Page 5 | AIBU to think washing hands before emptying the dishwasher is unnecessary

OhNoooooooooooooooo · 2026-09-15T14:21:10+00:00

Well now I've heard it all... I was emptying the dishwasher at work, cuz I'm nice like that . and my colleague was there, making a cup of tea. And she remarked and wondered why I didn't wash my hands before emptying and said dishwasher. Who washes their hands to empty the dishwasher?

Purplecatshopaholic · 15/09/2026 18:41

I wash my hands when I come home, and before eating. I have genuinely never thought to wash my hands before emptying the dishwasher. Mind is blown!
(I won’t be starting doing it either, I’ll never remember and I’ve survived this long without, lol).

Original poster

OhNoooooooooooooooo · 15/09/2026 18:41

Bloodysquirellls · 15/09/2026 18:28

And I reckon I do wash my hands more than 30 times a day.

Lol 😂 maybe I was wrong and I am not a grubster.

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Bloody hell.

OP posts:

Bonkers1966 · 15/09/2026 18:44

OhNoooooooooooooooo · 15/09/2026 18:21

Where does the hand washing and cleaning end????

Did we clean the dishwasher door before we opened it? What if somebody else had touched the dishwasher door and they hadn't washed their hands? Now your clean hands are dirty.

Are we wiping down every cupboard and drawer before we put the cutlery in Etc? Otherwise, we've just hatched a dirty cupboard door and now we've gone to pick up some plates.

Troll

ArtxeTibA · 15/09/2026 18:48

Sahara123 · 15/09/2026 17:12

Ye gods never have I ever known anyone in real life do this.
I can’t be doing with all this hand washing. I’m rarely ill anyway so I must be doing something right.
Plus a quick swill under the hot tap which hasn’t actually warmed up yet does nothing !

Of course it might be whether or not the people you encounter wash their hands that's more likely to affect how often you are ill, rather than how often you wash your own. I don't think Typhoid Mary was ever ill!

I don't think most people would count a quick swill under the hot tap as handwashing - you can wash hands properly with normal soap very quickly.

dizzydizzydizzy · 15/09/2026 18:59

concertinacornflake · 15/09/2026 17:13

How do you know your judgement is correct?

What blows my mind really is the certainty people have their way is the one true way.

I do what I do out of habit picked up working in kitchens - wash hands going into the kitchen.

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Restaurant kitchens have much higher hygiene standards than home kitchens (and rightly so).

Cheese55 · 15/09/2026 19:01

Tissueboxes · 15/09/2026 15:37

I wash my hands every time I come into the house from work/using public transport, anything out doors really, before handling food or crockery and utensils, obviously after using the loo.
It is just common sense IMO.
Computer keyboards are dirtier and more germ ridden than your toilet, so it is sensible to wash your hands and sanitise your keyboard and phone regularly.
Door handles and lift buttons are known to be pretty grimy too.

What do you think will happen if you stopped washing your hands?

beaglescurleduplikebagels · 15/09/2026 19:02

Bloodysquirellls · 15/09/2026 18:27

Weirdly I am the opposite! A complete grubster! But would absolutely wash my hands before unloading. Why would you want greasy fingers on your new plates and cutlery.

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Why are you wandering around with greasy fingers?

NigglyPig · 15/09/2026 19:02

I do. I think if you’re handling things that people will put up to - or into - their mouths, you should do it with clean hands.

Cheese55 · 15/09/2026 19:07

SSea · 15/09/2026 18:28

Oh rank! How can you not?! I read that a keyboard harbours more germs than a toilet seat, so if you’ve been typing away before emptying it, then yes you should wash your hands. Covid surely taught us all that washing hands is good practice?

Until they said it was airborne and catching it off a surface was rare, but they had to say something so we could feel we were doing something

Bloodysquirellls · 15/09/2026 19:17

beaglescurleduplikebagels · 15/09/2026 19:02

Why are you wandering around with greasy fingers?

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Maybe my fingers are more lubrant than others, or maybe everyone walks around with greasy fingers 🤷‍♀️

Allseeingallknowing · 15/09/2026 19:19

dizzydizzydizzy · 15/09/2026 18:59

Restaurant kitchens have much higher hygiene standards than home kitchens (and rightly so).

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Often the opposite is true!

