When it comes to your bathroom, there are three things that matter most: comfort, cleanliness, and sustainability. Whether you're just starting your morning or freshening up after a long day, your bathroom should be your personal sanctuary. Make sure to treat it as such by crafting a space that represents balance between your wants and needs.
For those of us who may be spending a bit more time in doors these days (i.e. everyone), it’s high time to rethink how you design your bathroom. And while an aesthetically pleasing bathroom is bound to help you feel better about your kingdom, science can also provide a much needed glimpse into what your bathroom may have been missing all along. To help our readers on their quest for the perfect bath pad, the staff at BDG studios teamed with TUSHY to put together this handy guide for science-backed considerations to make when you begin work on your masterpiece.
Plants Are Your Friend
Outside of looking pretty, keeping plants in your bathroom has some real benefits. Positioning air-purifying plants in the bathroom is a time-tested method for making your bathroom smell fresh and clean. And while it may come as no surprise that plants bring a touch of earthy fragrances to your commonly overlooked lavatory, it’s actually scientifically backed.
In 1989, NASA researchers were tasked with figuring out the best ways to clean the air in space stations. Their – appropriately titled – Clean Air study found that certain plants are extremely effective at removing benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, xylene, and ammonia from the air. These chemicals have long been linked to health defects like increased headaches and even eye irritation. Certain plants are also known to thrive in dank and humid climates, meaning they'll be thriving after you take that boiling hot shower after a long day. For a low-light bathroom, BDG Studios suggests hemigraphis, dracaena, or monstera (if your bathroom is larger). For brighter bathrooms, consider an anthurium or fiddle leaf fig.
Invest In A High Quality Bidet
While the rest of the world has been ahead of the curve with their use of bidets, Americans have remained somewhat behind. But lately, more and more are realizing the benefits of the product and the ways in which this long-valued device has been reimagined into the future of hygienics.
2020 has been quite the landmark year for bidets in the US, and it’s easy to see why. Bidets are a tremendously more cost efficient way of cleaning your derrière. The average American uses nearly $10 worth of toilet paper every month and 57 sheets of toilet paper per day. Essentially, that’s about $500 worth of toilet paper for a family of 4 over an entire year. With a fine bidet, like the TUSHY classic bidet, you’re cutting that cost by almost two-thirds. Next, take into account how bidets are actually much more hygienic. It not only looks cooler, but bidets are much gentler and less irritating on your skin and drastically reduce the potential of hand contamination.
If all of these reasons don’t convince you, think about the environment. It's a fact that one tree produces 100 pounds of toilet paper and that in the US, the average person utilizes about 30-50 pounds of TP per year. To put it in perspective, a family of four – often unknowingly – is killing up to 2 whole trees each year. “TUSHY’s goal has always been to save the 15 million trees that are getting flushed down every year, help people save thousands of dollars over time on toilet paper costs so they can spend that precious money on something more worthwhile, and actually help clean American bottoms properly, once and for all,“ says TUSHY's Founder & Chief Creative Officer Miki Agrawal.
Then there are wet wipes that contain plastic fibers that are non-biodegradable, can cause rashes on humans, and often kill animals in the ocean when ingested since they can’t be broken down over time. Once flushed, the wipes can glom together with any fat from food waste and form what are called “fatbergs”—iceberg-style blockages that can clog a whole system. To extract a fatberg and make the needed repairs can be incredibly pricey; for example, in London back in 2015, one 10-ton fatberg cost the city $600,000.
So invest in a TUSHY bidet today to catch your bathroom up with the times. Future generations will thank you.
Up Your Shower Curtain Game
And while we are talking about essential upgrades, let’s talk about your shower curtain. While it’s not the most exciting upgrade, a functional shower curtain is imperative for anyone trying to keep a tidy WC. A leaky shower screen is not only annoying, it can add to build ups of mildew and even worse. Be sure to install a proper curtain or shower door that maintains feng shui while also keeping your floors clean from any potential bacterial growth that might be flourishing otherwise. Once installed, make sure to clean shower curtains weekly, as the build up of mildew on the curtain itself has been linked to skin, eye, and throat irritation.
Make these small changes to your bathroom design, and you’ll be living in a scientifically engineered lavatory that’s fit for a king. You’ve made upgrades in the rest of your life, now it’s time for the bathroom.
This advertising content was produced in collaboration between BDG Studios and our sponsor, without involvement from Inverse's editorial staff.
