Most Americans have a concept of “good” hygiene that feels universal, but this is far from the truth.
Practices like showering in the morning, using specific soaps for different body parts, and wearing deodorant are deeply ingrained in American culture, yet many global hygiene habits show just how relative cleanliness norms can be.
What seems normal or even necessary to one culture might be viewed with confusion or even disgust by another.
Here are 14 global hygiene practices that many Americans can’t quite understand, drawn from our sources:
1. Squatting Over Sitting
In America, using a toilet typically involves sitting, with squatting usually only encountered in public restrooms and often viewed with a grimace.
However, in many other parts of the world, squatting to relieve oneself is common. Research indicates that squatting is a healthier way to use the toilet and is arguably more hygienic because you don’t need to touch anything.
2. Water Over Paper
While bidets are widely used globally, Americans frequently reject them, sometimes due to hygiene concerns related to spraying water.
Critics of toilet paper, however, point out its considerable limitations in achieving thorough cleanliness compared to water.
3. Bucket Baths
Long, Western-style showers are not common in places like Ghana, the Philippines, and parts of Australia. Instead, many people rely on taking baths using a bucket.
Although the idea of bathing with a bucket might make many Americans cringe, this practice often uses less water than typical American showers.
4. Using Catch-All Cleaning Products
Americans often use a separate soap for their face, body, hands, and sometimes even their feet. In contrast, the idea of specialty soaps is seen as laughable in many other parts of the world.
People from many cultures use one soap for everything, a concept that some Americans find unbelievable.
5. Nighttime Bathing
In America, showering in the morning is considered a standard part of good hygiene, often done to become “presentable for the rest of the world”.
However, in many countries, people bathe at night specifically to wash away the grime accumulated during the day before going to bed.
6. Finger Foods
Eating in America primarily involves using utensils, with very few exceptions, and eating without them is often seen as unhygienic. Conversely, in countries like India, using one’s hands to eat is expected.
7. Masking
While wearing masks became a point of contention for a subsection of Americans during the pandemic, with concerns raised about the unhygienic nature of wearing a mask all day, masking when sick was commonplace in countries like Japan well before COVID-19.
8. Kiss To Greet
Americans are generally comfortable with handshakes and sometimes hugs for friendly greetings, but kissing someone to greet them is typically avoided.
The idea of placing lips on an acquaintance’s cheek, as done in France and other countries, makes many Americans cringe.
9. Perfume as Hand Sanitizer
In Turkey, a scented liquid called Kolonya, which has a high alcohol content, is offered to honored guests to clean their hands.
While the alcohol content does reduce germs and bacteria, using perfume instead of hand sanitizer is enough to make some Americans scoff.
10. Remove Your Shoes
Taking off shoes when entering someone’s home is a common courtesy in many places globally. In Japan, hosts often provide guests with slippers.
Some Americans, however, find it unhygienic to take off their shoes to wear someone else’s footwear.
11. No Soap Hand Washing
In Hindu culture, hands are often washed without soap, instead relying on ash and soil. Studies have shown that scrubbing with these substances can be an effective form of cleaning. However, the thought of washing hands without soap grosses out many Americans.
12. No Deodorant
Forgetting deodorant is considered embarrassing in American culture. In other countries, deodorant is not commonly used. Only about 7% of East Asians regularly wear deodorant, which may be linked to genetic factors that result in many people from this region being less odorous.
13. Twigs Over Toothbrushes
Using a toothbrush is a standard part of good hygiene in America. However, in many cultures, rather than using toothbrushes, people rely on twigs for cleaning their teeth. These twigs have been shown to be effective at removing plaque.
14. Air-Drying Clothes
Concerns about mildew and mold lead many Americans to heavily rely on electric dryers for laundry. In many parts of the world, however, electric dryers are less common, and people rely on clotheslines or other methods of air-drying.
Alicia Richards