Let’s be honest: There’s absolutely nothing fun about staying on top of bathroom tidying chores. Ironically, the room in the house where we go to get clean is often the hardest to actually keep clean without constant supervision. But even though you might be regularly scrubbing down your toilet or removing mildew from your shower, you might be making a big mistake by not washing your bath mat often enough.
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While it might seem like just another way to keep your bathroom floor dry, experts warn it could expose your feet to gnarly germs.
“After every shower, we step out onto our bath mat, allowing it to soak in any excess water or soap that might be dripping,” Bailey Carson, a professional cleaner, told Business Insider in an interview. “While this prevents our floors from getting damp, the reoccurring build-up of water when left untreated can lead to mold growth.”
Unfortunately, it’s not just the moisture that’s creating an issue. Because of its close proximity to the toilet, Carson warns bath mats also provide plenty of surface area for collecting bacteria plumes that spray out with each flush.
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Despite the microbial nightmare this situation presents, most people are still slow on the uptake. Carson says that most people typically only think to wash their bath mats just once or twice a year—if they even do so at all.
Short of outright ditching the potentially rank rug, there is a way to stay slightly ahead of mold, mildew, and bacteria issues. In a recent video, home hygiene expert @MadameSweat suggests picking up your mat and hanging it on the side of your bathtub or over your shower curtain rod between uses. This allows for air circulation that can slow the growth of germs.
But how often should you be washing your bath mat? According to the experts at the New York Times Wirecutter, you need to be swapping it out for a clean one at least once every week. In a TikTok video, the team warns that the bacterial breeding ground beneath your feet is what puts you at risk for athlete’s foot and toenail fungus.
Fortunately, keeping it clean isn’t overly complicated. The Wirecutter team recommends checking your mat’s washing instruction tags, but many can simply be tossed right into a washing machine (using hot water if it’s super dirty) before tumble drying. You can simplify the process by having a spare mat or two on hand to swap in when it’s time to run it through the cycle.
If your mat has a rubberized or suction cup underside, you’ll need to take a few extra steps.
“Put the mat in your tub or large sink with the suction cups facing upward, rinse in hydrogen peroxide or a heavily diluted bleach solution for a few hours, then scrub with a bristle brush,” Carson told Business Insider. Once you’re finished, hang it up to dry in the shower before using it again.