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From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nIt\u2019s a question that\u2019s long been the cause of debate: is it better to shower in the morning or at night?<\/p>\n
Morning shower enthusiasts will say this is the obvious winner, as it helps you wake up and start the day fresh. Night shower loyalists, on the other hand, will argue it\u2019s better to \u201cwash the day away\u201d and relax before bed.<\/p>\n
But what does the research actually say? As a microbiologist, I can tell you there actually is a clear answer to this question.<\/p>\n
First off, it\u2019s important to stress that showering is an integral part of any good hygiene routine \u2014 regardless of when you prefer to have one.<\/p>\n
Showering helps us remove dirt and oil from our skin, which can help prevent skin rashes and infections.<\/p>\n
Showering also removes sweat, which can quell body odour.<\/p>\n
Although many of us think that body odour is caused by sweat, it\u2019s actually produced by bacteria that live on the surface of our skin. Fresh sweat is, in fact, odourless. But skin-dwelling bacteria \u2013 specifically staphylococci \u2013 use sweat as a direct nutrient source. When they break down the sweat, it releases a sulphur-containing compound called thioalcohols which is behind that pungent BO stench many of us are familiar with.<\/p>\n
Day or night?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n During the day, your body and hair inevitably collect pollutants and allergens (such as dust and pollen) alongside their usual accumulation of sweat and sebaceous oil. While some of these particles will be retained by your clothes, others will inevitably be transferred to your sheets and pillow cases.<\/p>\n
The sweat and oil from your skin will also support the growth of the bacteria that comprise your skin microbiome. These bacteria may then also be transferred from your body onto your sheets.<\/p>\n
Showering at night may remove some of the allergens, sweat and oil picked up during the day so less ends up on your bedsheets.<\/p>\n
However, even if you\u2019ve freshly showered before bed, you will still sweat during the night \u2013 whatever the temperature is. Your skin microbes will then eat the nutrients in that sweat. This means that by the morning, you\u2019ll have both deposited microbes onto your bed sheets and you\u2019ll probably also wake up with some BO.<\/p>\n
What particularly negates the cleaning benefits of a night shower is if your bedding is not regularly laundered. The odour causing microbes present in your bed sheets may be transferred while you sleep onto your clean body.<\/p>\n
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What particularly negates the cleaning benefits of a night shower is if your bedding is not regularly laundered (Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nShowering at night also does not stop your skin cells being shed. This means they can potentially become the food source of house dust mites, whose waste can be allergenic. If you don\u2019t regularly wash your sheets, this could lead to a build-up of dead skin cell deposits which will feed more dust mites. The droppings from these dust mites can trigger allergies and exacerbate asthma.<\/p>\n
Morning showers, on the other hand, can help remove dead skin cells as well as any sweat or bacteria you\u2019ve picked up from your bed sheets during the night. This is especially important to do if your sheets weren\u2019t freshly washed when you went to bed.<\/p>\n
A morning shower suggests your body will be cleaner of night-acquired skin microbes when putting on fresh clothes. You\u2019ll also start the day with less sweat for odour-producing bacteria to feed on \u2013 which will probably help you smell fresher for longer during the day compared to someone who showered at night. As a microbiologist, I am a day shower advocate.<\/p>\n
Of course, everyone has their own shower preference. Whatever time you choose, remember that the effectiveness of your shower is influenced by many aspects of your personal hygiene regime \u2013 such as how frequently you wash your bed sheets.<\/p>\n
So regardless of whether you prefer a morning or evening shower, it\u2019s important to clean your bed linen regularly. You should launder your sheets and pillow cases at least weekly to remove all the sweat, bacteria, dead skin cells and sebaceous oils that have built up on your sheets.<\/p>\n
Washing will also remove any fungal spores that might be growing on the bed linen \u2013 alongside the nutrient sources these odour producing microbes use to grow.<\/p>\n
Primrose Freestone is a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Microbiology at the University of Leicester.<\/em><\/p>\nThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the <\/em>original article<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more It\u2019s a question that\u2019s long been the cause of debate: is it better to shower in the morning or at night? Morning shower enthusiasts will say this is the obvious winner, as it helps you wake up and start the day fresh. Night shower loyalists, on the other hand, will argue it\u2019s better to \u201cwash the day away\u201d and relax before bed. But what does the research actually say? As a microbiologist, I can tell you there actually is a clear answer to this question. First off, it\u2019s important to stress that showering is an integral part of any good hygiene routine \u2014 regardless of when you prefer to have one. Showering helps us remove dirt and oil from our skin, which can help prevent skin rashes and infections. Showering also removes sweat, which can quell body odour. Although many of us think that body odour is caused by sweat, it\u2019s actually produced by bacteria that live on the surface of our skin. Fresh sweat is, in fact, odourless. But skin-dwelling bacteria \u2013 specifically staphylococci \u2013 use sweat as a direct nutrient source. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1442"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}