This Oft-Overlooked Area Is A Hotspot For Germs At Home

"When I go to do home inspections, usually the best place for me to go to collect dust is underneath the master bed," Blaser tells mbg. "That's the place that doesn't get vacuumed very often, people don't usually move things under it around very often, and it gets pretty nasty."

Once these under-bed samples are analyzed in a lab, Blaser explains that they're often found to contain dead skin cells, broken down fibers, insect parts, and even mold spores and pesticides. Lovely!

These irritants are not what you want to be sleeping on top of night after night. Not only can they lead to sore throats and stuffy noses upon waking, but they may also negatively affect your sleep quality1—and your overall health in turn. Those who are allergic to things like dust mites2 will have an especially hard time with a dusty under-bed.

It's a pretty gross problem with a pleasantly simple fix: Be diligent about cleaning this oft-neglected area. Blaser says that vacuuming under your bed once a week wouldn't be excessive—especially if you have carpets, which tend to trap more dust than hardwood.

In the process, you'll have to move around anything you're storing under your bed. This is yet another reason to declutter the home goods, mementos, and clothes you're keeping down there, or at least store them in boxes that are easy to maneuver. According to feng shui design philosophy, doing so will also help open up the flow of positive energy in your bedroom. We'll take it!

To stay on top of your new under-bed cleaning routine, you could tack it onto a weekly sheet-washing ritual (bedding is another huge source of irritants and allergens). As your sheets go through their hot wash, run a vacuum underneath your bed, taking care to get into any hard-to-reach nooks and crannies. While you're at it, you might want to vacuum your mattress too—just in case.