9 Things in Your Bathroom You Need to Replace More Frequently

It totally makes sense that scrubbing your skin with a pouf every day can cause dead skin cells to get caught in the mesh netting. Combine this with the warm, moist conditions of your bathroom and there's a chance for bacteria to appear. That's why you should buy a new one every three weeks and watch out for mold growth.

Most people use wash cloths in the same fashion they do a loofah, which means it ends up filled with dead skin cells too. But since they're not made of the same mesh material, you should swap 'em out for a fresh towel every single day.

Like kitchen sponges, makeup applicators are a hotbed for bacteria. Wash them after every use by saturating them with warm water and squeezing out as much color as you can. Massage it with a mild cleaner until no more color runs off, then rinse and let dry. If you do this, you only need to replace them every six months.

Not only do bristles wear down over time, but your brush ends up exposed to a lot of ... umm ... less than pleasant things in your bathroom. Like, say, fecal material and bacterial growth. That's why you should buy a new brush every three to four months.

If you hang your towels up post-rinse down and allow them to dry, they can be used around three to four times, which means you should grab a fresh one at least once (if not twice) every week. 

Hand towels get dirtier faster, because you end up using them more than once every day. That's why if you have a large family you should swap them out every single day. If it's just you and your partner, every few days will do.

If your bath mat sees heavy foot traffic — like, say, daily visits from your son's teenage friends — then we recommend keeping a second mat on hand so you can swap it in every week and wash the other one in the meantime. This also helps prevent epic hair build-up too (been there).

You might think "It's soap so it can't expire!" Nope. Your facial cleanser only lasts for a year, so if you don't use it up in that time frame, just toss it and buy another. That way you won't have to worry if the formula is still up to par. 

A liner dotted with mildew is not a pretty sight. To prevent this, toss your curtain into the washing machine every three months — or whenever you start to see some nastiness creeping up the sides. Then hang to dry.