Bacteria are everywhere – on every surface, in every room of our homes, offices and classrooms. When you really get down to it, the world is one giant Petri dish. The good news is that most of the bacteria, microbes and fungi that live all around us are either not harmful to us or not in high enough concentrations to make us sick or even cause breakouts.

But what about surfaces with which we are in prolonged contact? What about our washcloths, our towels – even our bedding?

Your Washcloth & Your Face

Know this: bacteria lives in your washcloth – even if it’s fresh out of the laundry. Unless you wash each washcloth individually in scalding water with bleach and then wrap it in sterile packaging before use, you cannot escape the presence of bacteria.

Of course the bacteria count on a clean washcloth is less than the bacteria count on one used once, which is less than the bacteria count on one used for a solid week. The musty smell given off by that used wet washcloth hanging in your shower? That’s the scent of microbes growing. Pleasant thought.

But whether or not those microbes, fungi and bacteria growing on the washcloth will cause a breakout is a question without a definitive answer. If a washcloth was used to wash `downstairs` then there is the possibility that pathogens may inhabit the cloth, perhaps those associated with diarrhea. If you wash downstairs and then wash your face, you could infect yourself with these organisms. Again, it is a numbers game and transmission like this is relatively unlikely, especially in the shower.

However unlikely infection may be, it seems like the safe thing to do is to use your washcloth only once before throwing it in the hamper. Better safe than sorry. As for loofas and shower poofs, rinse them thoroughly, wring them out and replace them regularly. Some recommend a new loofah or poof each month.

Your Towel & Your Skin

Like washcloths, towels are breeding grounds for all sorts of things we’d rather not think about. When we dry ourselves off, there is a natural exfoliation that takes place. And those dead skin cells don’t vanish – most of them stay right there in your towel, waiting for your next shower. Those cells, along with the moisture in the towel, are the perfect food for microbial, bacterial and fungal growth.

Again, whether or not the presence and concentration of these organisms is enough to cause or even aggravate a breakout is not definitively known, but just like with the washcloth, it seems like a policy of “better safe than sorry” is in order. At the very least, be sure that your towel dries thoroughly before you use it again. If you have enough towels to use a new one each day and launder them on the weekend, it might not be a bad idea – it certainly can’t hurt.

Your Bedding & You: In Constant Contact Eight Hours at A Time

Your bedding – particularly your pillow case is something that your face is in contact with more than any other surface. You shed skin cells as you sleep – in many cases more than you do with a good scrubbing in the shower. And they stay there in your bedding – along with the regular population of bacteria that are everywhere anyway. Add to that any bacteria that may be present in a current breakout and there is potential for growth – however small. While some people are very fastidious about laundering their bedding, many simply aren’t. While a clean pillowcase may not eliminate all future breakouts, it’s one less thing that may cause one. Pick up a few extra pillowcases and throw them in with your load of washcloths and towels – after all, you’re doing laundry anyway.

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