How Often You Should Wash Your Bath Mats

Looks can be deceiving: Though your bath mat seems innocuous, sitting there on your bathroom floor away from dirty shoes or the chaos of a kitchen, it's actually quietly collecting plenty of dirt, debris, and microscopic squatters. That is icky enough on its own, but that ick can also cause athlete's foot and other fungal infections.

For insight on why it's important to clean your mat (and how to do so), we consulted Dr. Mona Gohara, an associate clinical professor of dermatology at Yale School of Medicine; Becky Rapinchuk, the cleaning expert behind the Clean Mama blog and the author of several books; and Patric Richardson, the author of The Laundry Evangelist blog and the book Laundry Love.

Though they don't often look dirty, fabric bath mats are constantly collecting moisture from your bathroom, as well as dead skin, urine and fecal spray from the toilet, hair, dust, dirt, and bacteria. It's not only disgusting—it can also create potential health consequences. As Dr. Gohara put it: "Damp, moist, and dirty is like Disneyland for fungus and yeast."

That fungus and yeast can transfer to your feet, causing athlete's foot and toenail fungus.

The short answer is: probably more than you are.

You should be cleaning it weekly, and if you didn't know you had to do it that often, you’re not alone. Even among our clean-minded staff, very few of the colleagues I polled reported cleaning or changing their bath mats that often. But once a week is the minimum our experts recommend, especially for people in households. "If you live with a partner, if you live with a family, there's many feet coming across the same damp surface," Dr. Gohara explained. "So you’re increasing your chances even more [of getting infected with a fungus or yeast] because you’re increasing the odds of encountering it from person to person."

Damp, moist, and dirty is like Disneyland for fungus and yeast.

Even if you live alone, though, you need to stay on top of washing or changing your bath mats, since you can still be susceptible to one of these dermatological issues just from what organically grows on your mat. If you want to push your cleanings, though, minimizing the opportunity for yeast and fungal growth helps: Rapinchuk recommends hanging your mat over the bathtub between uses to air out. Opening a window or running your fan can also reduce the moisture that promotes their growth: "Anything that you’re going to do to minimize moisture and humidity is good for anything in the bathroom," said Dr. Gohara.

Luckily, cleaning is easy: Most mats include specific care instructions on their labels, but generally you can wash and tumble dry them in any old washing machine. If the mat has a nonskid backing, like our Lands’ End top pick does, just air-dry or dry on low to prevent it from disintegrating.

If your bath mat is really grimy and dirty, make sure to wash it in hot or warm water (unless the care label specifies to wash it in cold water only). Mats that are made of 100% cotton can usually tolerate higher water temps (they won't break down or discolor) but you should always check the care label, especially for mats with rubber or polyester.

Of course I have a loophole for you. If you absolutely hate doing laundry (me), or if doing laundry feels deeply inconvenient (also me), you can get a couple of extra bath mats—that way you’re still able to swap your mats once a week—so you can space out your laundry days. Or, get a wooden mat (which we also have recommendations for). According to Dr. Gohara, "It's probably a safer option because it just dries out much more readily, quickly," meaning there is less opportunity for the mat to harbor nasty critters. If you do opt for a wooden mat, we recommend wiping it down with a vinegar and water solution regularly to prevent any such growth.

This article was edited by Brittney Ho, Amy Koplin, and Sofia Sokolove.

Dorie Chevlen

Dorie Chevlen is a staff writer from Youngstown, Ohio, now living in Los Angeles. She has worked as a copy editor, fact checker, and sandwich maker, but this is probably her favorite gig. Her writing has also been published in Science, Slate, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. She has been called—both flatteringly and not—"a lot."

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