10 Surprising Hygiene Habits People Often Ignore Without Realizing It

Most of us learn pretty early that bad breath and body odor are a fast track to awkward social situations. But let’s be real—grabbing a quick shower and brushing your teeth isn’t the only thing that keeps you feeling fresh and healthy. Good hygiene is all about those little habits that often get overlooked but make a huge difference in the long run.

Someone asked, “What’s a hygiene habit people don’t talk about but really should?”—and the responses were eye-opening! From small daily routines to game-changing tips, here are the things more people need to start doing. So get comfy, scroll through and drop your own must-know hygiene habits in the comments!

One Reddit user asked a question that really struck a chord with people—and the responses came pouring in!

A Reddit user, Little-Willingness88, came to one of the Reddit communities with a question that turned to be super-relatable for many people.

The curious question quickly sparked a flood of insightful, surprising, and sometimes even hilarious responses. It turns out, there are plenty of overlooked hygiene habits that people should be talking about but rarely do! From small daily routines to life-changing tips, the discussion quickly became a goldmine of advice for staying fresh, clean, and healthy.

The person asked, "What’s a hygiene habit that people don't talk about but really should?"

1. Wearing sterile gloves correctly.

"If you’re wearing protective/sterile gloves, they don’t continue to be sterile once you’ve touched something gross. The amount of times I’ve seen coworkers handle human specimens with their gloves on, and then touch their face, phone, or hair really shocks me.

Same note of people handling raw chicken/meat with gloves and then proceeding to touch every surface imaginable with the gloves on drives me nuts."

2. Coughing and sneezing properly is a hygienic art.

• "Coughing and sneezing should always be inside your vampire cape or the very least covering your mouth so it's not spewing out in front of you. I've lost count on how many people in public sneeze or cough without covering their mouth and see the germs being blasted throughout the area."
• "Stay home if you’re coughing and sneezing, and aren’t required to be out. Went to a movie with reserved seats with a person behind me coughing non-stop… I could feel the air from his cough moving my hair. Thanks dude… can’t wait to give my grandparents whatever bug this is."

3. Using clean pillowcases.

• "Once I realized my acne flare-ups were caused by dirty pillowcases, my constant acne problems disappeared."
• "Not just pillowcases, but protectors and the pillows themselves. How many people have a rank yellow/brown pillow hidden underneath their 'clean' pillowcase. Wash the covers, wash or replace the pillow as necessary."
• "I work in hospitality, you really should also use zip on pillow protectors."

4. Changing hand towels.

• "Changing your hand towels (and the towels you use after showering) frequently."
• "Ugh. I hate when it's obvious that someone never washes their hand towels because the towel smells moldy and then so do my hands after using it."
• "They might wash their towels, but not realize they aren't getting clean. I hate it when people have those super-duper thick towels that don't get completely dry. They hold onto the mildew spores and can smell bad even when they're 'fresh' out of the washer. Especially if they're dark colors that are getting washed in cold water. Ugh."

"Mildew is a kind of mold. It thrives in moisture, and is not killed just by a wash in cold water and detergent. Here's what you do.

1. Get normal thickness towels, not extra heavy. It's better to use two or three smaller towels than one of those giant 'bath sheets'. Get them in white or a pale color.

2. Wash them in hot or warm water, not cold.

3. Use bleach or a sanitizing product. Some people swear by vinegar, personally I don't. I have a big family with teenage boys. I use 1/2 to 3/4 cup (100 to 200ml) bleach in every load of whites that I wash. That's towels, wash cloths, kitchen towels, and socks. Do not use softener.

4. Dry them all the way! Do not use dryer sheets. Clean your lint trap with every use. Clean the whole dryer vent every 6 months or so. (It's easier than you think, and it also prevents house fires.)"

