To wonder why you cant wash you hands in the kitchen

[lollylaughs]

What is the problem with washing hands in the kitchen sink? Dd's friend was here and they were playing out in the sandpit. I called them in to eat so dd washed her hands in the kitchen (where we have proper handwash and handcream). So her friend said she isn't allowed to wash her hands in the kitchen, only the bathroom.....

I asked her why, she doesn't know - its just her mothers rule.

Aibu to not understand this?

We always wash dirty hands in kitchen.

This is due to centuries of people doing manual labour and living in squalid housing with the only water being in the kitchen.
As soon as my grandmothers got bathrooms they wanted to keep them for best and didn't want oil/cement all over the place.
It wasn't that long ago that they stopped bathing in the kitchen either.

Some Americans I met (who let me wash my hands after my car had broken down in Cow's Ass Arizona) had such nervous breakdown about this that they felt compelled to give me a leaflet on finding Jesus.

You could get paranoid about this...
So you have chopped raw chicken and have salmonella contaminated hands - turn the taps on, wash your hands, turn taps off...
You wash your faecal bacteria contaminated hands after using the loo - turn the taps on, wash hands, turn taps off ...

You wash your muddy soil bacteria contaminated hands - turn the taps on, wash hands, turn taps off ...
So maybe wash your hands in the bathroom - then wash them again in the kitchen -but then you will take the contamination from bathroom into the kitchen ...
And you wash your salad/veg in the kitchen sink - these grow in ...wait for it...SOIL...full of bacteria...

You make a sandwich ... - to wash my hands do I choose to use the taps contaminated with the salmonella, faecal bacteria or soil bacteria?

I really wouldn't worry too much - wash your hands anywhere - you are taking in minute amounts of contamination that your body can deal with (although I would clean the taps after washing chicken hands -but then I am very careful with raw meat/chicken).
Soil bacteria are the nastiest ones (spore formers) that aren't killed by heat - botulism is one of these (same family as tetanus) - there are a couple of others - but they are only dangerous if you allow food to sit around in the warm for a few hours so they have a chance to start multiplying before ingestion ...(reheated rice anyone?)
Things like Samonella and faecal bacteria are killed by heat/cooking...something needs to be contaminated after cooking or not cooked and left hanging around to get to levels to make you sick...

• if the person who used the loo isn't sick - in low levels won't do you any harm...but aren't killed going through your digestive system...so potentially nasty...

I would think threadworm eggs ...that would be more a concern after using the loo - or coming in from mixing with other children etc...so food hands washed in the kitchen sink, looo hands in the loo and garden hands anywhere...
but then there are parasites (round worm) that could be in the soil too
(goes off to live in an air tight bubble, having all food sterilised before ingestion and no physical contact with another human or animal ...)

I've just remembered that if we had been playing out our mother insisted that we wash our hands in the kitchen before we went any further into the house...the bathroom sink was definitely for after loo use only....

Now. How about hand washing- of clothes, I mean. Kitchen or bathroom?

I don't keep handsoap by my kitchen sink - just cos of clutter - so while I'll happily rinse off there a proper handwash involves going to the bathroom.

But for DS I'm pretty sure it was because he couldn't reach the taps in our old kitchen that he always went to the bathroom to wash his hands, and that has continued. Habits are funny things aren't they? No logic to it now, in a new house, with a 8 year old who can reach everything

In my old flat there was no kitchen sink hand washing.

Reason being, it was just a sink and inside was a washing up bowl. No one would take fhe bowl out, so were washing their hands into the bowl leaving dirty hand water.

Kids especially wouldnt think to move the bowl.

So its in the sink.

In this place, we have an inbetweeny section so its ok to wash your hands in it. Although I still cringe and the handwasher splashing all the clean washing drying there and Id prefer all to use the bathroom.

Therefore, YABU.

I don't actually use my kitchen sink for washing pots - every thing goes in the dishwasher. I don't wash veg/salad often - everything comes ready to use or only require a rinse under the tap, so doesn't sit in the sink.

I use my kitchen sink to wash the baby in! hands are fine, I don't care what's on them either. I clean it enough that it doesn't bother me.

no illnesses so it can't be doing us much harm!

I wash my hands in the sink under running water, with soap, not with Fairy Liquid. In a commercial establishment you are meant to have a separate sink for washing hands, but it doesn't matter at home.

We have had that "rule" in our house up until recently and it is gradually being relaxed - but it is purely for the practical reasons mentioned above

1. Often DCs washing their hands is just before we eat and I tend to serve up right by the sink - I would prefer they did not get in the way (especially if dealing with hot stuff)
2. They can only just reach properly - so would end up with wet everything (worktop, floor, them) if they tried to use the kitchen sink....or a lot of palarver about bringing one of the breakfast bar stools over so they could reach - just faff.
3. There is a sink in the downstairs loo just a few feet away - if they use that the are out of the way and can reach. Simple.

Though calling it a "rule" is a bit strong - just the way we do stuff.

Come to think of it, the only reason I don't like people washing their hands in the kitchen sink is that it comes out of a high mixer tap and the water splashes back up onto the window. I hate cleaning windows.

i wash my hands in whatever sink im nearest to. i can't fathom out why someone wouldn't but i suppose she must have a reason. maybe it's just that her dd can't reach kitchen sink?

Now. How about hand washing- of clothes, I mean. Kitchen or bathroom?

I once confessed on here that I handwashed underwear in the kitchen sink. There were quite a few horrified posts about poo crumbs.

poo crumbs

They only exist in MNland.

If they sink is clean who cares?

Bacteria need a medium to grow in and time to do it. In order to harm you you have to ingest them, usually in quite significant numbers.

If you rinse the sink down afterwards there is no problem.

You don't want little ones at the sink in the kitchen whilst you are cooking, they are just not very aware. Keep them to one sink it is less cleaning. Once you have polished the chrome it is annoying for them to keep messing it up.

Actually I think it's because there's not a 'proper' towel, drying hands on a tea towel seems a bit horrible.

I have proper towels in my kitchen too..

I'm married to a farmer. We have one sink in the kitchen, one in an upstairs cloakroom and one in the upstairs bathroom. If he can't wash his hands in the kitchen sink I'll have mud/muck traipsed through the house.

We use tea towels but separate for the hands and cooking (on different hangers). I wash about three/four tea towels a day and the sink is washed daily so I think we cope fine under the circumstances.

In an ideal world I would have a sink in the utility room but it would involve major plumbing works.

Basically everyone has different ways.