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 think several posters here need help for their health anxiety. My toothbrush lives above the sink which is next to the toilet, the towels are the other side of the toilet. I managed to reach middle age without issue!

I have thought the same as the OP in years gone by, but I never really did anything to change that habit. I suppose as a child we had a separate loo and bathroom, so it wasn't an issue and I just carried on doing it when I left home.

My toothbrush lives in a glass on the windowsill. I do usually give my brush a rinse before I put the toothpaste on, and I always put the lid down before I flush.

It's a valid question, but as long as you are not using your toothbrush as the default loo brush, I don't think there is much chance of serious contamination. I probably have more chance of catching something from the glass the brush lives in if I don't put that through the dishwasher regularly.

Its obviously not enough to cause you an acute illness. What it could possibly do for longterm well-being is more difficult to establish.

Its obviously not enough to cause you an acute illness. What it could possibly do for longterm well-being is more difficult to establish.

It’s not though. People have been keeping toothbrushes there for a century. No one has had ill long-term effects unless you equate dying of old age as being due to contaminated toothbrushes!

😂 Just when I thought I had read it all on here!

I think you should move in to a house with an old style outside toilet to avoid escaping poo particles flying round your house. That’s what I’m going to do now. I don’t think the poo particles will stay in the bathroom, they’ll get out when you open the door. And when you have a poo it would be best to wear full ppe in case a poo particle gets you. I’m amazed the human race has survived this long when you consider the risks posed by poo particles, despite the wonders of modern sanitation and of course, dentistry.

Always flush with loo lid down, and bathroom cabinet for tooth related stuff
always amazes me how many people don’t close the loo seat , drives me nuts
finally brought a sign for my bathroom,
shut the lid before you flush
they have lids for a reason!!

You should look at the research into health outcomes, more specifically around allergies and immune disorders, around children who grow up in agricultural environments. That’s quite compelling. Quite in favour of exposure to muck in general.
And then the research into exposure to cleaning chemicals.
You will be rolling your children in manure every morning.

I personally don't see a risk in the bathroom, as I'm sure you can get contaminants anywhere in the house, but I don't get why you don't use the kitchen sink? It's quite a trek if I went in my house between the kitchen and bathroom.

That’s the joke, people used to cook inside and shit outside, now they cook outside (outdoor kitchen) and shit inside.

There are far more germs on your phone/ computer keyboard than the toilet, I don't think the family have ever got sick from having toothbrushes in the bathroom

Mine is in the bedroom in a drawer, agree it's unhygienic to keep them in the bathroom

I had my toothbrushes in the kitchen for a while due to not having a proper bathroom. It felt and looked weird. Now they are kept in the bathroom where they have been the past 43 years of my life and I have not died from poo particles yet.

My toothbrush is kept in the kitchen (that’s where the plug for it is.)

Well I'm still alive and never had anything nasty, neither has any of family.

I often wonder this due to all the people getting ill and dying from their contaminated toothbrushes

Actually, no I don’t because that’s a batshit thought process

So many potential contaminants in the kitchen - thats very risky. Bathroom is the better bet. Any air we breathe has microscopic particles in it. Air everywhere contains microscopic biological particles, including faecal matter, skin cells, and bacteria. Bathrooms can aerosolise trace faecal particles during toilet flushing, but the concentration drops rapidly with distance and ventilation. Keeping a toothbrush in a closed cabinet or using a cover in the bathroom is sufficient hygiene. Moving it to the kitchen exposes it to different bacteria from food preparation, raw meat, and general household dust, which are riskier.

Agree! I'm 62. Not sure how I got here alive. I never get stomach upsets and I changed my bedsheets yesterday for the first time in weeks!!

Our lives in cabinet in the bathroom

Parallel world of Mumsnet strikes again. I don't know a single SOUL (and never have!) who keeps their toothbrush in the kitchen! Indeed everyone I know keeps it in the bathroom.

I keep my toothbrush in a tumbler on top of the cistern. I have had one stomach upset in the past ten years and that happened when I was away from home.

You won’t get sick from eating or drinking in the bathroom either. Why do you think it’s gross?

My toothbrush has always lived in the bathroom, near the sink. It's not in a cupboard nor covered. After 57 years I have never become ill. It has never occurred to me that this is an issue!

Christ alive. Mumsnet has jumped the shark

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