AIBU - Handwashing

[Lolipoplady]

Not sure who's being unreasonable here so opinions very much appreciated!

DP this morning got out of the car (we'd been out early), came into the house and made himself some toast. He didn't wash his hands first even though we'd been out and he'd just had his hands on a steering wheel, car keys, etc. I said 'hey, you forgot to wash your hands' and he got huffy saying that lots of people don't.

He started to make me a sandwich for lunch and again he didn't wash his hands even though he'd been on phone, using TV remote, etc.

Who is being unreasonable here? Am I being obsessive about hygiene? Or id DP being grubby? I thought that everyone washed their hands before preparing food?! I've never particularly noticed before that DP doesn't... maybe I've just not been paying attention.

Thinking about it, I have a lot of wees in a day so my hands are never far from having been washed. I just did dinner, baked potato, grilled pork, salad. I washed my hands between pork and salad but not before.

H washes his keys, phone and phone cover every bloody night after work. Along with his multiple hand washes.

I have to wash my hands so frequently at work that I tend to be a bit more relaxed at home otherwise my hands would be raw and cracked. I wash after the loo, before preparing food etc. My house is not the cleanest but we never have tummy bugs.

I think a lot of people don't understand that there are vast numbers of bacteria all over the place (including inside of us) and most of them pose no risk to us at all. In fact some are essential. Some things 'swarming with germs' is normal and not scary unless there is exposure to harmful strains. Most E coli for example is needed for our guts to work properly.

I know. I'm a scientist. 😁 There's germs and germs. Fomite transmission via handles and whatnot then touching your face is a major way of transmitting things like flu and norovirus. Ladies handbags are particularly bad for nasties - as are keyboard/phones etc.
And E coli can be fine, but some strains can kill you (0157 for example.) soap, water and a good scrub for hands, but wipes etc have their places for hard surfaces when out and about.

I think washing keys,mobiles etc is obsessive. Would never occur to me to clean the steering wheel or wash my hands after driving. After loo and when cooking is all I do and have lived to be 52 without Salmonella or Norovirus.

Are swimming pools swimming with germs?

Depends on how well maintained the pool is.

Having gone from being terrified of germs, I now think that being exposed to a certain amount of germs is really good for the immune system. Of course there are certain times when hand washing is essential such as, when you handle raw meat or go to the toilet, but other contact with germs, such as using the cashpoint, handling money, touching goods at a supermarket etc I honestly don't think these are harmful and can actually do us good.

Always wash my hands after being out in a public place, a lot of people are quite minging, loads of men especially don't wash hands after going to the toilet then touch door handles, money, pin pads etc. Don't really fancy bits of random stranger's wee or worse on my toast thank you! Always wash hands before making food or eating. Quite shocked that people don't. I very rarely get sick btw.

I'm with you OP, I wash my hands everytime I come home from being out and about, before I prepare food and of course after going to the loo. I'm hardly walking around in a germ free bubble and I haven't caught a cold or virus in 15 years at least.

One thing that sticks in my mind from another thread a while ago, it was about UTI infections and one poster commented that after experiencing repeated UTI's she'd been told by a nurse that many UTIs occur because the partner doesn't wash his hands before or after peeing. He will likely be holding his penis with unclean hands and even if he washes his hands afterwards he's already used his unwashed hands to hold his penis iyswim. If you think about how many men really don't wash their hands after peeing also, the potential for continual cross contamination is a bit disgusting.

Same as Mozzchops.

Wouldn't occur to me to wash before eating unless they had visible dirt. Certainly wouldn't occur to me to wash simply because I'd been out of the house (had a childhood friend whose mum made her do this and found it weird and fussy). Washing because of touching remote or car keys - seriously, how many people are handling those items? Do you live in a commune?!

Tummy bug rate almost nil. Immune system like an ox.

Do Oxes have good immune systems then?

It's no wonder bugs like norovirus spread so quickly with all the non hand washers out there! It's basic hygeine to wash hands properly before handling food.

YANBU - I have the same problems with DP. He is better now, though.

