Photo: New Africa (Shutterstock)
Think about it: Where do backpacks, gym bags, and purses live throughout the day? Bus aisles, train seats, public school desks, lockers, locker room benches, the backs of Ubers, and, perhaps most egregious of all, subway floors. And when you’re home, where does that gym bag live? In a stuffed closet surrounded by smelly shoes, most likely.
A study conducted by the UK-based Initial Washroom Hygiene found that 60% of gym bags were contaminated with coliform bacteria, which can cause upset stomach, vomiting, fever, or diarrhea. And don’t get us started on those flip flops worn in the gym shower. Unless they’re scrubbed and bagged separately, you’re now the proud owner of a tantalizing smorgasbord of germs and mold spores aggregated from hundreds of strangers. Needless to say, items that make the school, locker room, and urban rounds by day have no business moonlighting on your counters.
