Gloves when shopping

[Tootingwife]

Have generally been wearing gloves for shopping to help avoid transferring contamination back to my car (obviously I’m washing my hands when unpacking and handling groceries at home but that doesn’t work out and about). However, it seems to me that fewer people are using either gloves or a mask where I live.

Curious to who how many others on here are still wearing gloves or, if you’ve now stopped doing so, why?

[TurkeyBasterHopeItWorks]

I’ve never worn gloves during the crisis, I wash and sanitise my hands regularly instead. I don’t touch my face or eyes whilst I’m out and about either. I’m not saying this is what you do but some people think wearing gloves mean they are safe and don’t wash their hands in between or recognise that the gloves harbour germs too.
As for face masks I won’t be wearing one either unless made mandatory. I find them too claustrophobic. I’ve also noticed people moving their masks around and forgetting they are transferring germs to the mask and onto their faces. Plus some people don’t respect the 2 metre distancing guidelines because they are wearing PPE. Just saying.

[SpiderPlantSally]

What's the point in wearing gloves? As soon as you've touched the trolley, you've potentially got germs all over your hands, and by default, your shopping. Gloves don't do anything that starting with clean hands at the beginning and washing your hands at the end wouldn't do.
I don't get why people wear them, unless perhaps you have a skin condition that means you can't wash your hands as much as you need to, or if you've travelled by public transport to reach the supermarket.
If you've been out, even wearing gloves, you'd still be well advised to wash your hands (and some people will say your shopping) as soon as you get home.

[fussychica]

I don't wear gloves for the same reason as pps. I don't like the idea of wearing a mask unless I really have to as I am sure I'd be tempted to keep adjusting it if it wasn't a great fit. I wash my hands before shopping, sanitize when leaving the store then wash my hands when I get home. Fortunately I don't have to travel on public transport and only shop once a week. If I had to use public transport I would be much more likely to use both gloves and a mask.

[rbe78]

Exactly what the PP said what do you think gloves do? The virus doesn't magically leach out of your skin, and gloves don't zap viruses on contact. If you touch your face with gloved hands, then touch something else (or vice versa), it is no different from doing so with your bare hands. So wearing gloves doesn't make you any less likely to transfer the virus, or any less likely to catch it. Just wash your hands before and after going out, and DON'T TOUCH YOUR FACE!!!

[Purplewithred]

As above - gloves are just an alternative surface for the virus to stick to. I sanitise my hands more often than I would change gloves when shopping, and also use sanitising wipes on the trolley, scanner, my phone, the steering wheel etc etc. I see so many people get out of their cars wearing gloves, stand in the queue on their phones, shop, back in the car, drive home...all in the same gloves. What exactly do they think they are stopping from happening?

Masks - sigh - I will if I have to but once again it's really hard to use them effectively in the real world. Mostly they just become another surface for smearing the virus on.

[Muchtoomuchtodo]

I saw this from a NHS trust in the south

[Muchtoomuchtodo]

.

[PineappleDanish]

I've never worn gloves. Totally pointless. Just wash your hands.

[Disneylover4321]

@TurkeyBasterHopeItWorks

Same.

[40somethingJBJ]

Only time I wear a glove is for putting fuel in the car, and then only on the hand that touches the pump, largely because I hate the smell of diesel on my hands! I throw it away at the petrol station as soon as I’ve finished. I can’t see the point in shops at all.

[Intruiged]

Gloves and masks make me less likely to touch my face. They are a stark reminder not to. I still wash my my hands after going out. That's still something.

[Time40]

I wear disposable gloves for doing the shopping, but I take them off before I pay. I reckon it might help to keep anything nasty off my handbag and my purse.

God, I am so sick and tired of washing the bloody shopping. Who would have ever thought that washing shopping would become a thing? We don't know if it really works, either.

[minisoksmakehardwork]

I've never worn gloves but have wet wiped and sanitised my hands after every single shop and have washed them thoroughly when I got home. Only going to one shop rather than several as well unless I cannot get something I absolutely need for that day in that one shop.

The number of people I have seen digging through their handbag, rummaging for their purse then pulling out their card and replacing it, all while wearing the gloves, or answering their phone, sending texts or rolling cigarettes in the queue, shows people are only wearing them to make themselves feel better rather than them actually being of benefit. I doubt when they get home they wipe their purse, card and phone down when they get home, much less their bag and the rest of the contents they touched with their gloved hands. I'm even leaving my purse in the car and just using my card, which gets wiped when I get back to the car as well to reduce the risk of picking up and transferring the virus around.

Shopping bags get wiped down and aired before going back into rotation. Fortunately we have quite a few so if I do have to go shopping a couple of days in a row, I am not using the same bags from store to store.

[BruceAndNosh]

Gloves are pointless.
Bare hands with generous amount of sanitiser are better.
Gloves plus sanitiser = waste of both

[Runkle]

I've seen people wearing gloves around the supermarket then getting into their car and driving off with the gloves still on. Wtf is the point in that?!

[MrsSchadenfreude]

There is no point in gloves. Wear gloves, inadvertently scratch your nose and you might as well not be wearing them.

[TheCanterburyWhales]

We aren't allowed into supermarkets here unless we put on the gloves just inside the door. They are left in the bins as we leave. Ditto masks.

The govt experts here concur with most, pointless if you're already wearing them when you go in, not so if you put them on as you enter. The supermarket checkout assts were in gloves before masks became obligatory. So, mid Feb they were already in gloves. The head of the public health service here also made the point made by pp. We are naturally less likely to touch our faces in gloves. But yes, walking round town in gloves, useless.

Haven't ever washed the shopping, though at the height here we were told to leave it outside for 3 hours.

[KuckFnows]

I take two pairs with me when I go shopping and a disposable mask each time

I wear the gloves and then discard the mask and gloves when I've put my shopping in the car and returned the trolley

I then sanitise my hands , pop on another pair of gloves and then go home and disinfect all shopping and wash hands thoroughly.

Phew....

[Ipadipod]

It’s useful to read about cross contamination, wearing gloves is pretty useless unless you understand how this works.

[Shouldershrugger]

I wear gloves. I sanitise the trolley handle before touching it. Then disinfect the trolley with the sprays the supermarket provides. I take the gloves off once i put the trolley away. Disinfect my shopping when I get in and wash my hands thoroughly. Its anal to most going on the majority of responses. But it helps me mentally comprehend that im keeping safe and keeps me from suffering panic attacks.

[WhatPollyForgot]

Just wash your hands and social distance. No need for all this waste.

[okiedokieme]

Gloves are not recommended because you are spreading your germs onto the products, washing hands is better.

[EatDessertFirst]

No point wearing gloves, just wash your hands. You touch all the same things with gloves on and they protect you from nothing if not changed correctly i.e. after every differeng point of contact.

As an aside, if you do wear pointless gloves, please don't chuck them on the floor by your car, next to the face mask you wore on your chin around the supermarket. Thanks.

[Makeuptherules]

If you do it right, gloves work. People who say they don't don't really understand how to manage it properly. You obviously take them off as soon as you leave and only touch things that you will be taking. Then wash all the stuff (if that's what you do) when home. They are only a waste of time if you still touch your face, touch everything that others will touch and keep them on when you get home. Not that tricky