I always wash my hands before preparing ANY meal.

Always wash hands before preparing or eating any food. When entering the house after having been out/ returning home from work/ School/ supermarket etc, DH, DC and myself all wash our hands. Always.

YABU.

I wash mine after using the toilet and and after handling raw meat. And if I've taken the bins out. Otherwise I don't bother.

I used to work in a kitchen and I had to wash my hands constantly. I ended up with contact dermatitis because my hands were so dry and sensitive!

Your DH sounds perfectly reasonable. I would wash my hands after the loo/cleaning up after the cat /gardening or if they felt grubby and apart from that would prepare food for the family without any extra washing.

If I am cooking for public consumption (local homeless shelter) or people with reduced immunity (my elderly MIL) I would take extra precautions and I am vigilant about raw poultry hygiene but exceptional circumstances like those aside I think excessive cleanliness is more damaging than every day germs and microbes.

It's a rule in our house to do handwashing on coming in after having been out. I'm sure it saves us a lot of colds/bouts of flu/tummy bugs. Also always after using loo and before preparing food and ideally before eating it. Tbh I also prefer to wash hands after touching money/keys and after handling dirty laundry. But we don't wash hands after stroking the cats unless we are about to eat.

In a reasonably maintained swimming pool - what then? Still swimming in germ soup?

A perfectly clean pool smells only faintly of chlorine. The strong smell in some comes from chloroamines - basically that's created when chlorine hits sweat, bacteria, urine etc. A pool that smells strongly of chlorine and stings your eyes is likely pretty dirty.
Also avoid pools that are constantly crowded or where people aren't made to wash before getting in.
If it's not stinging your eyes, the water looks clear, people generally shower, and the tiles look and feel clean you're ok.

We're all swimming in germ soup constantly-,everything is covered in them and most are ok.

Those of you who said that your DH/DP used to be lax with handwashing but isn't anymore - what changed? Did you do anything to encourage them or did it just happen?

And just to reiterate, I'm not saying that I think hands should be washed after touching phone, keys etc. as a matter of course, but that I thought it was particularly grubby to be touching those things and then go straight into food preparation without washing hands in between.

Seems there's pretty much a 50/50 split between those who think that hands should be washed before touching food, and those who don't think it's necessary unless they're obviously dirty.

I'm immunosuppressed so I wash my hands when I come home and ask my kids to do the same. Mostly they remember. I don't use antibacterial wash at home though, just soap & a thorough wash. The NHS hand washing diagrams are great for explaining to kids how to wash properly & methodically.

I only wash my hands if I've been to the loo or changed a dirty nappy or if they're visibly mucky. I would say you are being a tad precious

I'm another "minger" too and I'll add 4 cats in to the equation who go everywhere.

Seems there's pretty much a 50/50 split between those who think that hands should be washed before touching food, and those who don't think it's necessary unless they're obviously dirty

I'm definitely in the don't bother camp and the very few upset tummies in this household have always been clearly attributable to to much alcohol / too much sweets and birthday cake (a spectacular Captain Scarlet birthday cake red icing throwing up incident)

I wash my hands if I think they need it, after using toilet, doing a dirty job of some type, handling animals
The rest of the time is fine - we are a very low illness rate household, other than for surgery I have not had any time off work for over 16 years
DC similar, we don't even seem to get colds that often

Im surprised by the amount of people who mention washing hands after the loo ... That is BASIC hygiene! It goes without saying that you wash hands after going to the loo. People who don't wash hands after going to the toilet are filthy mingers, ugh yuck. Are there really many people out there who don't do this? Eew.

Always wash hands before food prep. Always after handling raw meat. Wash hands after handling bins, dirty laundry, handling any cleaning materials (although I always use gloves handling cleaning materials, but I'd still wash hands after). Wash hands after handling dishwasher tablet (all those things tell you on the back of the pack to do so after touching them). Always after being outside and coming back into the house. It drives me insane when people who have been out at the shops come back, don't wash hands and then proceed to make sandwiches or whatever. It's gross.