A particularly icky study found that if you wear socks to bed, it’s like sleeping in a toilet. British researchers found as much bacteria on socks worn during the day as there are on a TV remote, and studies have shown that your remote is 20 times dirtier than your toilet.
Experts at MattressNextDay in the U.K. swabbed different people’s socks that were worn from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. The participants wore the same socks all day while wearing shoes, exercising and going about their daily activities. After sending the swabs to a lab, the researchers found that half the socks were contaminated by the same bacteria, called Pseudomonas aeruginosa, says HuffPost. The bacteria can cause a variety of infections, including pneumonia, and are typically found on cockroaches and in their droppings.
“It typically infects the airway and urinary tract, and causes infection of the lungs,” said the lab report. “It can easily spread on tools that get contaminated and are not properly cleaned.” The experts then swabbed a doormat and a TV remote and found that the doormat had the same amount of bacteria as the socks, but the socks were dirtier than a TV remote. Previous research has shown that remotes are 20 times more germy than a toilet.
So, people who hop into bed wearing the same socks they’ve worn all day are spreading bacteria in an area where they spend one-third of their lives.
According to HuffPost, only 30% of people change their socks when they go to sleep at night. But if you do swap your socks for a fresh pair, there are benefits to wearing socks when sleeping.
• You’re less likely to wake up in the middle of the night. One study found that people who wear socks to bed are 7.5 times less likely to wake up during the night than those who don’t.
• You’ll sleep longer. The same study found that people who slept with socks enjoyed about 32 more minutes of shuteye. That’s because wearing socks keeps the cold air from escaping your body and regulates the body’s core temperature.