Would you say something to someone if you knew they didn’t wash their hands after using the toilet?

[asblindasabat]

On Christmas Day, my MIL Used the downstairs loo but didn’t wash her hands. I know this as our lounge is right beside the toilet and you can always hear the water running when the tap is on, which I didn’t hear. She went in, quickly went about her business, toilet flushed and out she came so it was very obvious.

I was going to ask her if she had forgot to wash her hands but I just couldn’t build the courage to do it! I had an audience and it would probably have looked liked I was starting an argument but I did feel somewhat uncomfortable with someone using the toilet, not washing their hands and then touching objects in my house.

if a guest in your house did this, would you just ignore it or would you just say it as it is?

Made me think of this

I think you might have a problem.
I do wash my hands after using the loo but germs are everywhere, you can't avoid them. Worrying about them to the extent that you are isn't healthy.

From the CDC in the USA
www.cdc.gov/handwashing/why-handwashing.html

Keeping hands clean is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. Many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean, running water.

How germs get onto hands and make people sick
Feces (poop) from people or animals is an important source of germs like Salmonella, E. coli O157, and norovirus that cause diarrhea, and it can spread some respiratory infections like adenovirus and hand-foot-mouth disease. These kinds of germs can get onto hands after people use the toilet or change a diaper, but also in less obvious ways, like after handling raw meats that have invisible amounts of animal poop on them. A single gram of human feces—which is about the weight of a paper clip—can contain one trillion germs 1. Germs can also get onto hands if people touch any object that has germs on it because someone coughed or sneezed on it or was touched by some other contaminated object. When these germs get onto hands and are not washed off, they can be passed from person to person and make people sick.
Washing hands prevents illnesses and spread of infections to others
Handwashing with soap removes germs from hands. This helps prevent infections because:

People frequently touch their eyes, nose, and mouth without even realizing it. Germs can get into the body through the eyes, nose and mouth and make us sick. Germs from unwashed hands can get into foods and drinks while people prepare or consume them. Germs can multiply in some types of foods or drinks, under certain conditions, and make people sick. Germs from unwashed hands can be transferred to other objects, like handrails, table tops, or toys, and then transferred to another person’s hands.

Removing germs through handwashing therefore helps prevent diarrhea and respiratory infections and may even help prevent skin and eye infections.
Teaching people about handwashing helps them and their communities stay healthy. Handwashing education in the community:

Reduces the number of people who get sick with diarrhea by 23-40%
Reduces diarrheal illness in people with weakened immune systems by 58%
Reduces respiratory illnesses, like colds, in the general population by 16-21%
Reduces absenteeism due to gastrointestinal illness in schoolchildren by 29-57%

Not washing hands harms children around the world

About 1.8 million children under the age of 5 die each year from diarrheal diseases and pneumonia, the top two killers of young children around the
world.

Handwashing with soap could protect about 1 out of every 3 young children who get sick with diarrhea and almost 1 out of 5 young children with respiratory infections like pneumonia.

Although people around the world clean their hands with water, very few use soap to wash their hands. Washing hands with soap removes germs much more effectively.

Handwashing education and access to soap in schools can help improve attendance.

Good handwashing early in life may help improve child development in some settings.

Estimated global rates of handwashing after using the toilet are only 19%

Handwashing helps battle the rise in antibiotic resistance
Preventing sickness reduces the amount of antibiotics people use and the likelihood that antibiotic resistance will develop. Handwashing can prevent about 30% of diarrhea-related sicknesses and about 20% of respiratory infections (e.g., colds). Antibiotics often are prescribed unnecessarily for these health issues. Reducing the number of these infections by washing hands frequently helps prevent the overuse of antibiotics—the single most important factor leading to antibiotic resistance around the world. Handwashing can also prevent people from getting sick with germs that are already resistant to antibiotics and that can be difficult to treat.

www.cdc.gov/handwashing/when-how-handwashing.html
Key Times to Wash Hands
Know When To Wash Your Hands
You can help yourself and your loved ones stay healthy by washing your hands often, especially during these key times when you are likely to get and spread germs:

Before, during, and after preparing food
Before and after eating food
Before and after caring for someone at home who is sick with vomiting or diarrhea
Before and after treating a cut or wound
After using the toilet
After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet
After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
After touching an animal, animal feed, or animal waste
After handling pet food or pet treats
After touching garbage (rubbish)

If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol to clean your hands.

