I've just watched my mum wipe the bin lid then her work surfaces with the same cloth.

[YoScienceBitch]

I mean come on.

Even me, the queen of slack and low standards thinks that's just too gross.

Her argument is that she cleans the bin lid everyday. (She doesn't)

AIBU to want buy her colour coordinated cloths for the kitchen 😂

[Zombiemum1946]

Even my husband would draw the line at that and he has the hygiene instincts of a dead ferret. Took me 1yr of being together to get him to change his underwear more than twice a week . 20 yrs later I just need to get him to pick them up off the floor and put it in the wash basket.

[GreenTureen]

What else are you supposed to do with it?

Put it in the wheelie bin. I don't know why you'd empty one bin into another in another room

We don't have wheelie bins - we have a fortnightly black bag collection (max 3 black bags). We have a mini plastic shed in the garden to store our black and recycling bags but only full, sealed bags go in there...so there's not really another option for the small bins (wastepaper bins in bedrooms and bathroom) other than to be tipped into the main kitchen bin.

[downwardfacingdog]

The most surprising thing to me about this thread is the lack of seperate food waste collections in other parts of the country. That's pretty shit. There's hardly anything in my main bin, just non-recyclable packaging mainly. No bin juice. Putting bathroom bin waste, nappies and cat litter in a kitchen bin, as some PPs do is more gross than wiping it with a dishcloth IMO.

[EastMidsMummy]

Unless your mum shits in the bin, what's the problem? Our kitchen bin's only full of the stuff that was on the worktop.

[tothesea]

I knew someone who wiped their baby's mouths and hands with the same green scrubby sponge thing that they wiped their surfaces with .....urgghhh!

[Zombiemum1946]

Our council have given out different bins for food, paper and plastic, then general non recycle waste so I don't bother with a bin in the house. I keep my big bins at the back door within throwing range. I keep a drawstring bin bag on a hook by the back door for non recycle and put it out once a day. No mess, no stink and no manky bin to clean. I also have a wheelie bin liner so I don't have to keep washing it out which made a big difference in the multiple nappy years.

[crashdoll]

I can't say I've ever smeared meat juice or human waste (from nappies) on the bin lid. I assumed I was fairly normal in this regard but perhaps not.

[Vapours]

But you've survived OP?

[madcatwoman61]

You are an adult, yes? Therefore you survived your childhood with her, yes? So you probably have a good functioning immune system and it's probably not going to kill anyone else

[notangelinajolie]

Yep my mum would use same cloth for bins/everything. In her defence, bleach was her favoured cleaning product. Think it must have traumatised my childhood because I refuse to have a kitchen bin. All rubbish goes straight outside back door into my wheelie bins.

[LostSight]

So long as the worktops dry before you use them, most food-poisoning bacteria won't survive. The idea is that you remove the debris from the surface, then the bugs don't survive the dehydration.

It seems unlikely she'll stop something she's been doing for years. Try not to panic. There's a good chance you'll all survive, disgusted but unscathed.

[YoScienceBitch]

I'm not going to stop her I just think it's a bit grim. I just don't see why you wouldn't do the bin last.
I will definitely be intercepting her using the cloth to wipe my kids face though.

[mowgelijeffs]

Yes, that's filth.
I wash our bin about twice a week with boiling water and zoflora and then it's left outside to air.
No cloth gets used on my bin. It's always kitchen roll.
Also we don't use the kitchen cloth on Alexander's high chair.
That said, I am pretty sure his grandparents aren't that clean but he is still yet to have any sort of tummy bug

[Sunbeam18]

What the heck is wrong with washing a dog towel in the washing machine alongside underwear? It all comes out clean. Madness.

[TaraCarter]

My kitchen bin gets emptied roughly twice a week. Over that time it collects food waste that can't compost well (half-chewed crusts, bits of cheese), crumbs and detritus that was swept up off the floor, bits of cat food, dead leaves the cat brought in, food packaging that can't be recycled due to food soiling, etc. The stuff then gently stews for over 48 hours until the bag is full. I imagine that any bacteria are perfectly capable of migrating up the sides and around to the upper side of the lid. It's a pedal-operated bin lid, not an airlock on a space station!

Meanwhile, the top of the lid gathers visible dirt from dustpans being almost perfectly tipped into it... As I do aim not to eat off the floor, as do we all, I wouldn't wipe the bin lld and then use the same cloth for a work top. If you're doing that, why not use the kitchen floor to make your sandwich and cut out the middle man?

[TheGruffaloMother]

I'm really grossed out by how many people think this is fine (not envy).

I am no germ phobe but I won't have a proper bin in my kitchen because of gross stuff like this. I have a hook for carrier bags and those get taken out daily. No lids to splatter or brush shitty nappies up against.

A friend of mine has the grossest bin lid I've ever seen. She once rapped a spoon against it to get the teabag to drop off then proceeded to stir my brew. I 'accidentally' knocked it over so I didn't have to drink it.

[QuestionableMouse]

Hairs, Sunbeam, if the dog is anything like mine. They itch.

Using a cloth for food surfaces on a bin is disgusting. I work in the hospitality industry and if I did this I'd have a warning.

[elodie2000]

Depends how the bin is used really. How often do you empty the bin? Do you use bin liners? If it's left rotting for days, has stuff splashed on it, is left to overflow and never gets cleaned then yes, that's dirty.

If it's lined, gets emptied daily, cleaned regularly then I doubt it will have any more germs on it than the work surface itself.

[daisychain01]

I remember my dad wiping his nose then absent mindedly wiping the work surface. When I point out the "error of his ways" to him, we ended up ROTF laughing. A lovely memory.

And guess what, I'm still here to tell the tale!

[daisychain01]

I Zaflora my bin lid once a week.

[CheeseFiend36]

I agree that it's definitely mankier that people put bathroom waste in their kitchen bin. I couldn't cook and eat in there knowing that a few metres away lies period pads, tampons and cotton buds with ear wax on them

[MrsMattBomer]

Yes, that's filth.
I wash our bin about twice a week with boiling water and zoflora and then it's left outside to air.
No cloth gets used on my bin. It's always kitchen roll.
Also we don't use the kitchen cloth on Alexander's high chair.
That said, I am pretty sure his grandparents aren't that clean but he is still yet to have any sort of tummy bug

Is this satire? Zoflora on a bin? Kitchen roll? Alexander's high chair? I'm pissing myself!

[YoScienceBitch]

Where are all the assumptions that I'm going to drop dead coming from?
Jesus.
It's just a bit fucking gross to wipe a dirty bin lid then straight away wipe surfaces where food goes with no soap or rinse in between. And my child's face.

[Sunbeam18]

MrsMatt

[DodoRevival]

YoScienceBitch probably because this is AIBU, assumptions of what the OP means must be extreme in order for the AIBU poster to belittle the op more.

Anyway I'm off to buy so Zaflora ...