Ever wondered how often airline blankets actually get washed?

Image: paraginternational.net

Maybe bring your own blanket next time you fly...

You may have heard some of the rumours of things you aren't meant to do while flying...

Things such as walking barefoot and turning off the air-vent. Well now there's a new one to add to the list.

You know those blankets that (sort of) keep you warm during longer flights? Well it turns out those don't get washed or changed over as much you'd hope.

According to Reddit user mehow44, some airlines don’t bother to clean or swap out those blankets between flights. Meaning you could be covering yourself up in someone else’s germs.

The Reddit post read:

"I worked for Southwest as a flight attendant. Those blankets and pillows? Yeah, those just get refolded and stuffed back in the bins between flights.''

''Only fresh ones I ever saw were on an originating first flight in the morning in a provisioning city.

''Also, if you have ever spread your peanuts on your tray and eaten, or really just touched your tray at all, you have more than likely ingested baby poo.

''I saw more dirty diapers laid out on those trays than food.

''And those trays, yeah, never saw them cleaned or sanitized once."

Gross.

Unfortunately there isn't just one account of this reusing blankets scandal, active flight attendant and HuffPost blogger Sara Keagle, also said this dirty little secret is true, at least partially.

Speaking to HuffPost she said, freshly washed blankets are only supplied to the first flights of the day.

On all following flights the blankets are re-folded and re-used.

As for the tray tables, well...Keagle said they are cleaned “about once a day, usually when the aircraft RONs (remains overnight).”

But what about the blankets that come in the plastic packaging? Surely they're clean?

Not necessarily. In the year 2000, the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees accused some of its clients of repackaging their blankets without ever cleaning them, Bravo reported.

A few years later, The Wall Street Journal released a report explaining that most airlines only clean their blankets every five to 30 days.

And, in 2017, comedian Nicole Byer shared the horrifying tale of her flight on Delta when she found a piece of human feces inside her first class blanket.

So, moral of the story, maybe just bring your own blanket...or wear a jacket. Your call.