How to Practice Good Hygiene Habits Every Day

Good hygiene is a daily habit and, as with the formation of any desired habit, you have to set your mind to it. The benefits are many - everything from preventing/fighting infection to boosting self esteem because you just plain feel good about yourself. It doesn’t take much to build these simple, but amazingly effective hygiene habits. Here are the basics to practicing good hygiene every day:

1. Bathe Daily

One of the first steps that you can take to building good hygiene is to get in the habit of washing well every day. As a part of the daily habit, bathe daily, using a sponge and lots of soap to get into all the little nooks and crannies where dirt can hide and infection can start. You don’t need to wash your hair every day, though it won’t hurt it any to do so. But, you should wash your hair at least once a week. If you have dry skin, try following up the bath by applying a light oil on your skin. For extremely dry skin, you can take a shower every other day, but try to stick to this schedule. Remember, lots of soap and water are the first weapon in fighting any infection.

2. Wash Your Hands Well

Speaking of hand-washing, this won’t be the first or last time you hear it, but frequent hand-scrubbing is one of the best defenses against the spread of infection. Take the advice of posters you’ve seen. Wash your hands thoroughly as often as possible, but particularly after using the bathroom. Use the easy to count on one hand 5 step method -- wet, lather, scrub, rinse, and dry.  Scrub for at least 20 seconds under water as hot as you can stand it (singing or humming the happy birthday song two times through will ensure you’ve done the full 20 seconds). Approximately 5,000 germs live on you hands at any given time, so every second you spend washing your hands serves to deter a multitude of diarrheal and respiratory illnesses.

3. Don’t Forget Your Nails

Nails can be a great place for infection causing germs to hide. Keep your nails trimmed and filed (consider carrying a nail file with you). When showering, use a nail brush with lots of soap and water to clean out any dirt and bacteria. And whenever you wash your hands, make sure that you scrub thoroughly under the nail beds with soap to get out any germs and dirt.

4. Wipe Well

And while you are in the bathroom, one of the best ways you can practice good hygiene is to wipe well. Most health experts agree that the best way to wipe after doing your, ahem, business is to use water or a moistened toilet tissue. Aquinelle Toilet Tissue Mist is an easy and comfortable way to wet your toilet paper. Just spray a bit on your paper and wipe well. Plus, you have the added benefit of combatting bathroom odors with the many sweet smelling tissue mist options.

5. Brush and Floss

Make your dentist happy. Brush and floss in the morning, at night, and after you eat. The mouth and teeth are a breeding ground for infection that have easy access to the rest of the body, including the heart. By keeping your teeth well-brushed and flossed, you are not only keeping your breath fresh, you are doing battle with a whole host of health concerns.

6. Get Lots of Good Sleep

Believe it or not, sleeping is one of the best ways that you can practice good hygiene and health practices. Get as close to 8 hours as you can, and definitely don’t get less than 6 hours. Your body needs the time to rest and repair itself. If you feel an infection coming on, try to get in bed and sleep it off, rather than trying to push yourself to muscle your way through an illness. Sleep is one of the best natural health remedies. When we are rested, we are healthier. And good health is the underpinning of good hygiene.

For more information on Aquinelle Toilet Tissue Mist, visit our web site. Here’s to your health!