To be outraged when ladies don't wash their hands after the toilet?

[Onedayinthesun]

It happens all the time, at work, at the gym, in restaurants, shopping centres......

Why do so many ladies use the loo then just flounce out of the toilet and give the sink a complete swerve?

Off they go back out into the world spreading their toilet germs from their hands onto unsuspecting people, it makes me so mad ð??¡

I just don't get it, what is it about soap and water that some of the population want to avoid after doing their business?? AIBU to get so angry about this?

Gels may kill germs but they don't remove dirt.

Mingers! It's often the most well groomed n spotless-looking people as well. Odd.

I think there is a lot of evidence, particularly when you work in the health service, that hand washing cuts down infection.

I noticed dc stopped getting d&v bugs from school when they started hand washing properly at around age 5 after visiting the toilet as a matter of course. It's basic hygiene.

I've usually already washed my hands coming out the cubicle, because I have to wash them before I pee/poo, I have prolapses which can affect whether waste comes out completely, and I also have a very high chance of urinary infection which goes up to my kidney really quickly.

I have antibac gel and baby wipes already out, so I just use it while I am packing my bag up after I flush.

i do this if i have not touched anything with my hand which is quite possible. i e use item of clothing to open door, flush etc.

you know most germs are on the tap handle dont you>?

not an advoate of it, we should all wash but occasionaly if really horrid bathroom, or in mad rush, I simply do not touch anything

Gross. This is why norovirus is so endemic.

Just can't get worked up about it. Sorry. You can't eliminate bacteria from your life, nor should you try to. Obviously I wash my hands after using the loo, but don't froth if other people don't. The chances are I'll be ok.

My husband saw a man in the gent's loos go from the urinal to the hand drier without troubling the sinks in between! Gross!

No you can't eliminate the risk (ie reduce it to zero) but you can minimise it. Else why would we expect people who prepare food in restaurants to follow basic hygiene standards? They can't eliminate the risk so why do they bother?

Or why would nurses wash their hands before dressing your wound?

People who don't wash because they're sure that no wee has gone onto their hands forget that they are touching a door handle that has been used by people who almost certainly do have traces of wee and poo on their hands. Even if that were not the case, I reckon it's worth washing simply because your hands get dirty during the course of the day anyway, so it's worth getting into the habit of washing them regularly.

And if everyone washed there wouldn't be wee on the door handle

To the poster who flushes with her foot...

So you'll happily transfer the germs from the sole of your shoe (dog pee and poo from the pavements outside, pee drops from the cubicle floor, probably a few fecal particles) onto the flush for others to put their hands on after you? Even if they do wash their hands on the way out, surely they still have to turn the tap on first and transfer the manky shoe-germs onto the tap, and making the hand-washing process a total waste of time by turning off the shoe-germ covered tap when they're done?! Ugh.

I'm a bit of a germaphobe when out and about. Tissue for opening the doors, try not to hold handrails etc. I use anti-viral foam rather than antibac gel as it kills more bugs. I wash my hands the minute I get in the house even if I've only been to the corner shop. I am aware it's a bit weird I am not particular about anything else, just hand germs!

I am astonished at how rude some of you have been on this thread, name calling etc, merely for people holding an opposing view - there is a plethora of information out there that backs up the non germ obsession lifestyle, www.easy-immune-health.com/Handwashing.html, this is just one example - Of course health care professionals should wash their hands - but in the wider population, the percentage of immune compromised people must be much less than the thousands affected by pollution from vehicle fumes for example, are we all going to stop driving cars - even though the rates of asthma and lung related diseases is on the increase, especially in cities?

No that would be hugely inconvenient. For most people washing hands with soap and water is less than a minor inconvenience

Touching the flush with the foot! That is awful!

Sometimes I don't wash my hands after a wee. Not every time.

I can't bring myself to care what others think tbh.

I do wash my hands every time but I honestly don't notice if other people do. I don't hang around in public loos waiting to feel outraged, I kind of just get on with it. People germ-obsessed enough to cover the loo seat with tissue or hover above it or open the door with their elbow rather than touch it are all a bit over the top.

I agree totally with washing hands after visiting the toilet, and always do.

However I often wonder that really, is it a waste of time? The reason being that, once we've had a wee or whatever we then readjust our clothes - pull them up, fasten buttons, whatever BEFORE washing our hands, which transfers a whole load of germs to our clothes.
We then leave the cubicle, wash hands and off we go, wrapped in our germ - laden clothing which, over the course of the day, will transfer the germs back to our hands.

Or am I over thinking this?

It might do but slowly and not to the same extent. So for quite a long time after you have significantly cleaner hands. To me that seems like a good thing.

It's the same as the risk argument. If we can't reduce the risk to zero then to he'll with it we may as well not bother. People die in car crashes. Sometimes they're wearing a seat belt. Seat belts don't reduce risk to zero. But we still think the risk reduction is worth it. Well I do.

My dd has had no d&v since reception year. Her friend who is constantly sucking her thumb and doesn't wash her hands after using the toilet (aged 10) seems to have them every few months. Might be luck, might be genes, or might be hand washing.