to not wash my hands BEFORE going to the loo?

[mallorcanmummy]

Another thread title just reminded me of a little discussion I had with my DH a while back.

He insists that it doesn't make sense for females to only wash their hands after going to the toilet. They should wash them before too. This is, according to him, as we will be transferring germs to our lady bits if we don't wash our hands before. I did point out that most of us use toilet paper so we don't actually come into contact with our bits. His response to that was why do I bother washing my hands afterwards then? I had to think for a bit and then concluded that
a, it's habit
b, who knows who else has/hasn't been touching their bits/not washing their hands
c, occasionally the paper isn't quite thick enough and a feeling of dampness seeps through. bleurgh.

Note: this only applies to females apparently. Men don't touch the 'important bit' of their apparatus when they wee. Obviously if they do a no.2, the same applies as above.

So, am I a disgusting unclean person, or is he being unreasonable?

[SlowJinn]

Chrissy sorry about your cancer diagnosis and I trust you stay well.

BUT working with leather could have caused the illness?

[PresidentCJCregg]

Ok, well I've never stood with my hands under a dryer which has singularly failed to dry them. But you know, you do you and the rest of us will avoid you like the plague when we watch you leaving the loo with skanky paws.

[Purplebluebird]

I was my hands if I have really dirty hands, or changing tampon etc. But not normall, that seems very strange.

[Chrissy1982]

I was diagnosed with Bladder Cancer about 2 years ago, it was discovered during a routine medical. I have had two medium operations and then on-going treatment to try and make sure it doesn't come back. (1 in 5 chance it will). I have been lucky they caught it in time. I could have ended up permanently catheterised with a bag and tap to pee. I work with leather and my consultant said that was probably the cause of the cancer and wash your hands before peeing. I keep forgetting of course.

[TheDowagerCuntess]

Grim. Just wash your hands.

[purplevase4]

Purple those are rubbish reasons! You wipe your arse with your gloves on?!?

Surely soap and cold water is better than nothing. And as for the brand of hand dryer...

If someone's putting their make up on, er, wait.

Gross

No I take my gloves off but put them back on before I leave the cubicle and touch anything (or the flush etc).

It's well known that the more rubbish brands of hand dryer just blow germs about and don't actually dry your hands. I'm not standing around waiting for someone to clean their teeth or brush their hair or put their make-up on. It's not just a few seconds, it's minutes!

I'll do what suits me, thank you. To my knowledge I have never caught a bug from a public loo. Clearly none of you run either - have you ever used a skanky portaloo with nowhere to wash your hands anyway? And the forest loos in Berlin!

[IveAlreadyPaid]

I have seen a sign in toilets that days please wash your hands before and after using the toilet

Re mooncup - I realised I was getting thrush because I was washing my hands before but not rinsing the soap properly

[Lacystacie]

Just thought I'd throw this in , I've seen my dp hold his willy in the zip slip instead of holding it.... Hands free apparently....

[DrSnowman]

It depends on what you have been working with or handling before one goes, if you have things like motor oil on your hands then to reduce the chances of things like cancer of the male bits one should wash ones hands with great care before going to the loo (1 or 2).

Also a chemist I worked with told me a horror story of a ex-girl friend of his, they had a nice and hot chilli. They were planning on having sex, but when she put in her dutch cap thingy she discovered to her horror that her hands were strongly contaminated with the pain inducing neurotoxin from chilli peppers. That put a damper on their fun and games that evening, it also makes my eyes water a bit.

About leaving a public loo, I tend to take great care. Avoid touching any surface after you have scrubbed your hands clean. Do not touch the walls, the floor or let alone the door handle. I tend to look for ways to open the door which do not involve touching anything that other people would have been likely to touch. I tend to look for a part of the door to use to pull it open which is not the handle. I also tend to use several layers of paper towel to operate door locks which I carry out with care (only touching the clean side) and drop into a nearby bind.

