HOUSTON – Most people think they're doing everything right when it comes to keeping their bathrooms germ-free, but cleaning surface areas is not enough.
Here's the places most germs like to hide in your bathroom, and tips from experts about what you can do to keep them at bay.
Bath mat
According to Cleveland Clinic Dr. Dan Allan, one of the items with the most germs is your bath mat.
"If people do wash them or clean them it's infrequent, and so they're moist They're damp. They're on the floor. They're probably not far from the toilet, and so there's a high risk of contamination and also a high risk of moisture,” Allan said.
Allan recommends washing mats every couple of weeks and replacing hard-to-clean mats every three to six months.
Towel
Hanging towels on a hook tends to keep them wet and moldy, which Allan said leads to stuffiness, coughing and can trigger asthma. Use a bar to hang towels to dry them, and wash them every three to four days.
Shower curtain
Mold is also on the shower curtain. Keep curtains closed to dry and run it through a hot cycle in the washing machine to clean it.
Toothbrush
The worst kind of germs are on the bathroom item that cleans you. Store toothbrushes away from other items to avoid cross-contamination and keep it far from the toilet.
"It's quite important," Allan said. "When you flush the toilet, there's very fine droplets that are released into the air of not only bacteria, but any other matter that's in the toilet. That can travel up to six feet."
Limit moisture
Mold and bacteria thrive in moist environments, Allan said, so it is a good idea to run the bathroom fan during and after a shower to cut down on the amount of moisture in the bathroom.