Health & WellnessJAN 19, 2024

31 Common Hygiene Mistakes Everyone Should Be Aware Of For The Greater Good Of The Population

Ilona Baliūnaitė and Rokas Laurinavičius

Personal hygiene has varying degrees of importance to people, but we can probably agree that, at least on some level, it's necessary.

Brushing your teeth, washing your hands after using the bathroom, and laundering your underwear should be second nature. However, according to one Reddit thread, even such basic tasks can be done incorrectly.

Started by platform user HEADAs66, it asked everyone what they think is the most common hygiene mistake people make, and in just a few days has received thousands of replies. Here are the most popular ones.

#1

31 Common Hygiene Mistakes Everyone Should Be Aware Of For The Greater Good Of The Population

Remember the beginning of the pandemic, when the government had to remind people that they should be washing their hands with soap?

Yeah, it turns out a disturbing number of people don’t do that.

buckwheat16, Marco Verch/Flickr (not the actual photo)

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67points

#2

Not closing the toilet lid before flushing.

Maybe_Glum, Ivan Mlinaric/Flickr (not the actual photo)

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51points

We got in touch with HEADAs66, and the Redditor agreed to have a little chat with us about the discussion they started.

"Before I posted my question on r/AskReddit, I read an article about poor health," they told Bored Panda.

"I came up with the idea of asking Reddit users about poor hygiene because I thought it would provide a real, different perspective."

#3

Wearing shoes in the house. 99% of shoes tested positive for feces.

Sad-Thought6021, tdr28/Flickr (not the actual photo)

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41points

#4

Sneezing into your hand went you can’t immediately wash them. SNEEZE INTO YOUR ELBOW FOR GODS SAKE

Cokezerowh0re, fromdarkheaven/Flickr (not the actual photo)

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41points

A survey of 1,813 Americans on what they considered the most critical hygiene habits found that:

73% of them consider personal hygiene very important;
50% of people won't share their hairbrush with anyone;
1 in 10 people share a toothbrush with their significant other, family member, or friend;
Of those who share a toothbrush, 57% do so every day;
35% of people share deodorant with their significant other, family member, or friend;
1 in 2 people share their bars of soap with their significant other, family member, or friend;
Nearly 1 in 3 Americans share lip balm or chapstick.

#5

Not washing your sheets and pillow cases regularly. They harbor bacteria and body oils, and can really aggravate your skin and cause breakouts.

People also assume that you need to be harsher if you experience breakouts or dry skin or in areas that you think might be “dirty” like your genital region. People tend to attack these issues and areas of your body with strong soaps, very hot water, and abrasive scrubbing. Often, you actually need to treat these areas more gently, use less harsh products, cool water to wash, non-scented products and lotions, and just generally treat your body kindly. Over-cleaning already irritated or sensitive areas can actually make you more prone to breakouts, dry skin, even infections.

baby_armadillo, Tony Alter/Flickr (not the actual photo)

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38points

#6

Assuming hand sanitizer is as effective as hand washing.

yourpaljax, Valerie Everett/Flickr (not the actual photo)

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38points

Skimping on hygiene might seem like not a big deal, but eventually, it can start affecting your life or that of the people around you.

In the most extreme cases, when left unattended, poor hygiene can breed diseases that can affect you or others.

For example, not washing your hands after you use the toilet, handle food, or touch dirty surfaces can spread bacteria, viruses, and parasites. These can lead to infections and diseases, like food poisoning, gastroenteritis, flu, and hepatitis A, just to name a few.

Poor dental hygiene can lead to tooth decay and gum disease, which, in turn, can also affect the heart, while not bathing (enough) can result in a skin condition called dermatitis neglecta and secondary infections.

#7

The amount of people that don't scrub their a*s crack.

TUEB0R, Steven Zolneczko/Flickr (not the actual photo)

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37points

#8

Not flossing.

Seriously, f*****g floss. Your breath will smell better, your gums will be healthier, you'll feel cleaner.

As annoying as it is, make it part of your habit and you'll stop thinking about it.

If I *DON'T* floss I feel dirty, like I can feel the food in my teeth...

AlphaTangoFoxtrt, Electric Teeth/Flickr (not the actual photo)

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35points

"Common themes in the responses include misconceptions about ... hand hygiene, poor oral hygiene, and delaying phone calls," HEADAs66 said. "Lack of knowledge and education seems to cause this problem."

