The Gross Mistake You Make Storing Your Toothbrush

The container you think is cleanest is actually more harmful than helpful.

A new bathroom cleanliness study from the American Society for Microbiology has our skin crawling — and double-checking our toothbrush storage tactics.

Researchers found that when college students use communal bathrooms, their toothbrushes often share the group's collective fecal bacteria. This feels pretty obvious (force a swath of not-so-clean college kids together, and bacteria is bound to make the rounds), but we can't help but think that conditions could be similar in a highly trafficked family bathroom.

Your knee-jerk reaction to protect your toothbrush from germs might be to store it inside a medicine cabinet or travel container, away from other surfaces and, of course, your toilet. But this tactic is actually a really bad move.

"Using a toothbrush cover doesn't protect a toothbrush from bacterial growth, but actually creates an environment where bacteria are better suited to grow by keeping the bristles moist and not allowing the head of the toothbrush to dry out between uses," says Laura Aber, the study's graduate student researcher. Click here to continue reading.