April 13, 2022 – Your hand towels are way dirtier than you think they are. Dirty towels can carry a huge variety of microbes, and they’ve even been linked to spreading infectious diseases. You can’t keep your towels and hand wipes 100% germ-free, but you can limit the germ transmission by washing towels more than you have been and using new and fresh hand wipes each time you wash your hands. Here is why clean towels are vital for washing your hands.
How Dirty Are Your Towels?
Towels are such great bacteria traps because every time you use a towel, you transfer your natural skin bacteria, and any other germs you’re carrying, onto their surface. Then these towels sit in the perfect environment for bacteria and other microorganisms to grow because your bathroom is often damp, dark, and does not get a lot of airflow.
Many people don’t wash their hands thoroughly so when they dry their hands on a towel, they’re rubbing bacteria into a place it’s likely to grow. A study conducted by USDA found consumers fail to correctly wash their hands 97 percent of the time, with the most common mistake being not washing hands long enough.
So What Should You Do?
First things first, wash your towels more often. But there are some additional steps to this. Do not wash your towels with other soiled items such as underwear or socks. This results in the bacteria being transferred and your towel not being cleaned at all. Additionally, ensure that the towels are dried completely. Any towel that retains moisture will hold on to the bacteria.
Towels that are shared, such as hand towels, should be replaced with a clean towel daily. Consider using hand wipes instead of towels when you think you might be too busy to clean your towels efficiently. This allows you to use a new and unused wipe each time you wash your hands.
Washing your hands correctly is important, but so is having a clean towel to dry them off with. Otherwise, you never really have clean hands. To learn more about our selection of hand wipes, contact us today.