When it comes to traveling by plane, nothing about being in close proximity to bathrooms and strangers for hours feels particularly clean. However, even though you may not be able to make the seats bigger or the flight shorter, there are a few ways to avoid some of the filthiest spots on airplanes and make your travel experience more sanitary.
It’s worth mentioning that some people are actually more likely to get sick on planes since the cabin air humidity is under 20%. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, home humidity is usually over 30%, so that’s quite a big difference, especially one that your respiratory system is aware of.
Experts point out that dry air exposure can affect mucus, which is the immune system’s front line of defense. This can leave people more vulnerable to getting sick. A 2004 study published in the Journal of Environmental Health Research discovered that passengers are 113 times more likely to catch a common cold while on a plane than a typical ground transmission.
According to research, apart from humidity, there are lots of dirty places in planes. Let’s find them out!
10. Air Vents
Each person is different. We each have our own lifestyle and preferences for food, music, and travel destinations. Some of us need utter and complete silence while sleeping, while others do that with a fan on, for example. What’s my point here? Well, we also all have quite specific preferences when it comes to air conditioning.
Compared to the lavatories, there’s less gross contact with the air vents. Therefore, cleaning also becomes minimal.
You don’t know which nose-picking, butt-scratching, rib-eating, finger-licking person sat in your seat before you and touched the overhead vent. The bottom line would be that overhead vents are pretty darn gross and may be worth a sanitizing wipe-down before contact is made.
9. Seatback Trays
If we had to guess which spots are dirtiest on a plane, most people would say it’s somewhere in the lavatory. That wouldn’t be the wrong answer, as it makes a lot of sense. I don’t think getting into too many gruesome details is necessary—we are all very aware of how nasty we can get in the bathroom.
In fact, airline staff knows very well that this area is a hotspot for lots of germs, so they make a conscious effort to keep the plane lavatories as clean as possible. One spot that gets minimal attention in comparison is the seatback tray table. Yep, that’s where you put your food!
According to a study by TravelMath, these tray tables carry about eight times more bacteria than toilet flush levers.
8. Seat Belt Buckles
There are some spots on a plane that, if we’re aware of them beforehand, we can make an effort to avoid. One thing that can’t be avoided, though, is the seatbelt. Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on your point of view—every single passenger is required to wear their seat belt while the plane takes off, lands, and at the discretion of the pilot.
Of course, it may not be the dirtiest spot onboard (I’m looking at you, Mr. Tray Table), but thousands of people have touched it before you, and thousands will do the same after you leave the plane. Keep this in mind before you fiddle around with the seatbelt.
7. Headrests
Yeah, you know that spot that you lean your head against for the most part of your flight? Falling asleep, even for a few minutes, maybe open-mouthed and slowly drooling, while wearing an eye mask has happened to most of us. In fact, just think about how many people have been in this situation over the years.
The aisle seat headrests are the places we should be particularly wary of, as not only do they come into contact with our hair and faces (a friend of mine actually caught head lice once on a plane), but also the thousands of hands that wander around the aisle relying on them for balance.
Again, we haven’t the faintest idea who washes their hands and who doesn’t, and the headrests are rather overlooked in terms of cleaning.
6. Seatback Pocket
From snotty, used tissues to banana peels, mushy baby food, chewed-off fingernail clippings, and sugary crumbs, the seatback pocket has a great potential to deliver a surprise full of germs to anyone who’s curious to read the in-flight magazine.
You probably haven’t looked at the seatback pocket from this perspective, but you definitely should. In times of quick passenger changes and rapid layovers, people are more likely to leave packages and tissues behind. Unfortunately, this kind of trash is often forgotten in those seatback pockets when it comes to a conscious (or even basic) wipedown.
People have found all types of crumby, gooey, sticky, pointy, and wet items in there, and while it may seem like a bit of an exaggeration, it wouldn’t be overkill to bring a pair of disposable gloves with you on the plane.
5. Blankets
Airline-provided blankets may be convenient, keeping you a little more comfortable and marginally warmer. Personally, I think they are wildly thin and light, and often incredibly small. I always have to put on an extra sweater to keep warm.
Those blankets can also be pretty darn scratchy. All these together—that’s not too bad, right? Wait, did I forget to mention that the blanket you receive has already been touched and used by countless other passengers?
So, yes, this piece of material can be pretty dirty. In other words, don’t use any blanket the flight attendant may give to you unless you receive one wrapped in plastic (meaning it’s been washed). As a rule of thumb, it’s best for you to bring your own warmer.
4. Lavatory Flush Buttons
This one shouldn’t surprise anyone. While the lavatories are thoroughly cleaned and even disinfected overnight after long-haul flights (at least that’s what the Wall Street Journal states), that doesn’t mean that they are kept sparkling clean while in the air.
Let’s take an example. A flight from Los Angeles, California, to Melbourne, Australia, takes about 15 hours (depending on tailwind and headwind). Well, during that time, we all need to use the restroom. Unless there’s a major clean-up moment, aside from restocking tissues and toilet paper, cabin crew don’t spend too much time cleaning the area.
But would we even want them to since they are the ones that handle our food as well?
3. Tap Water, Tea, and Coffee
You’ve just woken up from a lousy one-hour on-and-off nap to the joy of a tea and coffee trolley slowly moving toward you in the plane aisle. A quick shot of caffeine may give you the kick you definitely need to fight off the potential jetlag, but you’d be getting a shot of germs at the same time.
You may be wondering why. Well, the in-flight tap water (which is the one used to brew coffee and tea) runs through a series of pipes and tanks that are cleaned sporadically and rarely. As a rule of thumb, it’s always best for you (and your health) to bring your own bottle of water on the plane in case the flight attendants run out and need to use the tap water. Better safe than sorry!
2. The Touchscreens
Since the Golden Age of flying, things have changed quite a lot. Smoking on planes is now forbidden by law, legroom luxury no longer exists, and baggy hoodies and sweatpants are the new jet tuxedo.
Technology and entertainment have gone a full 180 degrees too, with endless games, TV shows, and movies available literally at our fingertips. You just need a touchscreen device, and that’s all.
Now, this may sound like a stupid question, but what do we do with a touchscreen? That’s correct; we touch it! With our sticky, germy, sweaty, and grimy hands, actually. And then the passenger after us does the same thing, and then their nose-picking kid flicks through the Disney films, and then the teenager who doesn’t wash their hands swipes through raunchy comedy films.
Well, you get the point—those touchscreens are not clean at all.
1. Lavatory Door Latches
When we’ve finished our private business in the airplane toilet, it’s time to flush, thoroughly wash our hands, and go back to our germ-ridden aisle seat. That’s right! The dirtiest spots on a plane are lavatory door latches.
Washing our hands in those small toilets isn’t as easy as it first sounds, as the sink’s automatic water shut-off forces toilet-goers into a “that’ll do” moment. Not to mention that the minuscule size of the sink itself makes it difficult for large-handed folks to fit their entire fists under the tap.
This being said, with half-clean hands, people touch the latch to exit the lavatory. Even if you make a conscious effort to wash your hands, the majority of other passengers before you didn’t. Yuck!
You may also want to read 6 Disgusting Hygiene Facts About YOUR Hotel Rooms.