AutumnLover1999 · 15/09/2026 19:21

I always do,but then I'm quite strict on hygiene according to my sister in law. I hate people drying their hands on my tea towel and she wouldn't think twice about washing tea towels mixed in with undies. It just makes me feel a bit 🤮

ByQuaintAzureWasp · 15/09/2026 19:22

Not unless you also wash your hands when taking them out of the cupboard.

W0tnow · 15/09/2026 19:23

Bloodysquirellls · 15/09/2026 18:27

Weirdly I am the opposite! A complete grubster! But would absolutely wash my hands before unloading. Why would you want greasy fingers on your new plates and cutlery.

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Well, you wouldn’t, but my fingers wouldn’t be greasy. If they were I’d have already washed them.

WonderingWanda · 15/09/2026 19:23

Compulsive handwasher here. There's no logic to it. It's like I can feel a film of germs on my hands if I haven't washed them. I also rewash the cutlery at work but can eat in a restaurant with no problem..as long as I don't overthink it....although after reading how many non handwashers there are I may need to take my own cutlery to restaurants now 🤢

Mischance · 15/09/2026 19:24

Goodness me ... never heard such an idea! Unless you've just come in from weeding the garden then it is not necessary at all.

cuckoolodger · 15/09/2026 19:53

In a commercial setting the dish water is typically a sanitiser. It’s best practice to wash your hands between swapping tasks. You could have just scraped old food off, or entered a bin. So yes, technically you should wash your hands. I know this as I work in a kitchen and my sister is in food compliance and very strict.

in reality, we humans are flawed. Mistakes happen. That’s why we retain/refresh hand washing protocols every 12-16 weeks.

Buildingthefuture · 15/09/2026 19:55

AutumnLover1999 · 15/09/2026 19:21

I always do,but then I'm quite strict on hygiene according to my sister in law. I hate people drying their hands on my tea towel and she wouldn't think twice about washing tea towels mixed in with undies. It just makes me feel a bit 🤮

tea towels and undies? 🤮🤮🤮 Absolutely not!!!!

cuckoolodger · 15/09/2026 19:57

AutumnLover1999 · 15/09/2026 19:21

I always do,but then I'm quite strict on hygiene according to my sister in law. I hate people drying their hands on my tea towel and she wouldn't think twice about washing tea towels mixed in with undies. It just makes me feel a bit 🤮

Back in the mid 80s my Nan worked in a commercial kitchen. She was STRICT about hygiene even at home. But one day around 93 I saw her scrubbing the carrots from the garden with the gusset brush. I asked her exactly how many of these scrubbing brushes she had….. the answer was one, and she wasn’t at work and I enjoyed clean knickers so to shut up.

🤮🤮🤮🤮

LegoLivingRoom · 15/09/2026 20:00

ByQuaintAzureWasp · 15/09/2026 19:22

Not unless you also wash your hands when taking them out of the cupboard.

I do this too. I’ve normally been touching my laptop/ipad/phone beforehand and we know how disgusting (and not easy to clean) they are.

I usually wash my hands before unloading a clean dishwasher, then load it with the dirty dishes and wash my hands again.

oviraptor21 · 15/09/2026 20:10

You're all unloading your dishwashers incorrectly. There is no need to touch any of the eating surfaces of the vast majority of tableware and utensils providing you have loaded the dishwasher correctly. So knife blades etc. down for a start. Most of the rest you pick up by the handle or the outside. Plates it's a combination of rim and underneath. Very occasionally a pinch on the edge of the plate but most of my plates have a raised edge where the food never goes anyway.

housemouse11 · 15/09/2026 20:14

I’m an avid hand-washer. However I’d not comment at work whoever was unloading. I keep my own Tupperware and cutlery and cups out of the work dishwasher anyway. So it doesn’t bother me one way or another.

WearingBeautifulShoes · 15/09/2026 20:16

I would never have dreamt this is something people do. Generally I am pretty hygienic and always wash my hands after coming in, travelling on public transport etc, but would just never have thought of it before unloading a dishwasher.

Cheese55 · 15/09/2026 20:17

Buildingthefuture · 15/09/2026 19:55

tea towels and undies? 🤮🤮🤮 Absolutely not!!!!

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Both things get washed so why can't they be together in the wash? They end up clean???

ItsAlwaysTwins · 15/09/2026 20:19

It wouldn’t occur to me.