What's interesting is that information on these topics is widely available, yet the myths persist. The Redditor hypothesized that "despite comprehensive knowledge, people may neglect or forget hygiene due to busy lifestyles, misinformation or neglect of the importance of certain features."

#9

If you can smell yourself other people have been smelling you. Also wear some f*****g deodorant and reapply before going to the gym.

raar__, Michael Scialdone/Flickr (not the actual photo)

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32points

#10

Not changing their toothbrush more often

abdulbasitkhanani, Jim Winstead/Flickr (not the actual photo)

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31points

#11

As a piercer, please, WASH YOUR HOLES. I have so many clients coming in with disgusting, flakey, waxy ears, dirty, smelly belly buttons, unbrushed teeth..... WHY? It feels so disrespectful to have me deal with all that.

braingazpacho, Agung Pandit Wiguna/Flickr (not the actual photo)

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30points

#12

If you’re overweight, or lost weight and have excess skin, lift that skin/fat and clean underneath. And dry really well. Ladies, if you’re more than a B cup, lift the girls and wash/dry good.

Whose_my_daddy, Jaysin Trevino/ Flickr (not the actual photo)

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27points

#13

Not cleaning your belly button…

feel_da_hern, Trogly56/Flickr (not the actual photo)

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26points

#14

Not washing their goddamn glasses. Yes, wash. With soap and water. The next time I have to scrape a layer of hairy face cheese off someones glasses so I can change a nosepad I might puke.

Corgi_with_stilts, Jet Blaque/Flickr (not the actual photo)

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26points

#15

Not brushing the lingual surface of the teeth, it is the side closest to your tongue. As a dental hygienist I see tartar buildup there the most. Also, not angling your toothbrush towards your gums when you brush them.

sytti, Tima Miroshnichenko/Pexels (not the actual photo)

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24points

#16

My advice is to wash your body after you rinse out your hair conditioner, not before.

Eralynn3, Armin Rimoldi/ Pexels (not the actual photo)

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23points

#17

Not regularly wiping off/sanitizing their earbuds, phone and/or keys. (they aren't a body part, but I think it counts!)

Megdogg00, StevenW./Flickr (not the actual photo)

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21points

#18

Not cleaning their ear openings. If I see a ear hole that’s yellow/orange, I gag.

Appropriate-End8877, Erik Holfelder/Flickr (not the actual photo)

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21points

#19

Hey. Fellow pierced folks. CLEAN YOUR GODDAMN PIERCINGS. This INCLUDES your jewelry! Gods, the amount of stanky cheese piercings i've smelled walking past someone is far too high.

Even after the initial healing, you gotta still CLEAN them regularly. Bare minimum, rinse and rub in the shower. I take out my actual jewelry every couple weeks and give it a good clean.

nionvox, madaise/Flickr (not the actual photo)

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20points

#20

Not washing their hair properly. Which includes thoroughly cleansing the scalp.

Many people just lather shampoo on their hair and expect the shampoo to do all the work. But you actually have to get in there with your fingers and work it into your scalp. Really get in there and scrub firmly with the pads of your fingers (don’t scratch with your nails though, or at least don’t scratch hard) You should focus on the scalp because that’s where most oil and dirt collects and where bacteria can accumulate. You want to help your shampoo loosen all that garbage up and actually cleanse your hair. You will be amazed what a difference this makes in how you feel and how nice your hair looks once dry (it will be lighter and bouncier)

Then, you shouldn’t forget to RINSE thoroughly. You don’t want to leave shampoo or conditioner residue in your hair (otherwise it just gets sticky and attracts gunk and gets oily and spawns more bacteria more quickly). I used to share an office with someone who read this hair “hack” that said to not fully rinse, tge idea being that if you leave a bit of shampoo or conditioner in your hair, then the conditioning ingredients in shampoo/conditioner would continue to condition your hair after the wash… but in practice his hair was just always waxy and gross and had an odor unfortunately… so if you come across that tip, run! Don’t do it! Just rinse your hair! (If you want to condition your hair post-wash then use a product formulated for leave-in, like leave-in conditioner. Don’t just not rinse your normal shampoo and conditioner!)

Walls-Floors-, Karolina Grabowska/Pexels (not the actual photo)

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20points

31 Common Hygiene Mistakes Everyone Should Be Aware Of For The Greater Good Of The Population

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Poll Question

In your opinion, what's the best way to address common hygiene mistakes?

Poll Question

In your opinion, what's the best way to address common hygiene mistakes?