to think that you should WASH YOUR HANDS after going to the loo? ALL of you!

[MsOnatopp]

The amount of times I am in a public bathroom and women come out of the cubicle, look at themselves in the mirror, touch their hair, and then walk out without washing their hands is ridiculous. At least a quarter. No exaggeration.

Is it just where I live? Does it happen where you are?

There is nothing, NOTHING you could do in a cubicle that does not require hand washing afterwards.

I am seriously tempted every time to chase the woman out and publicly shout 'Ew, please wash your hands. That is so gross' to humiliate them into washing in future. OK, yes that would be BU but so tempting.

I'm sorry, this is more of a rant than an AIBU.

I'm actually going to go against the grain here and say that I rarely wash my hands after wee because I don't wee on my hands and even if I did, wee is sterile (I do after going in a public loo though). The idea of people not washing their hands after a poo really freaks me out though because that is actually full of potentially nasty bacteria and other things.

What is this wee is sterile malarkey? I've only heard it on mumsnet. It can't be true. Wee is waste. That's why it's expelled.

Sterile wee - yes & no
www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=19625.0

The loyala university Chicago has published results of studies that suggest that wee is not sterile.

Wee is sterile, Kitty - the waste it contains is chemical waste (protein breakdown & acid). If you have bugs in your wee you have an infection. But your hands have still been rummaging around in the knicker area so washing after a wee is a Good Idea. My issue is - we use our unwashed hands to do up jeans, belts etc - haven't worked out a way around that, short of hopping across to sink with trousers around ankles, so I regard handwashing as damage limitation

I think all the handles and knobs in loos are all covered in bacteria - unless there is a zig zag to get into the ladies, and no door - then all the hand washing in the world isn't going to stop your hands being covered in poo /old wee/ blood bacteria by getting out the door - whether it's mostly your bacteria or another person's is the decision you make then you wash your hands.

I always carry an extra piece of loo roll to open the door to the ladies - handles YUCK!

And yes, I always wash my hands after going - I like washing my hands: and I always wash them after coming in off the bus/train/playground.

The taps can be absolutely disgusting though, so it's important to rinse off the last person's yuckky soap mess, before you get down and dirty with your own soap bubbles/water, so that when you're turning off the tap, you don't just pick up any old stuff that's being hanging round. I love those big blade type taps that you can shove with your forearm - hate the tiny fiddly ones.

Drying hands properly is also a must: drying them with the loo roll that is in a cubicle and close to a loo isn't the best either. I carry my own little stash!

I wonder do I have OCD?!

Yanbu! I always point them out when I head back to my group or table or whatever.

I do all the weird things they show in that hand wash ad to avoid touching anything in a public loo too.

Public toilet sinks and door handles are so unhygienic that I may appear to be a non washer. Actually I get outside the doors and antibac, as I always carry it in my handbag.

What is the point in washing my hands then opening the door when the person before me is either an antibaccer or a non washer full stop?

Same as HSMM. My eczema reacts terribly to cheap soap, and can even get itchy with plain water, yet is fine with my antibac gel stuff. So I come out of the cubicle, check my hair, leave, and then use that. Outside the door to allow for the fact that the handle is more minging than the toilet seat!!

I always try to antibac right outside the door though, so judgy people that notice I didnt wash can see
Makes me damn paranoid mind, that everyone is thinking Im a dirty scrubber when I leave, so thanks for starting the thread :(

I rarely use a public toilet. Thank god by the sounds of things

I don't hold anything in, its just I only pee 3 times a day maximum really! (Morning, evening and before bed!)

I don't really want to think about it all in too much detail, or i'll end up being one of those who hovers over the loo, and wears disposable gloves for the entire duration of their toilet stop.

I use my foot to flush the loo. I am extremely good at this.
I do have to open the door, but I use my left hand. Learned this one in less than sanitary areas.

I also try not to worry too much, as otherwise I could get obsessive and that never turns out well.

Cant use the gel crap, just wrong for me.

YADNBU.

Hands should be washed PROPERLY both after doing something which would make the hands dirty (using the toilet)

and before doing something which requires hands to be clean (such as eating/preparing food)

Totallypearshaped - I thought it was just me who washes the taps before washing my hands. Always wondered how those with nice clean hands avoid turning off the filthy germ ridden taps afterwards...I don't bother if they are those ones that stop automatically obviously.

What annoys me is people who "wash" their hands by squirting soap on dry hands and rinsing it straight down the plug hole with hardly any rubbing. If you are going to wash your hands, at least do it properly otherwise you may as well not do it at all.

How do any of you manage to use public transport?

The grab handles are far more germ ridden than in any loo (more hands touching, for a start).

I wash my hands religiously after using the toilet. Last year when I was pregnant I went into the loo in the doctors surgery and washed my hands and dried them on the paper towels. When I came out a woman was waiting outside and she muttered something like "omg that is disgusting". Didn't understand what she was on about as the toilet was clean, just assumed she was talking to her son. Anyway, she came out and started muttering to her dp, "that is fuckin' disCustin'. Not washin' 'er 'ands. Fuckin' disCustin'"' She carried on for the whole time she was waiting, and there were 2 other people waiting in the room.

Anyway, because I'd dried my hands, she thought I hadn't washed them. I didn't have the energy to tell her to shut the fuck up because I was 37 weeks pregnant and was suffering. Stupid cow.

So op, unless you're SURE they haven't washed their hands then yanbu.

Do you know, I feel really sorry for all you guys fretting about germs and grabbing handfulls of toilet paper to avoid touching door handles/flushes. You sound so uptight.

I never worry about such things and I have a the constitution of an ox - coincidence maybe?

But then, I wild camp with a wee trowel for doing field poos - I suspect a lot of you would faint at the thought!

Well I wild camp happily but also don't like having to share germs of 100s of lazy arses who can't be bothered to use soap & water after loo-stop. Door handles, lift buttons, taps etc all retain germs for several hours and are a health hazard!!

We had a German friend staying last weekend. Between arriving on Saturday morning and leaving on Sunday afternoon, she didn't wash any part of herself and the visit included a trip to a stables, riding and petting a horse and playing with a dog.

I know she didn't wash her hands after using the loo because you have to go from the loo to the bathroom to do that.

Yeah, all those lift button related fatalities, tragic really.

I always wash my hands unless the sink etc is totally disgusting then i will use the hand gel i carry in my bag.

My gran will never wash her hands in the bathroom in her own flat but will walk through the living room to the kitchen so people can see her washing her hands in there.

My daughter almost died from ecoli because the person she caught it from didn't wash. So yes. It's a must. I don't even touch toilet door handles now.

Yadnbu, it's bloody disgusting to not wash your hands after using the toilet. I always wash the tap, my hands and then open the door with a bit of tissue, OCD? Yes probably!!

Another thing I have seen people do regularly is rinse their hands, no soap and the do their hair with their wet hands, yuck!!