AIBU to ask about your hand washing habits

[Cheesycrumpets]

I know this is going to make some people furious, but does everyone, honestly always wash their hands after going to the loo? I definitely don't after a wee, and (to my shame) even loiter a couple of seconds extra in other people's bathrooms so they'll think I have. The exception is I ALWAYS wash my hands in public toilets - because of the public shame!

Tell me I'm not alone

I wash my hands every time after the loo, and also when I first come into the flat after being out.

The basin, soap and towel is RIGHT THERE. Why would I not?

I do like it when someone crows about never getting ill but doesn't give a fuck where their fecal matter ends up and who it could make Ill.

Selfish and minging and probably the person you don't want a sandwich from.

Of course everyone should wash their hands after going to the loo.

And women should wash their hands BEFORE going to the loo when they've just given birth- vaginally or via CS- so that they don't transfer bugs when wiping afterwards.

Ok, points taken! I'm pretty pro germs, think they build a healthy immune system but I guess I hadn't fully thought through the impact on others. Already washed my hands 3 times this morning and will continue to

OP- there's good germs and harmful ones. Hand washing is absolutely basic hygiene.

All that hand washing can't be good for your skin, even if you moisturise afterwards. Lot of people here are germphobes and display OCD behaviour. We gain immunity against germs and bacteria because we get familiar with them.
Seriously you lot, how many times do you wash your hands a day? Because I am counting about 50 here. You wash it first thing in the morning ( maybe in the shower) then you go to the loo say 5 times a day, then you eat 3 times a day so you wash before meals, plus every time you touch a doorknob in a public place (must be at least 20 times a day) so you add it up, do the maths, it's about 50! It's ridiculous! Getouttahere!

www.cdc.gov/handwashing/why-handwashing.html

EVERY time.

Cheesy- you seem to have got this far in life ok - don't go all ocd now!

It's fine for your skin as long as your hands are thoroughly wet before you use the soap.

If you out the soap on first your skin will soon become dry and sore.

Also liquid soap is really drying, bars of soap are fine ime.

Just make sure you are using your elbow to turn off the tap because once you have washed your hands people usually turn the taps off with their hands and you're just making them dirty again.

A lot of people claim they wash their hands every time but from seeing people wash them in public they aren't doing a good job at actually washing them effectively.

Use your elbow? !

Yes, where possible of course. If not you are touching the tap you just turned on with dirty hands.

I am not a germ phone so it doesn't bother me but I bet most people's hands aren't as clean as they think.

*aren't
Delayed typo correction.

There's a difference between bleaching every surface and not letting kids play outside etc and having basic hygiene.
Killing every harmless surface bacteria is bad for us but gut bacteria is what spreads a lot of disease. Other people's faecal matter is not good or healthy for us.
Washing hands is very basic hygiene not OCD (a lot of misunderstanding of that mental illness here too).

It's all pretty pointless given one spends the day touching things other people have touched- public transport, supermarkets etc etc. I really don't worry about these things. I think I'll carry on using my hands to use taps!

So you loiter in the loo because you don't want people to think you are not washing your hands, but you still don't wash them? Too funny! Do you sort of do a washing hands countdown so no-one thinks you are placing all your germs over their bathroom???

Selfish. Just selfish. Spreading your germs about. Not everyones dirty like you.

It's all pretty pointless given one spends the day touching things other people have touched- public transport, supermarkets etc etc. I really don't worry about these things. I think I'll carry on using my hands to use taps!

I agree, I don't worry either. I am not at all scared of germs.

The point is people are saying if someone doesn't wash their hands after peeing at home they are rank. The chances are they are re-contaminating their hands after washing them or not washing properly in the first place.

When I worked in the hospital we did the hand washing test where you look under a light. Everyone thought they did a good job. Most people really didn't.

I think you're conflating two issues here OP.

You seen to mention anti bacterial handwash a few times. I'm not a fan either and agree we survived before it. But YABU for not washing your hands after going to the loo. As for loitering to make people think you have, that's just ridiculous!

It should be done every time however if you've not been brought up to do this I can understand why you don't deem it a necessity.

Personally I can't stand it when I'm unable to wash my hands after using a loo esp those public ones where the water/soap doesn't come out!

I also never get stomach bugs, or many other bugs at all!

You do, however, probably give them to other people quite often.

My brother used to boast about not needing to wash his hands because he was never ill. Never seemed to occur to him that his kids' ridiculously frequent tummy bugs might have been caused by the germs he was constantly transferring to them from all the stuff he'd been touching at work all day.

I'm not a hygiene obsessed type by any means but I do think you just owe to your fellow human beings to at least wash your hands properly after you've been to the loo. It's a bare minimum IMO.

Working/being in a hospital is different, day to day life is not such an issue.
www.google.co.uk/amp/www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3830867/amp/Why-NOT-wash-hands-soap-GOOD-thing-health-allergy-expert-explains.html

They DON'T mean not washing your hands after the toilet though, you should ALWAYS wash them after the loo.

I am absolutely religious about washing hands at work - before and after each patient, because that's what I did working in a Burns Unit, and it has stayed with me - I would feel like I was putting dirty hands on people otherwise. I also mostly wash hands at home after the loo - things happen and I do forget. But I wash before food prep anyway. I have wrinkly old-lady hands, and this is probably why, but washing hasn't given me allergies. I would never use anything antibacterial though, unless in a work situation (sometimes you have to use hibiscrub)

I also agree with upthread where they talk about how most people think they are washing and they aren't. The pathetic 'rinse my hands under water for a second then walk off with wet hands' that you see most people do in public toilets is pointless. In fact, you are better off not washing your hands at all if you don't dry them properly, because the moisture means bugs grow in your hand creases etc. People laugh at how I'm always walking around drying my hands on paper towels, but it takes a while, and I'm a busy person!