Well I'm not the person proposing to call another adult out on their hygiene.

That's rude.

If living through a global pandemic hasn't provoked a hygiene epiphany then it's unlikely there's anything you can say that will

Do you not think not washing your hands after using the toilet shows poor social skills? I had absolutely every right to call her out and I regret that I didn’t. It’s disgusting.

I actually change my hand towels regularly, thanks. Stop trying to make silly excuses, there are none.

But as you can see, not everyone does wash their hands after the toilet which means their grotty hands are then transferring those nasty germs onto the door handle.

why would I wash my hands in a public toilet just to dirty them again by touching a dirty door handle?

Why are you asking opinion? You're quite determined that you're not wrong 🤷

I’m not wrong, I never said that I might be. I was just wondering how anyone else would react to it / deal with it.

I have a relative that never washes their hands. Amazes us as they are never ill or get colds etc. Also lives I a house with just a gas fire.

I just cannot comprehend or fathom why someone wouldn’t wash their hands after the toilet. It’s just dire and shows no respect for the well-being of anyone else.

So in answer to your question, no, you shouldn't say anything because it's unspeakably rude.

I should have. I didn’t ask whether I should or not, I already know I should have.

you say its rude to bring it up, well do you not think it’s a bit rude to the use the bog in someone else’s house and not wash your hands and then spread all your germs around?

If you've got kids, I assume your MIL has been your MIL for some time? Have you noticed you become unwell after her visits?

Honestly you must be suffering from health anxiety if you think a woman not washing her hands after what may have been a wee or may have just been an adjustment of her clothing or a fart is going to strike you down with some terrible illness.

Butteredtoast55 · Yesterday 18:06
I would. Not washing hands after using the toilet is utterly disgusting.“

Yes, it is. Could she have used sanitiser instead though, OP? I know a few people who have taken to carrying it round with them since Covid and use it instead of washing hands in shared facilities.

Thank goodness I don’t have her round that often for her to use the toilet in my house!

you can’t defend someone not washing their hands after the bog. You don’t know what’s on your hands after touching the toilet.

She could well have been, but she still touched the toilet to make it flush.

No I wouldn't bring it up.

It's your MIL and it's disrespectful. Just avoid holding her hands.

1. Maybe she didn't use the toilet. Sometimes I go into the toilet without using it. Just a quick makeup touch or Iike to take some time away for a few mins in social settings (I'm introverted)

1. It's a little weird that your listening to what's going on in the toilet anyways. You shouldn't be paying attention so its none of your business. Yes it's weird she didn't wash her hands, but its even more weird that you noticed /are listening out in my opinion.

1. Maybe she did wash her hands but you missed it. It's very possible. Unless you were In the toilet yourselves with her, you can't make such an accusation without solid evidence.

It isn’t “health anxiety” to expect people to follow the basic hygiene practice of hand washing per all the health authorities in the world. You also seem to be in denial as to the real risk of spreading disease and illness causing excess deaths, especially in children under age 5 and contributing to the antibiotic resistance crisis.

Read my PP, I already clarified I wasn’t listening. I heard the toilet flush and no water running, I can’t help it if that’s what I observed due to the fact I was sitting in my lounge which is right beside the toilet! Doesn’t mean I was listening in.

and I get that she may not have actually been using the toilet, but the toilet flushed meaning she still pressed the button. She still had contact with the toilet meaning she should have still washed her hands.

And no, I don’t think it’s disrespectful. Spreading your germs all over someone else’s house is disrespectful.

Thank you @Onnabugeisha it seems we are two of the very few people on here with common sense!

Maybe she used tissue to flush the toilet? I do that when I go to someone's house. Grab tissue, use it flush the toilet , then quickly throw it in the bowl before the flush has finished.

Again, still should wash hands. You’re touching toilet roll that could be contaminated due to other people touching it with their shitty/pissy hands.

I think just wash your hands if you’ve touched anything to do with the toilet.

But then why is it limited to toilet door handles? The non hand washers touch everything in the world. So do you not touch anything with your bare hands?