While you may already know that putting your suitcase on your hotel bed is a no-no due to the potential to pick up bedbugs, there's another good reason to reconsider where you put your luggage. According to some recent research by Insure and Go, your suitcase may have picked up lots of other unwelcome travelers along the way, including dangerous bacteria and black mold. (Ew!)
And that's definitely a problem for a lot of us, as 38% of people regularly put their suitcase on a bed or table to pack or unpack.
What's Lurking on Your Suitcase?
For the study, 10 hard-shell and soft-shell suitcases were swabbed at a London airport train station, using different swabs on different points of the suitcase. Their findings? The suitcase wheels contained nearly 58 times more bacteria than a public toilet seat, including E. coli and staphylococcus bacteria and black mold. "The testing confirmed that suitcase wheels are by far the dirtiest part of a traveler’s bag," says microbiologist Amy-May Pointer, who conducted the study. "The wheels of your suitcase are essentially rolling through a world of germs and carrying a whole ecosystem with them, and make constant contact with all kinds of surfaces—pavements, streets, airport bathroom floors, train station platforms, and rarely (if ever) get cleaned.”
Also among the germiest spots? The base of your suitcase—which also carries significantly more bacteria than a public toilet seat—and the handles of airport luggage carts, which are rarely cleaned and touched by many people.
In the study, soft-sided suitcases were more likely than hard-shelled suitcases to carry bacteria, fungi, and other microbes.
This probably should come as no surprise—after all, when's the last time you wiped down your suitcase? Roller bags roll all over the ground, from your house through the streets and even the airport bathroom—and then they're jammed in next to other people's suitcases, too, whether they're in the overhead compartment or the checked luggage.
How to Reduce the Germiness of Your Suitcases
To help minimize the ick on your suitcases, Pointer recommends a few strategies you can use:
Watch where you roll your bag
You may want to lift your suitcase when you're in especially germy or wet locations—and Pointer recommends avoiding bringing them into airport bathrooms altogether to minimize E. coli and other common bathroom bacteria.
Give your suitcase a proper clean
When you've arrived at your destination—or at home—give your suitcase exterior a quick wipe-down with antibacterial wipes, a soapy cloth, or even a disinfectant spray, focusing your efforts on your wheels and the bottom of your suitcase. A regular deep clean of your suitcase will help you reduce the amount of dangerous microbes they carry.
Use the luggage rack
The hotel luggage rack is the perfect spot to keep your luggage and avoid contaminating other surfaces (especially your bed or table!).
Wash your hands after you handle your suitcase
Give your hands a good scrub down with soap and water—or even hand sanitizer—after you handle it to avoid spreading that bacteria elsewhere. (You don't want to add a little E. coli to your airport snack!) That'll help you avoid getting sick, which can be a real bummer when you're on vacation!
