Article created by: Mindaugas Balčiauskas
We’ve all heard it a million times: wash behind your ears. Floss every day. Dry shampoo is not a substitute for washing your hair, and you should probably be washing your hands even more often than you do. Personal hygiene is not something to take lightly, as it is vital to our health and our social lives. Nobody wants to cuddle up on the couch next to someone who reeks of garlic breath or sweaty gym clothes!
But even though hygiene is second nature to most of us, it’s never a bad idea to have a reminder to wash your bedsheets every week and change your toothbrush head every few months. Below, we’ve gathered some of the most important hygiene tips people have been sharing in this Reddit thread, so all of you pandas can stay healthy, happy and smelling fresh as a daisy. Keep reading to also find an interview with Dr. Mike Czubiak, host of the Hygiene Superstar podcast, to hear his thoughts on the topic.
Be sure to upvote all of the hygiene habits that you think are underrated, and feel free to leave any of your own recommendations in the comments below. Then if you’re interested in reading another Bored Panda article noting the importance of showering every day, check out this story next.
If something is worth doing, it's worth halfassing it. Say you're running late and need to be out the door 10 minutes ago, it's still worth giving your teeth a 10 second scrub rather than skipping it.
If you can smell your body odor a little bit other people can smell you a lot stronger...
Wash your glasses, in the sink, with warm (not hot!) water and gentle, non-antibacterial soap. Your face secretes oil, and a lot of it gathers in your eyebrows. It will pool in the cracks between the frame and lenses, gather in noxious scummy boogers on the nosepads, and in the hinges as well. Once it’s built up, no matter how hard you try to clean your lenses, you’ll just smudge them up because of that oil. The face oil will oxidize and turn bright green, then yellow-ish, then brown. It smells TERRIBLE. I wash mine about once every two weeks with a drop of dawn dish soap and warm water.
Also, wash your glasses cleaning cloth at least as frequently. They get infused with nasty face oil. Don’t use fabric softener on the cleaning cloth, as it will make the cloth oily in the dryer and you’ll just be smearing new, fancy oil on your lenses. Hand washing your cloth in the sink works just fine.
Source: I am a licensed optician and have had to scrub countless pairs of glasses.
If someone offers you breath mints, take them without question.
Brush your tongue as well as your teeth.
I haven’t seen this mentioned yet, so forgive me if it’s already been said: make your home a shoes-free environment.
I know some folks are concerned about their foot odor. Others feel that a door mat is sufficient in wiping one’s feet at the entryway. Keep in mind that if you’ve set foot into a public restroom, you’re basically tracking whatever you stepped on into your home.
Sneeze in your elbow not your hands!
Wash behind your ears.
It’s not an old wives tale that grandmas scold kids with. There are lots of oil producing sebaceous glands there. You can get a nasty smell, and you can even get flaky skin or “cheese” build up behind there if you don’t wash with soap.
Deodorant is water resistant. It won't wash off by just splashing water on it. You need to give it a good scrub with soap to get it all the way off your skin. If you don't get all the old deodorant washed away, the new deodorant you apply won't work. It has to be fresh deodorant on clean skin.
Close the toilet seat lid then flush.
In the kitchen: after you touch raw meat, wash your hands before touching anything else period.
If you have bad breath that doesn't go away you may have tonsil stones.
Wash and change your bed sheets and your pillow cases.
Make sure your clothes get completely dry. You'll smell like mildew otherwise.
If you wear earrings, take them off and clean frequently.
Disinfect your phone regularly. Ideally, daily.
Keep your nails clean. Tidying your nails helps you prevent spreading germs into your mouth.
Wash your hands right away once you get home from somewhere. Then change into clean clothes. You don’t want to bring nasty stuff from outside to your home. Don’t lay down on your couch or bed without changing!
