Woman sparks fierce debate after revealing how often she washes her loofahs: 'Gross'

How often do you wash your loofah?

*Crickets chirping*

Say what now?

If you had no idea people are actually out there putting their loofahs through the washing machine it turns out you're not alone; this seemingly innocent question has got the internet all in a lather, courtesy of one brave woman in a Facebook group dedicated to all things cleaning and organising.

"I wash our loofahs with our towels," she casually dropped the bombshell to the group, sending people's eyebrows soaring.

"They are definitely more hygienic than a flannel that holds all the gunk in its fibres." Cue collective gasps and mind-blown emojis.

She went on to pose the question to the group about just how often people wash their loofahs to avoid their reputation of being unhygienic.

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Responses flooded in almost as quickly as the flurry of crying laughing emojis that followed.

"Everyone knows you should wash these right?" One person cheekily wrote, accompanied by a sly side-eye emoji.

"Common knowledge that absolutely everyone, including myself, totally knows right? Like... no one would ever use them for like 3-6 months at a time and never think to wash them because that had just never occurred to them until they saw this post.. because that would be gross obviously."

(We're not judging, we promise).

Another chimed in confidently, "I mean I definitely always wash these. Like every day. And don't just continually use them until they fall apart."

"Omg I was like... we're meant to wash these?" A third group member confessed.

"Definitely," responded someone else, "And absolutely not after 3 years of owning one."

Amidst the hilarity, one group member admitted, "I am laughing so hard that I'm crying real tears!"

"I've never washed mine, only in the shower after use," shared one more, with another pointing out, "this over sanitising and sterilising of stuff is why there's so many resistant bugs these days."

The responses from the loofah-wielding community ranged from the hilarious to...surprisingly serious. As it turns out, some germ warriors are out there washing their loofahs frequently.

"Once a week, with towels, hot wash," one person stated with another adding, "I always soak mine weekly in antibacterial soak rinse with water and hang to dry."

A third hygiene hero chimed in, "I wash these weekly with my towels on a hot wash and treat them like toothbrushes, replace every three months."

Well now we know, but before you get too worried about never having washed your loofah, one person chimed in with a dose of science, "loofahs don't need to go through the wash, I've seen a scientist do a swab test in an old one in a shower and incubated the swab and there were no growths at all."

However, according to Healthline, you do actually need to take care of them so they don’t become carriers of bacteria that could make you sick.

"Loofahs haven’t been shown to grow most staph or strep bacteria, but they can become harbors for other bacteria on your body, including E. coli," the website states.

"Instead of simply hanging it in your shower or on a bath hook, use a dry towel to thoroughly wring out moisture and get it dry. Put it in a cool, dry place outside of your bathroom when you’re finished."

They claim you need to wash it once a week with a diluted water mixture of 10 percent bleach and replace it often.

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