A traveler is nothing without their suitcase, whether it’s a roller carry-on or an oversized backpack. But despite how much you might be able to fit inside your baggage, the one thing that has absolutely no place on your packing list is dangerous germs. And if you’re hoping to avoid any microscopic stowaways, disease experts say you might want to take a minute to wrap up your shoes before you head out for your trip.
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Consider using shoe bags on your next trip.
Packing extra pairs of shoes while traveling can feel like an inconvenient waste of space. But if you want to avoid dirtying your clean clothes before you even arrive at your destination, you might want to take a minute to wrap them up to separate them from the rest of your items. Fortunately, you likely won’t even have to buy anything extra to do so.
"I think it is a good idea to put your shoes in something like a plastic bag from the grocery store or one of those reusable zipper bags you can buy before putting them in your suitcase," said Philip M. Tierno, PhD, a professor of microbiology and pathology at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, told HuffPost.
Your footwear is dirtier than you realize.
Even on a good day, your favorite pair of shoes are probably covered in more grime than you realize, especially if you’re traipsing around a new city while on a trip.
"If the bottom of the shoe has ridges or there’s ribbing on the side or other areas that can collect material, then think about what they’re picking up," Tierno told HuffPost. "Depending on the city where you’re living, you’re likely walking on sidewalks and streets where people cough, spit and vomit. There’s urine, human and animal feces, and a whole host of other things that are relatively germy."
Science has upheld this claim. In a 2018 interview with the Today show, Charles Gerba, PhD, professor of microbiology and environmental sciences at the University of Arizona, said his team found that shoes' bottoms were covered in nasty microorganisms you wouldn’t necessarily want on your body.
"If you wear shoes for more than a month, 93 percent will have fecal bacteria on the bottom of them," he said. "We found E. coli, too."
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Some experts argue it’s not essential to wrap up your shoes.
Despite how gross it might sound to have filthy shoes kicking around your suitcase, Tierno says it poses a "relatively low risk of causing infection." He says it would require a significant amount of bacteria to actually make someone sick, and other scientists agree.
"Shoes are definitely dirty, 100 percent. They are icky, [and] they are gross," Saskia Popescu, senior infection prevention epidemiologist at HonorHealth and George Mason University, told AFAR. “That being said, I am not one of those people who covers myself in bleach and hand sanitizer. We need germs. They’re a part of how we live and how we survive.”
"I’m sure some of my infectious disease colleagues would cringe," she admits.
Instead of wrapping up her footwear, Popescu says she puts them in her suitcase with the soles facing the walls of the bag. "I personally wouldn’t [not put them in a bag] unless they were covered in mud or blood or something super weird. But that’s just me," she adds. “I would much sooner wipe the bottoms of my shoes with a Clorox wipe than I would bag them in something."
You can try the shower cap hack.
If you do decide to begin pre-packing your shoes in a bag before putting them in a suitcase, there are more options than just reusing a plastic shopping bag. According to DIY expert Emma Villaneda, disposable shower caps are one travel essential you can get for just over a dollar.
“This is a must-have,” Villaneda recently said in a video of her shoe travel hack. “You wrap these around your shoes, keeping everything in your suitcase clean.”
Hoping to reduce plastic use? There are also affordable options available that are machine washable.
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The takeaway.
You might want to think twice before tossing your shoes into your suitcase as is. Experts warn that your footwear is covered in bacteria that can contaminate your clothing and other belongings. If you’re concerned, it’s best to wrap them up in a plastic bag or other container before packing them away. Still, some experts say there’s a low risk of actual infection due to contamination from dirty shoes.
