Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think toothbrushes do not belong in a kitchen...

32 replies

unlucky83 · 27/10/2013 11:52

My DP has terrible teeth - childhood neglect - and has to brush his teeth a couple of times a day, goes to dental hospital.
I don't think he ever brushes his teeth in the bathroom ...he walks around brushing them - and often leaves toothbrushes in the kitchen - drives me mad - but I am resigned and just chuck any he leaves hanging around (in the cutlery drainer sometimes- yuck) in a drawer he has in there for his things.
He also has his own toothpaste - after much fuming by me - usually cos I've been running late and not being able to find it - he has stopped taking the tube out the bathroom and leaving it in random places around the house.

The other day he came home with an electric rechargeable toothbrush.
Great -that's nice - where are you going to plug it in?

I suggested he could use his bedside single socket - he already has a radio, clock and plugs his netbook in there too - behind his bedside table so a bit of a hassle -but only spare sensible place anyway.

We have a 1960s built house -with the normal shortage of sockets - except in the kitchen refurbished and rewired a couple of years- we have lots of sockets - but really only one spare because we charge our phones/ipods in there ..(I have phone charger holders -so they don't sit on work top)
Got up this morning (he's gone to work) and the toothbrush unit is plugged in in the kitchen - next to the kettle - worse he was showing it to DCs and suggested they might want to use it - DD2 came downstairs to get hers this morning...
AIBU to say no way is it staying there ...toothbrushes don't belong in a kitchen (and we have enough clutter on our worktops anyway)...

OP posts:
SuburbanRhonda · 27/10/2013 11:57

I grew up in a house with no bathroom sink.

The kitchen was the only place we could keep the toothbrushes. I really don't see why it's a problem Confused

FortyDoorsToNowhere · 27/10/2013 11:57

I keep mine in the kitchen, I don't fancy brushing my teeth in the same room I poo in.

NotMeNotYouNotAnyone · 27/10/2013 11:58

More hygienic in the kitchen tbh

AgentZigzag · 27/10/2013 12:00

I keep mine in the kitchen for the same reason.

Just because some people keep them in the bathroom doesn't mean that's where they belong.

frogspoon · 27/10/2013 12:01

YANBU, toothbrushes don't belong in the kitchen.

My electric toothbrush plugs into a shaver socket. When I was at uni I bought an adaptor so it could plug into a bedroom socket.

Why don't you just buy some multi plug adaptors?

LimitedEditionLady · 27/10/2013 12:02

Id say leave him be,hes actually making an effort to look after his teeth and encouraging the kids to so let it live.

Onesleeptillwembley · 27/10/2013 12:03

In the drainer? Oh that us disgusting. Sorry but don't think I'd want to eat at yours. Shock

whois · 27/10/2013 12:05

Don't really see the problem with it, even if he is sporting out into the sink that's not a problem of the sink gets washed is it?

CoffeeTea103 · 27/10/2013 12:20

Sorry but that's just disgusting

Feminine · 27/10/2013 12:22

I think its much cleaner to leave them in the kitchen!

I don't though.

This is why there is a good argument for separate toilets.

ForalltheSaints · 27/10/2013 12:24

Not a big issue I think, though I'd never dream of keeping it in the kitchen.

Fakebook · 27/10/2013 12:31

Eeew. That's really disgusting. Does he spit in your kitchen sink too? I wouldn't eat from your house either.

mawbroon · 27/10/2013 12:36

Ours were in the kitchen as kids as it was the only sink with mains water.

In our house, there are upstairs toothbrushes in the bathroom cupboard and downstairs toothbrushes in the medicine cupboard in the kitchen.

Bit of a non subject as far as I'm concerned

HeartsTrumpDiamonds · 27/10/2013 12:37

I am not sure I understand why people are saying it's disgusting. Is it because germs from someone's mouth would be on the toothbrush and they would spit germs into the sink?

But surely human mouth germs are also on cutlery and crockery which get washed or rinsed in the sink as well?

FortyDoorsToNowhere · 27/10/2013 12:52

I have a bowl that I use for cleaning the kitchen tops, the main sunk is used for my flat mop and the dishes go in the dishwasher.

I am wondering why it's not hygienic to brush teeth in the kitchen.

DragonMamma · 27/10/2013 12:55

I brush the kids downstairs. I don't see a problem, they spit in the rinser bit and I clean it properly afterwards. Total non issue imo - YABU

YoniRotten · 27/10/2013 12:55

We keep ours in the kitchen, but in a special little cupboard, and in jars, not just lying around. Better that than in the bathroom with all those poo particles flying around. We put the lid down when flushing but I don't know if guests do.

Justforlaughs · 27/10/2013 12:56

Half of our toothbrushes are kept in the kitchen and the other half are in the bathroom. I also thought "eww" about DH having his on the kitchen windowsill until I thought about it properly. Why would you want to keep something that you put in your mouth in the bathroom Confused and what is wrong with a toothbrush in the kitchen, after all you put your cutlery in your mouth.

Strumpetron · 27/10/2013 12:58

YABU.

I keep mine in the bathroom but loads of people chose to have theirs in the kitchen. Doesn't matter.

Original poster
unlucky83 · 27/10/2013 13:07

I'm not a hygiene freak - but your mouth contains more bacteria than your bottom - everything that comes out of one end went in the other -but the ones that come out are nastier...
Someone's toothbrush in the same pot as the clean cutlery freaks me out...
Can't believe how many people do brush their teeth in the kitchen...maybe I am being unreasonable?
Still I don't have that much work top space ...don't really want it cluttered up with this too...Hmm Think I'll suggest he moves it -but I won't take the it's disgusting and not normal freak out route...

For the people who worry about him spitting in the sink - he does something even more disgusting than that - he spits out in his empty cup!
Luckily he is funny about cups - and he has three he uses - he is the only person who uses them...and he takes them out with him and leaves them in his car - then will have to bring one in when he needs one - so usually he ends up washing them himself ...(thankfully - or I think I'd bin them Grin)

OP posts:
BrownSauceSandwich · 27/10/2013 13:11
  1. "He has to brush his teeth a couple of times a day" Errrr... Yes. Don't you?
  1. How about you unplug phone chargers between charges?
  1. Get rid of the rest of he kitchen crap. You can't blame your husband's toothbrush for everything if you contribute to the other clutter.
  1. Like hearts says, " mouth germs" are kind of a given in a kitchen. And I'm not sure how you ingest food without contact with your own.

I think you need to chill out about this.

kelda · 27/10/2013 13:13

We have toothbrushes in the bathroom upstairs and in the kitchen beside the sink. So the children can all brush their teeth before school conveniently.

I don't know why some people think it's disgusting.

kelda · 27/10/2013 13:14

The clean cutlery is in the drawer, the toothbrushes are in a pot beside the sink. I'm not sure what the problem is?

Strumpetron · 27/10/2013 13:16

Brushing your teeth in the bathroom is a relatively new concept. Most elderly people I know still use the kitchen out if habit.

And it's not just about the amount of bacteria it's the types. I'd say it's more minging to have your toothbrush near a loo (have you seen how far the microbes travel in the air when you flush?). But I'm not arsed either way, which is why I keep mine in the bathroom.

liquidstate · 27/10/2013 13:20

I remember an episode of Mythbusters where they tested the bacteria on toothbrushes stored at various points in the bathroom and rest of the house. The bathroom toothbrushes (some of which were nailed to the wall beside the toilet) had less bacteria than the ones in the kitchen.

I do think he should stick to a regular place though. And I have the same problem with electric toothbrushes as I am also in an old house with hardly any sockets - and none near the bathroom.

Swipe left for the next trending thread