Xatal

On the list of college dorm necessities, I mentioned that you might want to bring a pair of flip-flops to college for the showers. There’s a pretty good reason for this, and if you don’t have a pair of flip-flops for showering, you should really get one.

Showers are a breeding ground for bacteria and fungi.

College dorm showers are an ideal place for bacteria and fungi to grow. Showers are moist environments, and all it takes is one person with athlete’s foot or some other foot condition to make life worse for everyone on the dorm floor.

You aren’t at home, and there’s no way to know what other people do in the shower. Chances are you don’t want to know: some people have really disgusting shower habits. Believe me — I’m male, we talk about these things from time to time. With as many as 10-20 people using the same shower daily, things can get gross fast. Even if the common bathroom showers are cleaned daily, you do not want to shower barefoot. In fact, you should never even enter the dorm bathroom barefoot. Always go in with socks, flip flops, shoes, or some sort of protection for your feet.

The best way to solve this problem is to go to Wal-Mart or some other store that sells very cheap shoes. You can buy a cheap pair of flip-flops for only a couple of bucks. Don’t worry about style or if they aren’t the most comfortable things ever — you’re not going to wear them around while walking nor in public. Plastic ones are especially nice (as opposed to very foamy ones) because they’ll dry much faster.

When it comes time to wash your feet in the shower, simply do it one foot at a time — pull one foot out of your flip flop and balance on the other foot.

After you’re done showering, keep your flip flops in a place in your dorm where they can air out and dry off properly. This prevents any fungus from growing on them. You may want to dry them off with your towel if you don’t plan on reusing it before washing it.

For a cheap investment of only several dollars, a simple pair of flip flops can save you a lot of hassle and embarrassment from foot fungus or other bacteria at college. Showering with shoes on may be awkward at first, but once you get used to it, you’ll be glad you made the switch.