Are you sure you’re keeping it clean with your hygiene routine? Admittedly, there are some hygienic tips I’ve learned later in life that I wish someone had told me much sooner. Of course, I guess that goes along with absent parents and growing up before the internet. Oops!
So, recently, an online forum’s discussion about hygiene proved interesting and informative. After someone asked for tips everyone should know, these were the best responses.
1. Clean Your Earrings
“If you wear earrings, take them off and clean frequently.” This user warns that you’ll want to avoid sniffing at their smell. Yuck. Another warns that gauges left in too long without proper cleaning begin to smell like “cat poo,” and it’s noticeable.
2. Brush Your Tongue
“Brush your tongue as well as your teeth.” Multiple hygiene tippers agree that this is especially important for all coffee drinkers. Nonetheless, it’s valid for everyone. However, if you find yourself gagging at first, you may have better luck with a tongue scraper.
3. Clean Your Belly Buttons
“Belly buttons need to be cleaned.” One user shares you take a cotton swab with rubbing alcohol and rub the inside surfaces of your belly button gently. Next, swap out the swab until it comes out clean. Then, repeat with a swab dipped in water to remove the alcohol from drying out your skin.
4. Less Is More
Someone tell the teenage boys with Axe body spray that less is more with fragrance, perfume, and cologne. One notes it’s not a substitution for showering. Another says they heard this once, which stuck with them, “fragrance is meant to be discovered, not announced.”
5. Clean Your Bum
My veteran husband told me that his drill sergeant in the Army used to shout out to them while in the showers, “You don’t have to wash your whole bum, just your bum hole.” So, of course, you can deduce I’ve substituted a word there, but you catch his drift.
Until a recent conversation on social media, I had no idea that some guys do not adhere to this tip because it may “make them gay.” Pew, Ew, and NOT true. What is wrong with you?
6. Keep Your Nails Clean
Underneath your fingernail beds is one of the dirtiest places to breed bacteria on your body. So you need to wash your hands frequently to avoid bacterial growth that may transfer to your mouth. Remember, we learned when Coronavirus first hit that people touch their faces an average of 23 times per hour. Also, keep your nails trimmed and stop biting!
7. Brush Long Hair When Wet and From the Bottom
I am embarrassed to admit that I was in my thirties before I learned that when you have long hair, you should brush it when it’s wet. Also, start from the ends of your hair, working your way to the scalp. It’s easier for hair that knots and tangles. Finally, I love the Wet Brush brand. It’s the best brush I’ve ever owned, and they are less than $10.
8. Wash Behind Your Ears
Wash behind your ears. “It’s not an old wives tale that grandmas scold kids with.” This individual elaborates that there are lots of oil-producing sebaceous glands there.
You can get a nasty smell (dirty earring flashbacks) and flaky skin or “cheese” build up behind you if you don’t diligently wash with soap. A person who wears glasses warns to clean the arms of your glasses sitting behind your ears, noting they pick up the oil from behind them.
9. Brush Your Teeth at Night
Multiple mothers share that their pediatric dentists have said, “If you only brush once, brush at night.” My own kid’s dentist has said the same thing. Another says their dentist told them, “You brush in the morning to keep your friends, and you brush at night to keep your teeth.”
Finally, someone made me laugh out loud when they added, “Brush after lunch at the kitchen sink in the office to slightly weird out your coworkers.” I’ve honestly seen it.
10. Wash Your Feet
“Wash your feet and between your toes every time.” Another adds to ensure washing around the ankles because there is a lot of dead skin from socks and shoes.
11. Floss Daily
Floss your teeth daily. One user says, “You only floss the teeth you want to keep. Get the floss gently to the bottom of the gums on one side of one tooth, make a “c” shape around the tooth, and scrape out of the contact. Then repeat in the same contact but on the other tooth.”
Elizabeth Ervin is the owner of Sober Healing. She is a freelance writer passionate about opioid recovery and has celebrated breaking free since 09-27-2013. She advocates for mental health awareness and encourages others to embrace healing, recovery, and Jesus.