It’s weird, we know, but there’s a very good reason for this
Here’s Why You Should Always Put Your Toothbrush in Your Hotel Room Safe (Yes, You Read That Right!)
Published on Apr. 21, 2025
Flight attendants are basically the Navy SEALs of the skies. They know all the pro tips, like how to score the best seat on a plane, pack a carry-on like a Tetris champion and evacuate an entire plane in under 90 seconds. But some of their advice is a little less conventional. Case in point: You may have heard the old trick about tossing a shoe in your hotel safe so you won’t forget your valuables. Smart, right? Well, now there’s another safe-related travel hack, and it involves putting your toothbrush in there.
“We don’t take any chances with anything that goes in our mouth,” said Barbiebac La Azafata, a 32-year-old Argentinian flight attendant, in a now-viral video. She then proudly revealed that she keeps her toothbrush in the hotel safe. That’s right—next to her passport and emergency cash, there’s her humble little toothbrush, just chilling with the valuables.
But why? It’s better to be safe (ha!) than sorry, sure, but we were admittedly baffled. Is this really necessary? Reader’s Digest spoke to a range of experts to get the bottom of this. Here’s what you need to know about this travel trick and brushing on the go.
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Why should you put your toothbrush in a safe?
No, it’s not due to thieves, but it is a safety issue. According to La Azafata, some hotel staff have been known to misuse guests’ toothbrushes for unsavory cleaning tasks. In her TikTok video, she explains: “Many of us store our toothbrushes, medicines and hygiene products in the hotel safe. We’ve heard horror stories of staff using guests’ toothbrushes for disgusting things.” One of those things? Cleaning the bathroom. Yikes!
And there’s been at least one report of this allegedly happening. Last year, a Las Vegas hotel guest claimed in a TikTok video that housekeeping used his toothbrush to clean his room. He was understandably outraged.
So to prevent even the possibility of such nightmares, La Azafata recommends storing your toothbrush, along with other personal-hygiene items, in the hotel safe.
Is this really a concern?
It’s likely a rare occurrence … but you can’t count it out. While former hotel housekeeper Beth Herzog says she never heard of this happening in her many years of working in hotels, housekeepers do take other gross shortcuts sometimes. Not terribly reassuring, but at least your toothbrush may be spared from the grossness. After all, it’s not the most efficient way to clean a bathroom. “Why would anyone waste their time doing this?” Herzog says.
Are there other reasons to keep your toothbrush stored safely?
Yes, and it all boils down to germs. In fact, “you really shouldn’t store your toothbrush in any bathroom—in a hotel or at home,” says Michelle Jorgensen, DDS, a biologic dentist based in Pleasant Grove, Utah. She explains that bathrooms, especially small hotel ones, are ground zero for germ warfare. When you flush the toilet (even with the lid down), it creates a germy aerosol cloud—known in the science world as a toilet plume. “That mist is like a microscopic sneeze of bacteria and viruses landing all over your stuff, including your toothbrush,” she explains.
Grossed out yet? Same.
Backing her up is a 2022 University of Colorado Boulder study that used high-powered lasers to visualize what really happens when a toilet is flushed. The researchers found that aerosol plumes shoot nearly 5 feet in the air, at 6.6 feet per second! These tiny particles can carry germs like E. coli and norovirus, which can give you a whole new relationship with that hotel toilet and ruin your trip. Even worse, those germy particles can float around in the air for several minutes—long enough to settle nicely onto your toothbrush and in your lungs.
And that’s just the start. “Hotels are shared spaces,” says Herzog. “So if you leave your toothbrush out, there’s a good chance someone may move it. And yes, they might pick it up by the bristles.” (Insert full-body shudder here.)
Oh, and those cute little cups by the sink that look oh-so-convenient? Don’t trust them. “They might look clean, but often they’re not sanitized between guests,” Herzog warns. The convenience is not worth the microbial roulette.
How should you store your toothbrush in a safe?
Don’t overthink it. You can do what La Azafata does and simply put your whole toiletry kit in the safe. Here are some other tips for storing your toothbrush in a safe from Chelsea Perry, DDS, a practicing dentist and the owner of Elite Dental Studio in Westborough, Massachusetts:
- Use a ventilated cover to shield the bristles while allowing them to dry.
- Store the toothbrush in an upright position to facilitate drying and prevent bacterial growth.
- Put a paper towel underneath it to soak up moisture.
The key is not to just throw it in there, wet and just laying on the bottom of the safe. “The hotel safe is not your oral-hygiene sanctuary,” notes Dr. Jorgensen. “Safes have very poor air circulation, which means your toothbrush stays damp and bacteria thrive. Dark and enclosed spaces are great for germ growth. It’s like putting your toothbrush in a germ incubator—only now it’s ‘secure.'”
The bottom line: If you decide to go this route, make sure your toothbrush is mostly dry, appropriately shielded with a ventilated cover and most definitely not laying directly on the safe’s floor.
Is there any way to store your toothbrush safely in the bathroom?
It doesn’t matter where you store your toothbrush as long as you’re keeping it covered and out of range of the toilet, Dr. Perry says. So if you are keeping yours in the bathroom, use the previous tips and add an extra toiletry bag or plastic cover.
“I highly recommend bringing a ventilated travel case for your toothbrush and putting it back in the case every time,” Dr. Perry says. “This will help keep the toothbrush from getting too dirty, especially if the toilet is within a few feet of where you might keep it.”
Dr. Jorgensen recommends drying out your toothbrush on a clean towel in the main area of your hotel room. But if you do want to keep it in the bathroom, make sure you avoid these three bacterial hot spots:
- On the bathroom sink edge. “This is right in the splash zone,” she says.
- In a toiletry bag without ventilation, especially if your toothbrush is wet.
- Inside the shower. “The constant moisture and heat basically invite bacteria to brunch,” she says.
That said, she says not to go too far the other direction either, as your mouth is home to good bugs—beneficial bacteria that are critical for defending your gums, teeth and even your immune system. “So while you’re keeping your toothbrush clean, remember: We want balance, not sterility,” she says. “Help it stay clean, but don’t obsess over nuking every microbe in sight.”
Why trust us
Reader’s Digest has published hundreds of travel stories that help readers explore the world safely, easily and affordably. We regularly cover topics such as the best places to visit (and the best times to visit them), tips and tricks to zoom through airport security, flight-attendant secrets, hotel-room hacks and more. We’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
Sources:
- New York Post: “Flight attendant reveals freaky reason why you should store toothbrushes in the hotel safe”
- Chelsea Perry, DDS, dentist and owner of Elite Dental Studio; email interview, April 9, 2025
- Michelle Jorgensen, DDS, biologic dentist; email interview, April 10, 2025
- Beth Herzog, former hotel housekeeper and manager; phone interview, April 9, 2025
- Scientific Reports: “Commercial toilets emit energetic and rapidly spreading aerosol plumes”
