To wonder why people/it’s considered normal to keep toothbrushes in bathrooms?

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Why is it considered normal for toothbrushes to be left in bathrooms, near toilets, poo particles just flying around. Even if everyone guest and children/husband remembers to put the lid down before flushing.. it’s still somewhere where people poo, why keep something you put in your mouth in there?!

Our toothbrushes live in the kitchen, I just load up with toothpaste, brush, then spit out in the bathroom, rinse toothbrush and return it to the kitchen.

AIBU to think in hindsight, the bathroom is a really weird unhygienic place to keep toothbrushes or am I being a bit germaphobey 🤣

I clean all the toothbrushes under the toilet flush every time i have a poo.
Whether they need it or not.

google is free. There is fecal particles flying around your bathroom when you flush the toilet. Closing the lid helps, but doesn’t eliminate.

I guess that we, the general public “children, husbands, guests” are all just filthy, germ riddled heathens who consume poo on a daily basis then according to you OP.

Heres a thought, don’t worry yourself about what goes on in other people’s homes.
This bothers you more than it bothers others, you do you.

I keep the toilet lid down which helps somewhat. Ds has been trained the same by me too.

That's some size of a bathroom! It's as big as a normal single-car garage! Wow.

I have a cover on mine in the bathroom. Don’t fancy cleaning my teeth in kitchen sink when a cover does the job just fine.

Dirty hands are probably more of a problem than particles in the air that you are presumably breathing in anyway. Ours toothbrushes are in a cabinet, mainly because I don't like looking at them on the sink.

If this were a real problem, the general population would constantly be ill with stomach bugs. Our bathroom is very small and the toothbrushes are out, and we're all fine.

Humans are made of pretty strong stuff. We need some bacteria in our lives.

This. Zero people get sick from having toothbrushes in the bathroom. Have OP not heard the saying "a teaspoon of dirt a day keeps a child healthy". I mean, you are just weird.People are overly hygienic these days and that will affect your immune system negatively if you try eliminate every possible source of bacteria...chill.

Under Labour you can expect a HMO room to make this really easy.

We also keep our downstairs toothbrushes in the kitchen. (For the "oh salmonella" screamers.. they are obviously in a cupboard). It started when we had no downstairs bathroom so the kids could all wash their teeth after breakfast without disappearing up to the bathroom (and delaying or forgetting to come back/arguing over who got there first etc, so i could remind (hassle) them to brush after breakfast and hurry up, and when they were little so I coukd supervise to ensure they did it correctly. We have continued since getting downstairs bathroom - avoids all crowding in together. They walk into bathroom to spit into bathroom sink. Like you OP i prefer that to spitting in kitchen sink.

I have a small ensuure and keep my toothbrush in a drawer. The kids sometimes brush upstairs before bed so there is a second toothbrush cup in the upstairs bathroom cabinet.
So OP i am with you.

we don't have a toilet in our bathroom so all good here!

I got little plastic clip on lids for our toothbrushes because it always seemed to unhygienic to have them in the bathroom.
I feel a bit better now they have little hats on their heads!

I often think about this. I have been known to shout ' lid down' when I have guests. Watched a programme about the journey fecal matter can.make if a seat is not put down once-🙄

I have literally never considered this lol - I obviously don’t have as much time on my hands to consider the viability of poo particles in the air and how far they may travel or where they may land - or the exact trajectory between my toilet and sink and if the items on said sink are in danger or otherwise … may think about it a little more after this thread though 😂 … but honestly my toothbrush holder is on the bathroom sink as that’s where it’s always been and how it was when I grew up so never given it a second thought and we don’t have a household full of sick people if that reassures anyone at all 🤷🏻‍♀️

Edited to correct my own typos- obvs I have more OCD over typos than toothbrushes 😂

You do know that it is important and healthy to come into regular contact with dirt, viruses, bacteria and so on? It's what keeps our immune system healthy. And the answer to your question is so obvious it doesn't really need answering but i will bite. We keep toothbrushes in the bathroom because that is where we clean our teeth. If i were making dinner i certainly wouldn't want to cone across your disgustingly dirty toothbrush covered in your gross spit in the kitchen 😂😂

It has never occurred to me to worry about this. I think that if I were worried about my toothbrush being in the bathroom I'd also worry about my flannels and towels being there; perhaps even about my mouth being there.

If you learn to 'scrup up' to assist with surgery in an operating theatre, you learn that you are cascading 'poo particles' down below your waist continuously. So if you hands, once clean and gloved go below the level of your waist, you are considered contaminated and need to 'rescrub' (a laborious procedure) before continuing.

I think your fears about toothbrushes are misplaced, and I would be concerned that keeping toothbrushes in inconvenient places would be a barrier to regular brushing (especially for kids), which is a much bigger health danger.

Also read up on the hygiene hypothesis.

Yeah, with all those hazmat toothbrush-related deaths and diseases being reported every year, you’re right to worry. I keep my toothbrush in its own combi safe and bleach the fuck out of it twice a week. Can’t be too careful.

I wonder if exposure to poo particles is also exposure to someone else’s gut microbiome, and could improve your gut microbiome. A diverse microbiome is generally considered a really positive thing for health outcomes, and I know at one point microbiologists would travel the world exposing themselves to other cultures faeces in an attempt to get the most diverse gut microbiome. Not my idea of a fun holiday, but an interesting countering point of view to yours OP.

I think it’s a non issue, what is a documented health hazard is exposure to strong cleaning chemicals.

I'm loving the continuous cascade of poo particles, @DiscouragingDiagnosis.
Might make it the title of my autobiography.

Our toilet is special when we flush the supersonic particles they float around the whole house so we all sit under the dining table with tin foil hats on our heads and sing Cher songs

Such an interesting thread. There are more bugs and bacteria in your mouth than in your anus.
I think i might start storing my toothbrush in the bathroom cupboard

I've made it to my 40s without this causing me any issues. There's no chance I'm messing around carrying my toothbrush from room to room. And I can't even get DH to put his toothbrush back in the tumbler next to the sink, so there's even less chance of him carrying his toothbrush to the kitchen and back.
OP, I keep seeing Suri toothbrushes being advertised - you keep them in a case, which sterilises them after every use. You might like to check them out.