It’s not the toilet: one thing you have to clean in the bathroom a lot more often

There are a lot of germs, especially in the bathroom. Read here which areas many people often overlook when cleaning – and how often you should actually clean them.

Every household is teeming with bacteria. However, with a normal level of hygiene, including regular basic cleaning, you usually don’t have to worry.

How often do you clean your shower head?

If we care about bathroom hygiene, there is a lot to do. We clean the floor and tiles, we clean the toilet and scrub the tub, sink and faucets.

But the most dangerous source of germs in the bathroom is often overlooked. According to a study by scientists at Furtwangen University (HFU), Justus Liebig University Giessen and the Helmholtz Center Munich, this is the shower head.

Which germs are dangerous on the shower head

American researchers from Boulder University also examined the shower head. As part of their study, the scientists examined swabs from 656 shower heads and always came to the same conclusion: there are around 200 different types of bacteria in each shower head.

They come from tap water and the ambient air and find almost ideal conditions in the shower head: it is naturally humid and the regular flow of warm water also creates favorable temperature conditions. Limescale deposits and other minerals in the water also provide the bacteria with an optimal nutritional basis.

Luckily, very few bacteria in the shower head are also pathogens. There are a few, however, and they are not to be trifled with. The so-called mycobacteria are particularly dangerous. These are rod-shaped germs, which include, for example, the pathogen that causes tuberculosis. This was not detected in any case during the investigation, but other related strains of this species were practically always detected.

Legionella cause pneumonia

The most dangerous are Legionella, which can cause severe pneumonia. According to the Pharmacy Survey, around 30,000 Legionella infections are diagnosed in Germany every year, around 1,300 of which lead to a serious course of the disease.

How to clean your shower head

The first precaution against harmful germs in the shower head is very simple. Before you stand under the shower, you should let the water flow at full power for a few seconds.

This means that a large proportion of the germs are flushed out. If the shower has not been used for a long time, for example after a vacation, you should even extend the process for a few minutes. This applies even more to someone else’s shower, for example in a holiday home.

You can and should clean the shower head or the entire faucet regularly, approximately every four to six weeks. To do this, the shower must be removed from the hose. According to “healthdigest.com”, suitable cleaning and disinfectant products are chlorine-based products diluted with water or pure wine vinegar – simply pour a sufficient amount into a bucket and leave the faucet in place for about an hour allow to soak.

You should then remove any remaining deposits on the outside with a toothbrush. Another safety measure is to replace the shower head regularly – a new one should be replaced approximately every twelve months.