# Dirty Gym Bags **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359 "2012-02-10T01:20:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/1 "2012-02-10T01:20:13Z")
This is San Diego Tim’s wife, Patty. We’re having a running disagreement concerning his gym bag and we would like to put it out to anyone who would like to comment on this matter. Said gym bag goes to the YMCA everyday, early in the morning and I’m told it either is placed on the bench or on top of the lockers (not inside locker). When Tim comes home in the afternoon he puts the gym bag on top of the bed, on a fabric chair, on top of his dresser, or maybe on top of the counter in the bathroom while he readies the contents for the following day. I say it has lots of germs on it and I don’t want it on any of those surfaces. He says I’m crazy. What do all of you say? We’ve agreed to abide by your comments so let’s play nice. ---
**Author:** ![gonzo8402](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@gonzo8402](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzo8402)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/2 "2012-02-10T01:30:05Z")
smh. you sound like my gf. I’ll ride with Tim. It’s no biggie 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/3 "2012-02-10T01:36:31Z")
I agree with you, that the gym bag is dirty and shouldn’t really be anywhere except on the floor. One caveat, though - your purse is just as dirty. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/4 "2012-02-10T01:54:43Z")
Tell Tim that gym bags aren’t the only things that people put on those benches. Some guys sit on the benches, and sometimes they (the guys) are naked. And the tops of the lockers are great places for things like rodent droppings or dead insects. Plus, whatever is growing on the bag itself. How often does it get cleaned? ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/5 "2012-02-10T01:59:21Z")
This wouldn’t bother me, actually. I’m not really super concerned about germs. That said, I understand your reasoning. Perhaps you can get a bench for the room somewhere that he can set it while he packs it for the next day? ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/6 "2012-02-10T01:59:57Z")
Is the top of the locker really nasty with years of dust and bugs? Seems like it would be, but it also seems like this would make the bag dirty enough that there would be no question. Whoever cleans the top of the bed, the fabric chair, the top of the dresser, and the top of the counter in the bathroom should have final say. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/7 "2012-02-10T02:09:28Z")
Your cell phone has more germs and you put it next to your mouth. What kind of germs are we talking about here? Quick fix would be for you to buy him a machine washable gym bag. Maybe a small canvas duffle bag ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/8 "2012-02-10T02:11:02Z")
**Tim** ’s wife, you’re being overly fussy. Generally germs are everywhere, mostly benign, and help you build up immunity. Just get him to wash it occasionally. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/9 "2012-02-10T02:28:38Z")
I don’t think that gym bag is picking up any more germs than your butt is, throughout the day. Unless you’re changing pants every time you sit down anywhere, everyone in the house is transferring “germs” to all the furniture. Same with any other bags, purses, coats, shoes, etc., including your hands, scarves, and gloves. Oh, and everything from the grocery store, or Target, or… I hope you get the idea. Everything’s covered in “germs” and most of them are beneficial. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/10 "2012-02-10T02:31:15Z")
I agree, but I would only have problems with it on the bed and chair. You can wipe down the dresser and counter, but if something gets on the bottom of the bag you could ruin the fabric on the chair or bed. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/11 "2012-02-10T02:33:03Z")
Gym cooties. Blech. Stinky, sweaty, naked asses and tops of locker room-moistened dust and rat droppings getting on the bed? Bathroom sink? Blech and double-blech. Sure, _your_ family’s germs and other detritus is all over the surfaces already, but that’s not quite the point. Cooties are real. They may not have a physical presence, but they can cause spontaneous cases of the heebie-jeebies. Tim, your wife may be happy with _your_ naked, hair, sweaty ass regularly sitting on the bedsheets, but that comes with the marriage territory. Locker room-moistened dust and rat droppings have no place on the bathroom counter. Sure, your toothbrush may be dripping with toilet-plumes of fecal spray, but keep it in the family. Look up the “why don’t my farts stink” thread if you need more information. ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/12 "2012-02-10T02:41:52Z")
Patty again…thanks for your comments. They gym bag is 8 or 9 years old and has never been washed. I rest my case. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/13 "2012-02-10T03:05:03Z")
I wouldn’t worry about the germs but it will make the bed and chair dirty, same as if you put shoes on them. If he puts it on top of lockers I’ll bet it picks up a lot of dust. I’ll also bet your kitchen has more germs than this gym bag. 🙂 So my vote is for leaving it on the floor. (I’m a guy, and I go to a gym too, and I don’t put my gym bag on the bed or chairs.) ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/14 "2012-02-10T03:57:21Z")
In 20+ years of Monday thru Friday visits to the Y and 20+ years of nothing but common colds in our home, how nasty can my bag really be? ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/15 "2012-02-10T04:05:11Z")
If you haven’t suffered from it by now you won’t. You are doing more harm to yourself worrying about it than you could possibly suffer from the bag itself. The worst thing a gym bag is going to bring home is athlete’s foot, ie a fungus, not a germ _per se_. Any anti-bacterials you wipe it (or anything else) down with are again more likely to do harm to you and your family than the bag. I am assuming you don’t lick your furniture on a regular basis. Or even on an irregular basis, now I come to think about it. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/16 "2012-02-10T05:22:03Z")
I don’t think germs are much of a problem, but it’s a dirty bag. I’m a guy and wash car parts in the dishwasher but I wouldn’t put a bag that’s been out in the world on my bed. It’s not like you ever look at the bottom of it, it could have been sitting in gum or piss and you would never know it. Urine is sterile so it won’t cause problems, but do you want to sleep in it? Aside from that, this is one of those relationship things that seems like plain ole common sense to me. It doesn’t matter if it’s clean or not, if it bothers her, stop doing it out of courtesy. ---
**Author:** ![radar1974](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6de8d8/32.png) [@radar1974](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/radar1974)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/17 "2012-02-10T06:27:13Z")
They say there are more germs on your kitchen chopping board than on your toilet seat, which goes to prove that germs are really not a problem at all. If the bag is leaving a smell behind then I’d stop it, but if you wouldn’t know where it was left after it’s removed then there is no harm. As for not washing it for over 8 years, can’t it be put in the washing machine every few months, just for the hell of it? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/18 "2012-02-10T13:26:26Z")
I do the same with my gym bag and have for decades, no big deal. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/19 "2012-02-10T13:52:32Z")
…all that said, in the interests of marital harmony, sometimes it is worthwhile conceding to one’s partner’s foibles, even if they’re illogical. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359/20 "2012-02-10T14:06:44Z")
How about the inside of the bag? Shoes that have been walking on god knows what in the locker room (ever step on the drain?) get transported in those things. Sweaty cloths and wet towels rub against the inside of the bag constantly. At least get him to turn it inside out every once in a while and let it air out. I mean for Christ sake, I bet he uses those wipes they have for the machines doesn’t he? Why would he put up with a stanky bag? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dirty-gym-bags/612359.md?page=2)