Understanding and practicing good personal hygiene helps keep us and the people around us safe and well. Try these 10 personal hygiene tips to improve your health at home.
What is Personal Hygiene?
Personal hygiene is how you care for yourself, and the environment you live in. Good personal hygiene habits keep us clean and healthy and protect the people around us too. Practicing good personal hygiene will help to keep bacteria, viruses, and illnesses at bay.
1. Personal hygiene skills for kids.
Parents can begin teaching personal hygiene benefits from an early age. Encourage regular hand washing and teeth brushing by showing them how it’s done. Make baths and showers a fun but integral part of your family routine to help children develop good personal hygiene habits early on which they will carry through their lives.
2. Clean surfaces regularly
As people come and go in and out of your home, the surfaces and objects that are touched regularly could become a risk to everyone’s health. Clean ‘high traffic’ areas like door handles, kitchen surfaces, toilets, and light switches regularly, and encourage everyone at home to practice good personal hygiene by cleaning them too, while making sure to wash their hands regularly.
3. Clean surfaces and hands after handling food
Practicing good personal hygiene in the kitchen is especially important as this is where you prepare and consume food. Take care to clean kitchen surfaces regularly, especially after preparing and handling raw meat or eggs which can carry harmful bacteria. A good tip is to keep separate chopping boards for preparing raw meat and other types of food to avoid any cross-contamination. Remember to always practice good personal hygiene by washing your hands before, during, and after preparing food.
4. Keep a personal hygiene kit handy
Create your own personal hygiene kit that contains everything you need to take care of personal hygiene when you are out of the house. Some good items to add to your personal hygiene kit are hand sanitiser, antibacterial wipes, face masks, and disposable gloves. Similarly, make sure you always have a good supply of products to protect your personal hygiene at home. Keep a good supply of hand soap ready to wash your hands when you arrive home, and antibacterial wipes or spray available for cleaning surfaces.
5. Wash bed linen and towels regularly
According to the Sleep Foundation, most of us spend approximately 49-60 hours sleeping in our beds every week. To protect personal hygiene it is recommended that you wash your bed sheets at least once a week, or every two weeks if you don’t sleep in your bed every night. It is recommended to wash your bed linen more regularly if you allow pets into your bedroom, and if you suffer from allergies or asthma.
6. Personal hygiene for pet owners
Our pets are part of the family but it is important to remember to practice good personal hygiene when you have animals at home. Wash hands after petting or playing with your animals, clean surfaces regularly to avoid a build-up of pet hair and bacteria. Keep your pet’s toys and other items separate from your own things and clean them regularly. While your pet is unable to follow personal hygiene rules, you can help them by having dogs and cats groomed regularly and applying necessary pest treatments.
7. Personal hygiene tips for your fridge
As with kitchen surfaces, you should ensure your fridge is kept clean. Cleaning your fridge regularly and checking expiry dates prevents dangers of contamination from out-of-date foods. Extend your personal hygiene rules to how you organise your fridge by storing raw meats on lower shelves and keeping them away from fresh produce.
8. Don’t forget your floors!
It is a personal hygiene choice whether you allow outdoor shoes into your home or not but if you do, it is advisable to clean and disinfect your floors regularly. Harmful bacteria from outside of the home can travel into your house via the soles of shoes, which could be particularly harmful if you have young children crawling or playing on the floor. Keep a pair of indoor shoes or shoe covers near your front door to encourage visitors to respect your personal hygiene rules and leave their outdoor shoes at the door. If you don’t feel able to do this, you can clean floors regularly as part of your personal hygiene routine at home.
9. Personal hygiene for your personal tech
Your phone is one of the worst places for storing harmful bacteria, along with tablets, and computer keyboards. Practice good personal hygiene by washing your hands after handling your mobile phone – especially when you use it while you are out and about.
10. Allow fresh air into your home
Bring clean and fresh air into your home to prevent a build-up of stale air indoors. Modern homes are built to be airtight, so it is important to open windows and doors regularly to encourage fresh air into the home . This is also advised within Covid-19 safety guidelines, and if you need to allow someone into your home – such as a tradesperson – to carry out essential work you should keep windows and doors open to help circulate fresh air. Visitors should also practise good personal hygiene by washing their hands and wearing a face mask whilst in your home.
Covid-19 has reminded us all how important it is to practice good personal hygiene to help prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses. Following personal hygiene rules such as regular hand washing, using hand sanitisers, and disinfecting surfaces are now a part of everyday life. Personal hygiene importance is now more appreciated, and this new awareness is expected to remain with us for good.
