Boomers Vs Millennials: Which Generation Has Better Bathroom Hygiene?

Research has indicated that we can add bathroom cleaning frequency to the long list of things millennials and baby boomers disagree on. A 2019 survey cited by the New York Post found that over a tenth of the older generation could say that they cleaned their toilets every four weeks, in comparison to only a fifth of the younger generation. With that statistic, millennials became twice as likely as baby boomers to only give their bathroom a clean once a month. 

It's worth noting that baby boomers also came out on top for the basic hygiene habit in another survey conducted by Vyv Tech in 2019. In their findings, 89% of baby boomers reported cleaning their bathroom at least once a week, compared to 74% of millennials. If the older generation were to tell the younger generation to increase their cleaning frequency, millennials might deem it as yet another piece of outdated boomer hygiene advice they absolutely cannot stand. However, in a chat with Self Magazine, Kelly Reynolds, PhD, MSPH, professor and director of the environment, exposure science and risk assessment center at the University of Arizona, said that it's ideal to clean your bathroom once a week. 

"A lot of microbes grow slowly, especially when we're talking about yeast and mold in the bathroom," she explained. After stressing that these microbes could take anywhere from days to weeks to grow, she said that it was best to clean bathtubs, counters, sinks, and any other hard surfaces with a disinfectant cleaner. Additionally, there are several other valid reasons why this infrequency in bathroom cleaning is a millennial hygiene habit that baby boomers just don't understand.

According to WebMD, a bathroom can contain a variety of pathogens, including E.coli, salmonella, norovirus, staph bacteria, and the fungus that causes athlete's foot. During a chat with Self Magazine, Paul Pottinger, MD, said that the fungus was a particular cause for concern, saying, "The world is covered with germs, and there's always fungus and mold around us, but it tends not to be a threat unless it settles in a damp area, and that's where it can then grow." 

He then stressed that it was entirely possible to get athlete's foot from walking around in the shower. It's worth noting that in a chat with WebMD, Philip M. Tierno, Jr., PhD, director of clinical microbiology and diagnostic immunology at Tisch Hospital, said that the risk of actually getting sick from the pathogens was low if people practiced good hygiene overall. Of course, the shower and bathtub area isn't the only cause for concern. 

"[The toilet bowl is] where all the excretions go," Tierno said. "A biofilm grows after just a few hours with any germ, even normal flora, which can allow household pathogens to survive even with chlorine tablets in the water." It's worth noting that a 2007 CBS News report found that a toilet bowl was the top spot for bacteria in a home, clocking in at a whopping 3.2 million bacteria/square inch. During Dr. Tierno's chat with WebMD, he recommended the toilet bowl be cleaned using a scrub, soap, a brush, and a disinfectant once a week. At the end of the day, people of all generations are making plenty of other hygiene mistakes without even knowing it.