10 Items You Keep in Your Bathroom but Shouldn’t

We all spend about 30 minutes in the bathroom every day. But just because we use a lot of personal care items to make sure we look and feel our best doesn’t mean these things should be stored in the bathroom.

Bar soap

Keeping your soap near the direct stream of your shower can shorten its shelf life. Water will break your bar soap down, and the residue will build up in your bath. The best way to store your soap is to keep it on a soap dish with holes that let it dry, outside of the shower.

Razors

Shower steam and the build-up of humidity can rust the blades which, in turn, can damage your skin. Even if you properly clean and dry it off after using, storing it in a humid bathroom environment will shorten the lifespan of your razor.

Towels

Keeping your used, damp towels in the bathroom can be a recipe for grossness. Heh, heh. Warmth and humidity make bathrooms the perfect breeding ground for bacteria, and towels will pick up germs that we’ll later transfer to our skin. Ideally, you should wash your towels after 3 uses and allow them to dry completely before they are used again.

Your bathrobe

Much like bath towels, damp robes can harbor germs and bacteria, and humidity can give them an unpleasant smell. If you are putting on a damp bathrobe right after showering, you can consider your shower pretty much pointless. Instead of keeping your bathrobe on a hook in your bathroom, hang it in a place where it can air dry.

Your phone

It’s not the best idea to use your phone while on the toilet, and taking your phone into the bathroom isn’t safe either. Scrolling through your feed while soaking in the tub may be dangerous. And if you need your tunes while you shower, don’t keep your phone on the counter — the steam from the shower can get inside and ruin its internal parts. If you just can’t go without music while scrubbing down, it’s worth investing in a waterproof speaker.

Face creams

When your skin cream isn’t tightly closed or sealed, the damp air in the bathroom can encourage bacteria to grow. Those bacteria can cause skin irritation and ruin your complexion. Plus, every time you take a hot shower, the heat can cause the ingredients to separate. The perfect place to store your skin care products is a dry drawer outside the bathroom or the fridge. That’s why they call it cold cream Ha ha!

Makeup brushes

It’s important to clean your brushes regularly and to properly dry them afterward to avoid bacterial growth. But once you’re done washing your brushes, it’s better to store them in a dry place, standing brush-side up in a cup. Warm and humid air in the bathroom encourages mold and bacteria to spread on them. And just like your toothbrush, they will pick up germs that you will later smear right on your skin.

Perfume

Storing your fragrances in a bathroom can break down their molecular structure and cause them to sour. To keep your favorite perfume fresh for longer, look for a closet or cupboard outside the bathroom to store it in.

Jewelry

The bathroom isn’t the right place to keep your jewelry, even if you just take it off before stepping into the shower. The humid environment will make the jewelry oxidize faster, causing it to lose shine and tarnish. Unless it is pure gold, your favorite pieces that are composed of different metals will react faster in humidity.

Toothbrushes

When you flush the toilet with the lid up, germs can spread up to 15 feet, and bacteria will most likely get sprayed all over your toothbrush. Dentists recommend keeping your toothbrush as far away as possible from the toilet, in a place where it can dry completely. The best place is covered, like in your bathroom closet or medicine cabinet. And forget about those little plastic covers for your toothbrush. Yep, they encourage bacterial growth in that little cramped space in a humid environment. Okie Dokie, are you grossed out yet? Yeah, me too! So, now you know what to do.