Good hygiene is the kind of thing that needs to be maintained. Indeed, if you don't stay on top of your routine, your formerly good hygiene will quickly deteriorate.
Most of us are probably pretty good about bathing, brushing our teeth and wearing clean clothes, but there's far more to hygiene than just the basics. In fact, there's a whole world of advice out there you might not be aware of. This r/AskReddit thread comes through in the clutch with some great tips.
"Clean the inside of your fridge every month. Forgotten food, opened cans & bottles can grow up an insane amount of bacteria and fungus that could be dangerous."
"At one point I learned of small, battery-powered ozone generators meant to be kept in places like refrigerators. They generate a small amount of ozone on a relatively-infrequent timer, but it's just enough to keep the inside of a small space sanitized. It's such a small amount that you can't even smell it, but it seems to do a good job."
"Sneeze in your elbow not your hands!"
"This changed probably in last couple of decades coz i distinctly remember teacher and books telling us to sneeze or cough in our hands folded into a cup.
My kids corrected me several times during covid but it took some time to change this habit."
"In the kitchen: after you touch raw meat, wash your hands before touching anything else period."
"Great advice, and I would like to add to it that people should avoid washing meats under water, as it spreads the meat juices that are full of bacteria everywhere around the sink, and every surface and handle in your area is potentially contaminated and can cause cross contamination."
"Check the nostrils. Just check, make sure no boogies are hanging out, hanging around, planning an escape. It sucks to be the person to have to tell you."
"Whenever I think of this I get a little paranoid, I'm taller than most people and I think 'They can see your boogers' and I'm upset for the next hour or so until I forget about that thought."
"Brush your tongue as well as your teeth."
"My first couple times using a tongue scraper made me gag when I looked at it. I finally got over it but oh man, it's nasty. Especially if you're a coffee drinker."
"My dentist told the kids. “ if you only brush once, brush at night.”
She also said, if you let your kids trick or treat, allow them to eat all of the candy as soon as possible so as to get all sugar past their teeth as soon as possible."
"If someone offers you breath mints, take them without question."
"They could just be polite. When I offer mints or chewing gum to others, it's usually just because I'm being polite, not because they stink."
"Less is more with perfume/cologne. It does not substitute washing yourself."
"Also: pick a small amount and stick to that dosage. As you get older you lose some smell and you get more desensitized to your preferred fragrance if you use it regularly.
I’ve known several older folks who you could smell coming."
"If you wear glasses: be sure to also clean the arms of your glasses, especially the parts that sit behind your ears and picks up all that oil! I’ve seen some nasty glasses arms that could use a good clean."
"Wash behind your ears.
It’s not an old wives tale that grandmas scold kids with. There are lots of oil producing sebaceous glands there. You can get a nasty smell, and you can even get flaky skin or “cheese” build up behind there if you don’t wash with soap."
"Belly buttons need to be cleaned.
Edit: I know very gross things about hundreds of belly buttons now. For those asking, here's some info on how to clean your belly button."
"Please for the love of god. The amount of bellybutton grime I have encountered while prepping people for abdominal surgery is truly astounding."
"Clean every obscure surface in your house that your hands continually come into contact with.
Scrub the underside of your toilet seat and lid."
"At the beginning of the pandemic my kid and I did an experiment where we swabbed various surfaces and then let them sit in a petri dish to see what surface was the grossest. It was the dining chairs."
"If you have bacne (ie back acne), lean your head forward to rinse your hair products OR wash your back thoroughly with soap after rinsing your conditioner/last product.
Most people lean their head backward to rinse, which washes their hair products all down their back. If you wash with soap after, no biggie, but many people wash their body first, typically while letting the conditioner sit in their hair for a few minutes and thus rinsing after."
"Keep your nails clean. Tidying your nails helps you prevent spreading germs into your mouth."
"This includes your TOE nails too! Clean under them, they get super gross if you don’t! Some of the people I did pedis on…. So much cheese and funk it almost made me sick a few times."
"If you wear earrings, take them off and clean frequently."
"I had earrings from childhood to end of high school. Stopped wearing them and got repierced at 24. Could not believe how easily and how bad they can smell, especially over the summer since I have long dark hair and sweat more since heat is absorbed easier."
"Deodorant is not meant to go on top of bad smells!!
The bad smells come from bacteria.
Shower first, then put deodorant on. It works by making your skin uninhabitable for bacteria. The nice scent is the cherry on top, the main benefit is preventing the bad smell from growing."
"If something is worth doing, it's worth halfassing it. Say you're running late and need to be out the door 10 minutes ago, it's still worth giving your teeth a 10 second scrub rather than skipping it."
"Wash and change your bed sheets and your pillow cases."
"I'm a lazy PoS and didn't do this for... a while. I was surprised when I'd clean my face and it'd look so dirty, even if I didn't leave the house. Saw something online to wash your pillowcases before investing in an expensive skincare routine... washed my pillow cases, saw immediate improvement."
"Make sure your clothes get completely dry. You'll smell like mildew otherwise."
"If that happens, or you forget a load of laundry in the wash, add about 1/4 cup white vinegar to the wash cycle. It gets rid of the mildew smell and doesn’t smell like vinegar."
"If you have bad breath that doesn't go away you may have tonsil stones."
"They usually form in tonsillar crypts, those pockets in the back of your throat. I got myself water jet flosser or irrigator and it is great at removing them. Just wash it once every few days and bad breath just disappears if you keep rest of your mouth clean."
