Do you avoid public restrooms? According to 2020 He studies In the Journal of Urology, 26% of adult females admitted to doing so. But ignoring the call of nature is difficult; After all, you don’t want to accidentally ruin your pants. So, chances are good that you probably encounter and use shared toilets on a regular basis. And when you do, it’s best to keep in mind some hygiene practices — and perhaps more importantly, what you should avoid doing.
When you use a public bathroom, you usually do so in a hurry. This may cause you to let your guard down and make mistakes that put your health at risk. Worse still, if you’re the person infected with a contagious disease like norovirus, you could end up unknowingly transmitting your germs or virus to someone else. Being more careful may save someone else from a stomach bug or… Norovirus symptoms Such as vomiting and liquid stool.
However, here are five serious (albeit understandable) bathroom mistakes made by men and women across the United States. Read it before you make your way to The only stall you should use in a public bathroom.
Touch the flushers and tops of the sink
If you polled your closest friends about the worst place in a public bathroom, they might say the toilet seat. After all, it seems like a no-brainer. Ironically, they would be wrong. According to 2025 He studies In terms of cleanliness, the dirtiest places in the bathroom were the countertops and flush handles. This is because they come into contact with a lot of dirt, explained infectious disease expert Dr. Nidhi Gildayal. Healthy. Specifically, Dr. Gildayal noted the phenomenon of “people using their feet instead of their hands to clean,” because “the floor and the bottom of your shoes are usually some of the dirtiest parts of the bathroom.”
As far as countertops go, they’re a high-touch area that collects lingering germs, according to microbial ecologist Jack Gilbert (via NPR). Gilbert points out that staph bacteria (which can cause infections in some people) are “true survivors” and will survive on bathroom surfaces longer than other types of bacteria strains.
How can you avoid touching all those hot spots? You can use tissues, paper towels, and facial tissues to cover your hand when navigating your way through the public restroom. Are you thinking about using your sleeve? “The minute your hands touch clothes, they will become contaminated,” health expert Jessica Pettitt warned The Healthy.
Place personal items on the floor
The same 2025 study in the journal Hygiene that revealed how much cleaning appliances and countertops were filled with E. coli bacteria also found that bathroom floors were covered in bacteria and germs. This is important if you are someone who tends to put your bag, wallet, or even your cell phone and keys on the floor.
Are there really that many people who put their purses and bags on the bathroom floor? Yes. In the topic on /Ask the woman On the subreddit, Redditors cite the floor’s use for a variety of reasons (e.g., “It’s not germophobic (sic),” “There’s no hook on the door,” “People can easily steal your wallet from the top of the door from that hook.”) Thus, is it any surprise that microbiologist Charles Gerba explained to USA Today Did he find the cleanliness of handbags questionable? He pointed out that “about a third of them (preserved) contain fecal bacteria.”
Remember that you will later be touching your wallet and bags, as well as placing them on various surfaces inside your workplace, car, or home. So, use hooks in public bathrooms whenever you can. If you can’t find a hook, consider whether you can grab your personal belongings instead of placing them on the ground.
Washing hands too quickly (or forgetting to wash at all)
Twenty seconds. This is the minimum recommended amount for washing your hands when they are dirty, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Center for Disease Control). Here’s why: It takes a full 20 seconds for soap to remove dirt, germs, and other unwanted contaminants from your hands (via Center for Disease Control). Essentially, dirt is trapped in micelles, which are pockets that form in the lather and help cleanse your skin. If you wash your hands under running water for just five seconds, you will be able to remove 90% of dirt, according to a 2021 report. review In the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. However, the review recommended 20 seconds as the best practice for hand washing.
Unfortunately, many public restroom users don’t follow the 20-second handwashing rule – or don’t bother to wash their hands in the first place. A 2000 survey he conducted American Society for Microbiology It showed that although almost all people claim to wash their hands after going to the bathroom in public, only about two-thirds actually do so. That could be a risky decision, says Dr. Robert H. Hopkins Jr., the hospital’s medical director National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. “Given the importance of hand washing in preventing infectious diseases, the stakes are high – improving hand hygiene can help improve health for everyone,” he noted.
Clean up before you are ready to leave the booth
You might think it’s wise to flush as soon as you’re done using the public bathroom, even if you’re not buttoned up and down yet. But it’s one of those Habits that spread more germs than you realize. Here’s why: 2022 He studies Scientific reports have shown that mist from a flushing toilet can disperse bacteria. “We were expecting these aerosol particles to float to the top, but they came out like a rocket,” said John Crimaldi, lead author of the study. University of Colorado Boulder. Therefore, you may end up covered in germs if you are not careful to escape quickly.
It should be noted that even if there is a seat that you can put aside, the spray can still get into the small toilet area by moving sideways. With that in mind, button, zip, and iron your pants before cleaning so you don’t fumble around in the post-cleaning experience. Oh, and another reason to miss: 2017 He studies In the Journal of Environmental Health it was discovered that bacterial remains remain in toilet bowls for up to 24 times longer. In other words, you could be contaminated with other people’s germs long after they’ve vacated the booth.
Use your smartphone in the bathroom
Using your phone in the bathroom sets you up to acquire new germs on your device, which is already terrible unless you clean it regularly. As public health expert Emily Martin explained in an interview with a magazine University of Michigan Institute for Health Care Policy and Innovation: “Taking a cell phone into the bathroom and then coming out is like going in, not washing your hands and then coming back.”
The problem is that if you touch your mobile phone with unwashed hands or place it on any surface, you are adding more dirt to it. Of course, some people don’t care: Poll of QS Supplies It revealed that 88% of people in the United States use their phones in the bathroom, and only a quarter of them clean their screens regularly. Perhaps it’s no wonder that one in six phones contain feces.