5. Give your feet a proper clean.

• "Properly cleaning your feet rather than just letting the soapy water go on them in the shower."
• "Yes, I was looking for this answer! Cleaning between your toes and drying them properly is important, and so many people don't."
• "When we get around to remodeling the bathroom, I will jettison the tub in favor of a walk in shower that has a small seat or bench so I can sit down and easily attend to dealing with my fee. When I'm in the shower standing on one bare and wet foot on a smooth surface while leaning slightly against the wall and cleaning my feet, the trivia that 'most household accidents occur in the bathroom' often pops into my mind for some unknown reason."
• "I'm in my thirties now, and I always had smelly feet, like, really bad. When I go to the gym and remove my shoes, I always feel self-conscious because my feet smell so bad. I tried using baby powder, wearing breathing shoes and socks. Nothing really helps.
  That was my life until about two years ago. One day, I asked myself, 'What if I start washing them?' I had never washed them before, or at least, never regularly, I would just let the water hit them. My brother...I don't have smelly feet anymore."

6. Treating your tonsil stones properly.

• "Why is this so far down?? Scrolled forever to find this one. I can smell these in someone from several feet away. The cleaning kits are cheap on Amazon."
• "It seems to be a less talked about thing here in the USA. I honestly didn’t know about them until I was an adult and in Europe, and someone said, 'Bro you have a tonsil stone…' blew my mind, and now I am ocd about it."

7. Cleaning your keys.

• "Cleaning your keys. I know that sounds insane, but hear me out. My husband carries a set of about 20 keys on a daily basis. They end up on my kitchen counter and I pick them up to move them out of the way. I can FEEL the grunge on them.
  And my husband is fastidious about handwashing. Well, I take that set of keys and soak them in hot, soapy water, then rinse and lay them out to dry. Next morning, they feel clean. The difference is shocking. Grunge to glorious.
  He thinks I’m crazy for washing them. I think about everything he touches when he’s out working, and I don’t want all those germs in my house."

8. Treating your belly button with love and some soap.

• "Cleaning your belly button. Yes, it needs attention too."
• "So there’s this ligament called the median umbilical ligament that goes from your belly button to the top of your bladder. I feel like part of the reason it feels so weird to touch or clean your belly button is because it jiggles that ligament a little and gives you a visceral feeling of discomfort."

9. Washing dishes in a hygienic way.

• "How you wash your dishes. That sponge you bought 6 months ago is growing all sorts of bacteria."
• "Doing dishes at my ex’s mom’s once and asked for the sponge. She handed me this shriveled, almost black thing. Blew my mind because otherwise she was so clean and organized."
• "I just can’t with sponges anymore. Or loofahs. I just think too much about what is growing in them. I’ve switched entirely to wash cloths in the sink and the bath, and they get swapped out daily.
  If I have a particularly nasty pot to scrub, I’ll either use steel wool if it’s safe for the pot or a scrubbing powder to get the stain out."
• "I buy large packs of sponges (they have a cloth outer and sponges inner) and change my sponge daily. The sponges get washed in the laundry with the kitchen linens every couple of days and are only used for dishes. Separate kitchen towels are used for wiping up surfaces and other towels for hand drying. All towels and sponges are changed daily without exception, sometimes changed midday if they got used for something icky."

10. Washing your piercing holes.

People clean and wash their ears thoroughly, but why on Earth do they forget to clean their piercing holes? This is the question that provoked quite a debate.

• "Cleaning your piercing holes, no matter how old they are. Take your earrings out and scrub because even non-stretched lobes can get really built up and nasty."
• "While disembarking a flight, the guy in front of me had his gauge pop out. I had to smell his ear for the entire walk off the plane."
• "This! I still remember 10 years ago taking my elderly grandma to a jewelry shop so she could pick out new earrings, and she asked the shopkeeper to help her change them because her fingers were too frail to do it. The gunk that had built up around those old earrings and inside the piercing was DISGUSTING. The shopkeeper was so good about it, though, gave them a good clean for her."
• "This one!!! I have several ear piercings, as well as a nostril and bellybutton piercing. I wash with antibacterial soap every shower, but once a week, I still use saline aftercare spray. I’ve had friends ask why I do that since my newest piercing is like 6 years old at this point, and I always point out that I’ve NEVER dealt with 'piercing smell' because of this habit."

And here are 10 facts about men's hygiene that made us see things from a different angle.