Think You're Clean? Get Ready To Be Grossed Out!

There's nothing better than stepping into a hot shower after a long day, applying your favorite body wash to your loofah and spreading bacteria all over your body.

Wait, what?

You read that right. If you are using a loofah when you shower, you'll feel like taking another shower when you get done reading this.

That pretty pink poofy loofah that hangs in your bathroom day in and day out is a vehicle for bacteria. It is a graveyard for dead skin cells that you remove today when washing, only to spread back over your body again tomorrow during your next shower. (GAG!) After only two or three uses, it has already become full of bacteria that has now permanently taken up residence in your shower.

Bacteria love warm, moist places, so your bathroom combined with the nooks and cranny's of your loofah make the perfect place for all that bacteria and dead skin to be applied to your skin instead of cleansing it.

Pseudomonas, Xanthomonas, and Klebsiella, gram-positive (Enterococcus and group B Streptococcus), Bacillus spp. and Staphylococcus epidermidis are just a few of the different types of bacteria that shack up in your scrubber. The study published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology found that loofahs can transmit potentially pathogenic species of bacterial flora to the skin that under the right circumstances may even cause an infection not to mention, they become the perfect habitat for yeast, mold, and mildew, as well as the bacteria responsible for boils and conjunctivitis — and that’s all within a few hours!