliness may be next to godliness, while others may rely on Axe in the hopes of masking their musk. (Spoiler alert: This rarely works.) So, what works?
You can thank Big Shampoo for the “recommendation” of lather, rinse and repeat. According to experts at Columbia University, washing twice in the week might be unnecessary, let alone washing twice in the same shower. Your hair needs the natural oils that can be stripped with frequent washings. Advice from stylists and other experts varies, but it mostly breaks down like this:
• Thick, curly, coarse, or dry hair: Shampoo once a week, condition in between, concentrating on the ends.
• Straight or fine hair: Shampoo every two or three days; use a dry shampoo between if needed.
• Natural black hair: For tight curls, shampoo every two weeks; for looser curls once or twice a week; use conditioner in between.
• Afro, mixed-textured, very curly or extremely dry: Try co-washing—washing your hair solely with conditioner.
• Chemically processed hair: Shampoo a few times a week with a gentle shampoo to avoid stripping color or adding dryness.
• If you have an itchy scalp, think your hair smells, finished a sweaty workout or look or feel greasy, by all means, feel free to shampoo.
So mouthy
To maintain good oral health, the American Dental Association recommends brushing your teeth for two minutes at least twice a day with a soft-bristle brush and an ADA-approved fluoride toothpaste. Floss once a day. (Bonus points if you use mouthwash and a tongue scraper.)
Don’t brush your teeth immediately after eating or drinking something highly acidic. (Coffee drinkers, we’re looking at you!) The acid weakens enamel and immediate brushing can actually damage your teeth. Either wait an hour to brush or rinse your mouth thoroughly with water before brushing.
Ch-ch-changes
Not surprisingly, the stuff we use to get clean gets dirty. Here’s how often to change your …
• Toothbrush: Replace your toothbrush every three to four months, or sooner if the bristles are frayed.
• Loofah: Replace your natural sponge loofah every three to four weeks, and a plastic one every two to three months.
• Bath towel: Switch out or launder your bath towel once a week. Replace your washcloth several times a week. Always be sure to hang up wet towels to allow them to dry thoroughly.
• Bedsheets: Change your sheets every other week, at least, more if you’re prone to night sweats. Wash your pillowcase every few days if you have oily skin and/or hair.
• Socks and underwear: Come on. Daily, at least.
• Hairbrush: Surprise! You should be cleaning your hairbrush every week or so, more often if you can see product buildup.
• Makeup: In general, replace mascara after three months, blushes and eye shadows every one to two years, liquid eyeliner after three months, pencil eyeliner after two years. Replace foundations and concealers every year.
• Makeup brushes: Clean sponges and blenders after every use, replacing them completely every three months. Wash brushes every week or so, then replace after one to five years depending on brush quality.
Random hygiene facts
• One in five people don’t wash their hands after going to the bathroom. Among those who do, only 30% use soap. The CDC recommends 15-20 seconds of vigorous hand washing with soap and water to remove germs effectively.
• In the 14th century, medical professionals at the Sorbonne in Paris decided washing was bad for your health. The thinking was that warm water opens pores, which would increase a person’s risk of contracting the bubonic plague. People avoided hot water and washing for the next 500 years.
• Bacteria need zero seconds to contaminate food. Sorry, no five-second rule. (But maybe eat it anyway. Some germs are good for you.)
• The human body is home to more than 1,000 species of bacteria.
• “Hygiene” comes from Hygieia, the Greek goddess of health and cleanliness.
• King James VI of Scotland, I of England, refused to bathe. He wore the same clothes for months, sometimes sleeping in them.
• Television remotes are the germiest things in hospitals and hotel rooms, even worse than toilet handles.
This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.