Your Wristwatch Could Contain More Bacteria Than Your Toilet Seat -New Research Shows
While most of us will regularly change our sheets, vacuum our floors and do the dishes, we often forget to clean items we use on a daily basis. Makeup brushes, for instance, are often ignored despite the fact bacteria build-up can cause breakouts and other skin problems.
Another neglected item is the wristwatch. Though it might not be visible, your timepiece could be a ticking time bomb of dirt.
A new research has showed that your wristwatch could be a breeding ground for all sorts of bacteria. Many of us might think of ourselves as hygiene obsessives who watch our hands with soap and water every time we touch a toilet handle.
And for some, even the thought of the germs blowing out of the hand dryer is enough to have them dabbing their hands dry on their carefully put together daytime outfit.
But how much thought do we put into the germs we could actually be carrying around on our wrists? New research has found that we could in fact be carrying around more bacteria on our expensive timepieces than we realise.
Findings from watch and sunglasses specialist, Tic Watches suggests that your wristwatch could actually contain three times the amount of bacteria of the average toilet seat.
To come to their conclusions, researchers took swabs of 10 different types of watches so that the findings would be fair. On each watch they looked for aerobic bacteria, yeast and mould, reporting that each swap captured a ‘worrying’ amount of dirt.
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They found that plastic and leather options tended to build up more dirt and bacteria than metal watch straps, with the most bacteria being found on a Fitbit that contained eight times more bacteria than a toilet seat flush and handle.
The researchers also found that overall 24 per cent of British people never clean their watches at all, with a whopping 21 per cent doing so less than every six months.
And when it came to the biggest culprits for dirty watches, one gender won out over the other.
While findings reported that 24 per cent of men never cleaned their watches, it turns out that women clean them even less, as a massive 27 per cent of women never gave their timepieces a wipe. Daniel Richmond, managing director of Tic Watches said:
”Whether you wear a watch every day, or just during working hours, one thing is for certain, we don’t clean them as much as we wash our hands. Unfortunately, not all watches are waterproof, so avoiding any contact with water when we’re wearing them could be the main reason for a build-up of bacteria.”
However, while this may sound gross, it’s not harmful at all, as a certain amount of bacteria is actually healthy for the body. Although it wouldn’t hurt to give your watch a quick wipe now and then.
Before you start scrubbing away, bear in mind that different watches require different cleaning methods, however it’s recommended that you give it a wipe with a dry, soft cloth every night and a thorough clean once a month.
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For expensive watches, you will sometimes get a special cleaning cloth as part of your purchase, but you can also easily buy one online or in a watch shop.
The more you look after your timepiece, the longer it will last too. And there’s the added extra of not walking around with a toilet seat around your wrist. Richmond added:
”For those who wear a watch every day, we recommend giving it a good clean at least once a month.”