Years ago I saw an article in New Scientist where they had checked the door handles of public loos for germs, many tested positive. They had a cartoon of a man looking at a notice in the loo which read "Wash your hands and leave without touching anything"

[AchyMcAcherson]

This thread has made it to Huffington Post. The DM will probably pick it up soon.

[JanetWeb2812]

Does anyone know why we don't have foot operated flushes in public lavatories? They are extremely common in The States.

[JessieMcJessie]

purplevase why is the water on your hands "dirty" if you can't dry them?

The last step in hand washing is "rinse soap off hands with clean water".

[WhyCantIuseTheNameIWant]

At work, I always wash before using the toilet. Or eating.
And if possible, using my phone.
I work with chemicals. ..

At home, I wash my hands after doing dirty jobs and before handling food.

[PresidentCJCregg]

Purple those are rubbish reasons! You wipe your arse with your gloves on?!?

Surely soap and cold water is better than nothing. And as for the brand of hand dryer...

If someone's putting their make up on, er, wait.

Gross.

[PaintedDrivesAndPolishedGrass]

I'm the skanky mare you see leaving a public loo and not washing my hands. What you don't see is me using hand sanitizer before exiting the cubicle, not touching the handle with my sanitised hands and using my sleeve or cuff to exit the loos. I haven't touched any of the germ laden taps, soap dispensers or dryers. My hands are clean but you judge me.

[purplevase4]

On a side note, I really don't understand those who use public toilets, walk out of their cubicle and leave, in full view of everyone else in there, without washing their hands. Why do they do it? Why do they think others want to pick up their germs from door handles, etc? It's disgusting!

Because (a) there's often no hot water (b) I hate the rubbish hand dryers, if it's a Dyson Airblade or similar, or paper towels I will wash my hands. Otherwise, what's the point - I go out with dirty water clinging to my hands.

(c) because I can't get near the sink anyway because someone is putting their make-up on, brushing their hair etc.

(d) in winter because I have gloves on.

[Anniegetyourgun]

Basically, OP, your DH is a mucky pup who just wants an excuse not to bother to wash. Double standards though, he wants you to be nice and clean. A mucky hypocritical pup, then.

[FrizzyMcFrizzface]

Living I do that too! (The door handle thing) and I thought I was the only one! I guess that is still a less germy place as it's probably only loonies like us who touch the handle there with very clean hands!

I hate using public loos, I can almost see the germs waiting to get me. I need help...

[Oliviacolemansshriek]

There you go sallyjane, with your logic and 'science'.

[sallyjane40]

So if germs could get from my hands, onto my nether regions, through several layers of loo paper in a matter of 2-3 seconds....surely germs could get through thin-ish clothing from whatever we sit on as well? And if germs travelled in that direction, they'd presumably travel the other way too, so any fabric chair you sit on would be liberally smeared with other peoples bottom germs, which would get thru your clothes onto you...

I don't think any of this is happening, I reckon I'm safe from 'hand germs' when wiping... but I guess this is the sort of logic that created the old wives tale that you could get pregnant from sitting on a chair after a man sat there.

[Oliviacolemansshriek]

Oh lord now I've heard it all.

I thought wee was sterile. Why do we even wash our hands afterwards?

[martinhavlin999]

The only time I washed my hands before going to the loo was when I worked as a junior doctor in the STD clinic. Otherwise not necessary. Begs the question "What is the subtext here?"

[ShatnersBassoon]

I don't wash my hands before blowing my nose either, which is essentially the same as wiping after weeing. Paper-covered hand goes near orifice. It's not exactly a high risk activity.

Afterwards, of course, but no need before.

[MapMyMum]

Does he clean his mouth out after getting personal with you down there????

[JuneBuggy]

I've never washed before unless I've been cooking, wiping DS's bum or another gross task.

On a side note, I really don't understand those who use public toilets, walk out of their cubicle and leave, in full view of everyone else in there, without washing their hands. Why do they do it? Why do they think others want to pick up their germs from door handles, etc? It's disgusting!

I once saw a girl leave some public toilets in a shopping centre without washing. She went straight out and walked off holding hands with her oblivious boyfriend [vom]