People disgusted after swab tests shows just how dirty plane seats are

One man has put his chemistry skills to the test, after having found success on TikTok where he documents doing swab tests on different surfaces to see just how clean they really are.

A surface swab test is a method used to collect samples from surfaces to identify potential contaminants, like bacteria, mold, or proteins, to assess the cleanliness and effectiveness of cleaning and disinfection procedures.

In a recent video published to , Alex English, who is known online as 'howdirtyis', was seen boarding an unknown commercial . As soon as he got seated on the in his seemingly seat, he took out his pre-labelled swab kits and got started with his testing.

He showed himself four separate tests on different surfaces. He started off with the outer armrest on the aisle seat, making sure to get into all the nooks and crannies before putting the swab away into its test tube.

Alex then went on to test the tray of his seat. Carefully twisting the knob with his gloved hands, he went on to swab the entire tray, before securing the swap in its test tube.

He then did the same thing for the window cover, making sure to pull it down to get it all, before moving on to his fourth swab which was saved for the in-flight safety manual, which he opened up before swabbing.

Alex next showed how the had taken off, and he was soon landing at his destination. As he later got to his lab, he transferred the swabs to labelled petri plates that were then incubated in order to culturate the bacteria, which will allow you to see how much bacteria was on the swab.

So what were the test results?

As he got out the four plates in a new clip, Alex showed off the results one at a time. The more see you see on the plate, the more bacteria it means was present in the swab.

Starting off with the arm rest, Alex opened the petri plate to reveal it had been mostly covered by the now white-looking bacteria.

"I suggest a longsleeved shirt," he wrote in comment of the test results

Next up was the window cover, which had even more of the bacteria covering the lid, making Alex write: "I imagine the window is pretty bad too."

So what about the tray where most people keep their food and snacks? Just like the other two tests, the petri plate was covered with the white bacteria, indicating a lot of bacteria had been found in the test swab.

"Those peanuts look even tastier now," he jokingly commented when sharing the results.

However, the worst was yet to come, as the test that had shown the most bacteria came from the in-flight safety manual, where not even the pattern of the swab was seen anymore, as it had been on the other tests.

"Absolutely coated," Alex wrote alongside the test results.