Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/05/14/this-innovative-toothbrush-hol.html
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I just leave my toothbrush lying perched over the edge of the sink, bristles free to drain.
So with the brushes hanging upside down from this thing, the oogly things do what? Drip onto the counter where they co-mingle in a slimy puddle?puddle? Or onto a saucer or some other catcher so they co-mingle there?
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And if we share the bathroom with a partner, then we’re all just co-mingling our bacteria
If you’re doing it right, your toothbrushes co-mingling bacteria is the least of your bacterial co-mingling, you dog you.
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The company should probably read the article they link in the ad copy. Recommendations there are to not leave your toothbrush exposed in the same room where the toilet is located, and to make sure you wash your toothbrush holder regularly, difficult if it is permattached to your wall.
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There is no evidence that an upright toothbrush is less sanitary than an upside down one. And if you’re worried about your toothbrush having microbes in it - well, the whole world is swimming in microbes, and there’s no way to get away from them. Yes, they live in your tooth brush - and everywhere else, too, we co-evolved with most of them, they’ve lived with us since before we became human.
Brushing your teeth is good for your health. Worrying about “germs” like this is ignorant. If you used toothpaste and then rinsed your brush, you washed it with soap and it’s fine.
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Worrying about bacteria seems a very 2019 problem to me.
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For best results just replace your toothbrush on a regular basis. Maybe soak the head in bleach and wash off any residue before use. Good advice I’m gonna ignore.
I swear at this point Boing Boing Shop is just trolling us.
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This is where a medicine cabinet and travel toothbrush holder come in handy!
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Or a toilet cabinet or travel toilet.
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Remember when bOINGbOING ran a series of articles about how soap wasn’t really necessary for hygiene? boing boing shop doesn’t.
Am I the only one that just tosses my toothbrush in the dishwasher now and then? Is that weird?
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All of this!
Plus, dry your toothbrush after use. Bacteria don’t like dry, if you’re really bothered.
Yes. I think so. 
And most people do not replace their toothbrushes/toothbrush heads nearly often enough, either.
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I replace them when they are worn, but I feel kind of gross using the same toothbrush more than a week or two at a time without a good heat cleaning.
That’s absolutely fine. You do you. (But the dishwasher thing is probably a bit of an outlier. And I guess you don’t use the ‘eco’ setting.)
Me? It has only been in my mouth with my microbes. It gets rinsed and dried every time. It is cleaned (used), then rinsed and dried twice a day. Hardly likely to become a problem and I am sure I have suffered no deleterious effects over the years.
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I’m skeptical that storing the brush with the handle above the bristles is better than storing it with the handle below the bristles.
As for toothbrush hygiene I do a lot of stuff that is not recommended like storing them near the sink but don’t seem to come down with horrible bacterial infections despite my apparently reckless behavior. Until there is a problem I am not inclined to change my behavior.
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I once tried boiling mine because I had read that if you’ve been sick 
, you should throw out your toothbrush 
and start using a new one, in order not to re-infect yourself. But how do you know when you’re really better, and wouldn’t you keep re-infecting yourself as you go along if you don’t throw it out until you’re completely done being sick? And I had just started using a new toothbrush when I got sick, so it seemed a shame to toss it, so I thought I’d just boil it every day or every few days until I was sure I was all better. Anyway…
The head did a weird thing where it deformed into a twisty-spiral shape, and the bristles all splayed out. So I wound up throwing it out anyway. 
Dishwashers are the way to go. It doesn’t deform the head, and they are hot enough to reasonably kill most bacteria and virus issues.
I knew a nurse back when I used to be a nurse that would put her white work crocs through the dishwasher to disinfect them. (Run an empty cycle after.) I never owned plastic shoes, so I never tried that.
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