We all know even the cleanest hotel rooms still contain hot pockets of bacteria – that’s just what happens when people are constantly checking in and out.
The usual culprits are things like coffee machines, TV remotes, and light switches, which don’t tend to get wiped down by housekeeping on every visit.
But there’s one thing lurking in the bathroom that you might not have even considered could be filthy.
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Researchers have found that hotel room toiletries – those dispensers of shampoo and body wash – contain high levels of bacteria.
Recently, many hotel chains around the world have made the switch from mini toiletries in the bathroom to large refillable bottles or dispensers.
It’s a savvy move that saves cash and also dramatically reduces plastic waste. In fact, single-use toiletries will be banned from European hotels starting in 2030.
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But the replacement refillable containers can harbour a lot of germs, as they’re not typically wiped down between guests.
And the bacteria aren’t just on the outside – it was found living in the shampoo and body lotion, too.
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Public health professor Dr Alex Sundermann took to TikTok to explain the study, which showed that over 70 per cent of samples contained bacteria.
Samples were taken from 40 rooms across 20 hotels, all of which were three- or four-star properties.
He noted the bacteria are probably thriving thanks to cross-contamination during the refilling process. The bottles are continuously topped up with new product rather than being thoroughly cleaned.
Travellers sounded off in the comment section after learning about the study.
“I’ll go back to using bar soap I guess,” one person wrote, while another said flat out “I don’t use them”.
“This is just another reason why it’s impossible for me to ‘pack light’ when I travel,” another wrote.
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“We have noticed that when the containers are refilled the bacterial numbers decrease -probably because they do contain some antimicrobial – but then increase rapidly again,” explains Dr Gerba, a professor of virology who worked on the study.
The report added that once the bacteria have taken up home in the toiletries, they’re almost impossible to get rid of.
It’s important to note that the study did not link the bacteria to any infections, nor does it guarantee that using hotel room toiletries will get you sick.
Dr Sundermann says that the upshot is this: either all dispensers need to be regularly and thoroughly cleaned out, and stagnant water needs to be removed from the top, or we need to switch back to disposable containers.
The latter isn’t very environmentally friendly (or even legal in some places), so it looks like the best solution is to bring your own toiletries from home.
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