Planes can be gross and the cleanliness of the water on board is questionable, at best. Some scientists go so far as to say they don’t recommend washing your hands in an airplane bathroom. But that’s not to say you shouldn’t—here’s what you should do, according to experts.
Flying is, without question, a modern marvel. The science, the engineering, and the service that goes into making your flight safe and special deserve all the praise in the world. However, two things can be true at once: flying can be fantastic and it can also be gross. That said, it may surprise you to learn that one of the grossest things you can do on a plane is wash your hands.
It’s well-documented that planes can be pretty dirty. As several flight attendants previously told Travel + Leisure, places like tray tables, overhead bins, and instruction cards can be rather dirty. But the airplane bathroom is the place where you should be the most cautious of all.
“The toilets are regularly cleaned, but the locks and door handles are not,” Josephine Remo, a flight attendant and travel blogger, shared.
However, some experts say you should take things one step further and avoid the water in the bathrooms altogether—including never, ever drinking it, and maybe even skipping washing your hands with it, too.
In a 2017 peer-reviewed study published in the Annals of Microbiology, researchers sampled 60 ice cubes from both domestic and industrial facilities that made ice for aircraft, finding they contained more than 50 different strains of bacteria. “A consistent percentage of the microorganisms identified from ice are known agents of human infections, and their presence indicates an environmental contamination,” the researchers added.
“My takeaway from doing the research was to not drink the coffee and the tea. At all,” Charles Platkin, the author of the study and the executive director of the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center, previously told T+L. And, just as his team wrote in the findings, Platkin stated, “I don’t wash my hands either. I have wipes that I use.”
Platkin isn’t alone. Shanina Knighton, a research associate professor at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University, added, when using the bathroom, she’s “mindful of surfaces, especially the latch on the bathroom door, which everyone uses to open the door—even if they haven’t washed their hands.” She added: “I try to avoid the restroom if possible, but on longer flights, it’s sometimes unavoidable, and those little hygiene habits help me stay protected.”
Knighton said there are plenty of studies showing that water from airplane taps can carry bacteria, as “onboard water tanks aren’t cleaned as frequently as you might think.” These contaminants, Knighton noted, can wreck your vacation before you even arrive. “I wouldn’t want to start a vacation with a stomach bug because of unsafe water exposure.”
So, what can you do instead? Remo said, “It’s a good idea for passengers to use hand sanitizer after stowing away their luggage, touching anything in the seat pocket in front of them, and going to the bathroom.” Then, give your hands a good scrub when you land.
