A microbiologist has made a shocking discovery that has revealed the grim reason why you should always try new swimwear on top of your clothes.
Nicholas Aicher takes it upon himself to test out everyday products for bacterial growth.
In one of his more recent experiments, the senior quality control analyst took samples from the hygiene seal that retail stores use for swimwear.
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And the result from his petri dish, which he shared in a clip that has over 5.6m views, has left shoppers disgusted.
Nicholas posed the question, “How dirty are the swimsuits you try before you buy?”.

The answer? Dirtier than you probably think.
In the clip, the scientist from Chicago swabs the hygiene sticker from two different bikini parts.
Once at home, he labels them and transfers the sample to his incubator.
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It is unclear how long he leaves them to develop, but the results speak for themselves.
The petri dish containing the sample from the orange swimsuit has a high and visible amount of growth, which Nicholas identifies as Staphylococcus – a common type of bacteria found on humans.
Meanwhile, the brown swimsuit’s petri dish has significantly less visible growth, though Nicholas points out it has “smaller pin-prick colonies” of the bacteria.
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The post has over 210,000 likes, with Nicholas’ 450,000 followers stunned.
“I thought it would be fun for people to know all the little nastiness that we don’t think about every day,” he told What’s The Jam.
One person said, “This is why I don’t even try them on and just buy and wash them, hoping it’s a good fit.”

“If I go swimsuit shopping, I always wear tight-fitted leggings because of this,” said another viewer.
Someone else wrote: “Been saying this forever. If trying on, always try on over clothing! Always wash once or twice before wearing directly on skin!”
“You make my anxiety worse but also better because you confirm I’m not actually insane & germs are on everything,” another user joked.
One viewer commented: “Just washed all my new bikinis the other day. Glad I knew they’d need it!”

“I used to work in returns for an online retailer-I cannot stress enough to ALWAYS check the crotch & crack of things before trying them on,” another user wrote.
Someone else added: “I legit never understood how those helped hygiene if they never changed them out.”
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