Do You Wear Home Slippers? Here’s Science Behind Why You Shouldn’t Wear Slippers at Home

Last Updated on 2023-01-30 , 9:33 am

Do you have a friend who loves wearing home slippers while at home? Those cute, furry and adorable house slippers that are usually shown by most beauty bloggers. Well, it’s time to let them know not to do so!

Though it may be nice to be prancing around the house with slippers that makes your feet warm and happy, have you ever wondered how much germs are actually being accumulated in your slippers?

Why You Shouldn’t Wear Home Slippers

For instance, when you need to step out of the house for a moment, how many times do you actually remember to take off your slippers?

Us being humans, we tend to assume that nothing is wrong with just taking a step or two outside the house. I, for one, am guilty of rushing back into my house with my shoes on just because I left something important at home.

However, the moment you step out of your house, you’re bringing the germs from outside back into your house. Yes, there are germs everywhere, we understand but germs from outside are a lot more dangerous, especially since we have already contaminated our doorstep with our shoes.

Dr Charles Gerba, a microbiologist and professor at the University of Arizona conducted a test with brand new shoes for two weeks to see how much dirt it can accumulated.

The result? 440,000 units of bacteria were found on the shoes. 27% of which were the deadly E Coli. So can you imagine the amount of dangerous bacteria that are being transferred from stepping outside your house to your slippers?

Also, I know of adults who only wear slippers in the kitchen, because the floor is dirtier and oilier from all the cooking being done. Well, the same rules applies. When you wear your slippers into the kitchen, the dirt and oil gets trapped in your slippers and transferred around the minute you step out of your kitchen.

That said, do you recall the last time you actually washed those slippers? Most of the time, we assume that because we hardly wear it out, it isn’t dirty and there isn’t a huge need to wash the slippers. These bacteria accumulate on the soles of your slippers which you’d use to walk around the entire house.

Dangerous For Kids

If you have kids, this is exceptionally dangerous. Children crawl around the floor all the time, and they love putting their play stuff, toes and fingers into their mouth. So if your child is constantly getting sick or having a tummy ache, this may very well be the reason!

The next time you put on those cute house slippers, think twice before doing so. I mean, unless you wash those slippers every single day, we suggest not wearing slippers at home!

Featured Image: New Africa / Shutterstock.com