How to Maintain Everyday Life Hygiene: 5 Effective Ways

We don’t like to think about it, but we’re constantly surrounded by millions of germs and unhealthy particles. While most of them are harmless, there are plenty that can cause infections and illnesses. The point of hygiene is to keep the latter group at bay by keeping our bodies and our surroundings clean and tidy.

The cleanliness of our homes plays a crucial part in how well we can maintain hygiene. A clean home is less of a breeding ground for harmful bacteria. When you apply a few hygienic principles, your home becomes a much safer environment.

You’d be surprised by how minor changes can affect your hygiene. Everything from how you wash your food to how you dry your hands has an enormous impact on your health in the long run. Here are a few tips that can help you maintain home and everyday life hygiene with ease.

1. Trim your nails regularly

Nails are notoriously difficult to clean. This is especially problematic as they’re a hotbed for germs. Whenever you grab onto food or clean things around your home, it’s likely that some residue will end up underneath your fingernails. These same nails will transfer germs to whatever you touch afterwards, including your phone and keyboard.

As you might expect, the longer the nails, the more dirt and germs can settle underneath them. If you want to maintain everyday hygiene and reduce germ exposure, you’d best cut those nails to a short length. You don’t have to go overboard and reach the cuticle, but you should still keep them comfortably short. This way, you’ll be able to clean them more effectively when you wash your hands.

2. Dry your hands the right way

After you wash your hands, you should try to keep them as clean as possible. After all, what’s the point of washing if you contaminate them right after? Unfortunately, most people use towels or paper towels to dry their hands. Not only is this counterintuitive to cleanliness, but it can be bad for the environment. You have to wash those towels often to keep them clean, and the environmental impact of throwing away paper towels should be obvious.

In terms of hygiene, bathroom hand dryers are the best solution for drying your hands. You don’t have to touch anything as they are sensor-activated. You don’t need to maintain them or replace papers like with paper towels. You can just dry your hands and keep them clean without touching any dirty surface afterwards.

3. Wash clothes more often

It’s an unspoken rule that certain clothes aren’t washed as often as others. When you wear a shirt two days in a row in the summer, you’ll notice it getting dirty quite soon after. For jeans and jackets, it might take longer to catch a whiff of sweat or see any dirt stains. You’re more likely to wear them multiple times before sending them to the washer.

The fact of the matter is, they get just as dirty. While the dirt might not reach your skin, it will definitely seep into your furniture and rub off on walls. Try to wash these clothes often and keep them fresh. You’ll feel cleaner and your furniture won’t get as dirty.

4. Keep your food clean and safe

Food-borne illnesses are some of the most common diseases in the world. This goes for every region of the world. Don’t be fooled by supermarket cleanliness, as invisible germs don’t care about appearances.

When you purchase produce, you need to wash it thoroughly. Don’t hesitate to use a strong water stream and rub vegetables under it. Potatoes and carrots spent plenty of time in the dirt before they reached your supermarket, which is why cleaning them is crucial.

Cross-contamination is another issue. Keep solid and liquid foods in different compartments of your fridge. Yoghurt and milk will spoil long before cured meats or cheeses, but if there’s a spill, you can say goodbye to the solid foods too.

5. Brush and floss often

When you’re busy, brushing three times per day and flossing might seem like a major hassle. Most people don’t practice good oral hygiene because they aren’t aware of how important it is for our health. We only have one set of teeth, and they don’t regenerate on their own.

Flossing is arguably more important than regular brushing. Those toothbrush bristles can’t reach in-between your teeth no matter how long you use them. Bacteria settle here and produce acids that will damage your teeth over time.

If you can’t floss every single day, try doing it twice a week. It will have a positive impact on your oral hygiene in the long run. Don’t neglect your tongue, either. Brush it along with your teeth and your breath will be as fresh as a winter morning.

Conclusion

There’s no simple way to keep everything around you clear of germs. You have to make a few changes to maintain your health and keep the bad germs at bay. Follow the above home hygiene practices and you’ll be living a much cleaner life and lower your chances of catching an illness. 

Jack Kewell

Jack Kewell is writer, science editor, naturalist, entrepreneur. He is focused on writing and illustrating books. Also, he is a regular contributor on Smoothdecorator