Bathroom blunders that can harm


You flush the toilet while the lid is up

Faecal matter and urine can fly as far as 1.8 metres away from the toilet bowl during each flush, according to Charles Gerba, a microbiologist. Close the lid before you flush to keep those gross particles in your toilet and out of the air.

You throw wet wipes in the toilet

Many “flushable” wipes aren’t as toilet-friendly as they claim to be. In fact, tests conducted by Consumer Reports showed that some personal cleansing wipes still couldn’t break down in the water after ten minutes compared to regular toilet paper which disintegrated within seconds. These “flushable” wipes have been well known for clogging sewer systems in major cities. Other toiletries that should never be flushed down the toilet include: sanitary napkins, tampons, condoms, band-aids and dental floss.

You pile your hair on top of your head as you shampoo


You clean your ears with cotton buds You clean your ears with cotton buds

Earwax may be gross, but it’s your eardrum’s best natural defence against dust and dirt. Chewing and talking help your jaw move the wax from your inner ear outward. But the moment you shove a cotton bud in your ear canal, you undo all of your body’s hard work! Cotton buds push the wax back into your ear where it can get stuck. Limit your swabbing to just the external crevices of your ear and leave your ear canals alone.

You sit on the toilet too long

Some people like to use their toilet time to catch up on a good book or scroll through their phone. But there is a common health risk associated with sitting on the ceramic throne for too long: haemorrhoids. The seated position places a lot of pressure on the veins in your lower rectum which can swell or bulge and cause haemorrhoids. The most common symptom of haemorrhoids is rectal bleeding but you may experience itchiness or discomfort around the rectal area. Fortunately, haemorrhoids typically clear up within a week. Just remember that the toilet isn’t the time or place for “me” time.

You use a washcloth to clean your face



You don’t rinse your bar soap in between uses


You clean surfaces at room temperature

Heating your bath, sink and tiles just five degrees above the normal air temperature “doubles the effectiveness” of alkaline cleansers, Jenny Botero, resident manager of Crystal Gateway Marriott told For the best results, fill your bath or sink with the hottest water you can run from the tap. Let the piping hot water sit for a few minutes before you start scrubbing and cleaning surfaces.

You keep your toothbrush too close to the toilet

Toothbrushes should be stored about 1.2 metres or more from the toilet because, as noted above, faecal matter and urine can propel from the toilet bowl when you flush with the lid open. The sink is another area that’s off-limits, since soap and dirty water can splash onto your toothbrush. It’s recommended you store toothbrushes separately in an upright position in a dry area to prevent the risk of harbouring bacteria and cross-contamination with other toothbrushes.

You use hot water to wash your hands

There’s no need to scorch your hands with hot water to kill germs anymore when studies show that lukewarm and cold water work just as effectively. Researchers from Vanderbilt University in the US found that cold water did just as well as hot water at reducing levels of bacteria when people scrubbed, rinsed and dried their hands properly. The study authors also noted that you’d need to wash your hands in boiling water at a whopping 100 degrees Celsius in order to notice any significantly greater reduction in pathogens. Plus, hot water dries your skin out more than cold and lukewarm water does.

You push out your poo too hard



You don’t wash your hands long enough

Twenty seconds is all it takes to give your hands a proper scrubbing with soap and water, according to the CDC. But at least 95 percent of people don’t wash their hands long enough to effectively kill germs based on a university study. The average hand-washing time was less than half of the CDC’s recommendation – only six seconds. Need a clever way to keep track of time? Sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice to give you the perfect amount of time to properly clean your hands.


You forget to clean your toothbrush



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