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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to ask why you don't wash your hands?

345 replies

sadiekate · 04/06/2018 04:25

People who don't wash their hands after they go to the toilet.
People who don't wash their hands before preparing/eating food.
People who don't wash their hands after changing nappies.
People who don't wash their hands after putting the bins out.
People who don't wash their hands after handling raw meat.
We all know we are supposed to do these things. And yet lots of people don't. If you don't, why? I promise I'm not intending to criticise anyone, I am just genuinely curious to know, given the risks not washing hands entails, why it isn't a habit for so many.

OP posts:
AnotherDayAnotherName745 · 05/06/2018 18:26

I know! Exit through window (and hope no one else who doesn't wash their hands has done the same...) [Grin]!

JacquesHammer · 05/06/2018 18:27

Not the poster in question as I do wash my hands in public loos.

I’m surprised that so many public loos still have doors? As in to actually access the loo facility rather than the cubicles.

Certainly the few I use regularly are either attendant opened, those leg rotating gate things or no door at all.

curlilox · 05/06/2018 18:28

I also get bothered when people put out salad without washing it. It could have all sorts of bugs or pesticides on it. As my DD said "A rat could have weed on it!" And there are no toilets and hand basins out in fields, especially in some of the countries our food comes from.

babyno5 · 05/06/2018 18:30

Omg speakout I am crying laughing!!
I’ve often wondered if any man (or woman for that matter) has got ill from such antics 😂😂

MaisyPops · 05/06/2018 18:35

I get dermatitis from most soaps in bathrooms so my hands go scaly, blistered and peel.
I usually have my own hand gel that doesn't irritate or gentle wipes. If the handwashing area seems tight or crowded and I cant be bothered messing in my bag then i do it before picking my bag up in the cubicle.

Semster · 05/06/2018 18:35

Love these ways of opening a door :-)

No - I use a towel or sleeve like many others who don't want to get germs on/off handles.

Not perfect, but it tends to be that or get a migraine triggered by the smell of the soap. Most places the soap is fine, but I find the Walmart and McDonalds soaps are particularly bad, plus some of the Method soaps.

manicmij · 05/06/2018 18:36

Just because some folk appear to wash their hands just basically squirting some gel then rinsing off does't mean their hands are clean. It takes a bit more to get harmful stuff of your hands. See it all the time, a quick hold under the running tap and then dry
Be as well not bothering.

Roselind · 05/06/2018 18:43

I am with you sadiekate.
When DD1 was a baby there was an item on the news about 2 grandads who had caught an illness - think it was measles - because they had changed their grandchildren's nappies the day they had had their jabs and did not wash their hands afterwards.
That was quite salutary though I guess I am quite an obsessive handwasher. What gets me is people who say you must shower every day/twice a day to be clean - yet are relaxed about hand washing.

Snowflakeslayer · 05/06/2018 18:44

This is why so many little darling snowflake children have allergies to just about everything, poor little mites.
Bacteria, and dirt, and grime, isn't fatal, get over it.
Personally I wash my hands after a No.2, not a No.1 as my hand doesn't touch anything apart from clean tissue.
When I'm cooking, do I get dirty? No, I may get some food on me, the same food that we are about to eat!
I wash my hands immediately after preparing raw meat, and fish.
I use anti-bac after a day on the Underground.
I don't need to wash my hands after every activity. My house is clean, no pets, no dirty grubby people, no smokers.
Blimey, how did we win 2 world wars????

DoAsYouWouldBeMumBy · 05/06/2018 18:49

I don't wash my hands as often as the OP, certainly. I used to wash them after all the listed activities but I developed very severe dermatitis on my hands (bad enough to stop me from working) so I just had to scale it back.

I'm curious about what you think is going to happen if I go for a wee in my very clean bathroom, use a good wodge of loo roll to wipe my pretty clean bottom, getting precisely no wee or any other bodily fluid on my hand and then fail to wash my hands? What is it you think that will happen if I do that? There are germs absolutely everywhere, you can't be washing your hands every time you touch a book, cushion, etc? Wash your hands as often as you like, but it's your choice, it's not compulsory. (FWIW I am super careful around raw meat, poo etc)

Icanttakemuchmore · 05/06/2018 19:21

Only read the first few responses and the w causes as to why you don't always wash your hands after using the loo ie because the smell of the soap is vile! Sorry but not washing your hands is vile! You are putting other people's health at risk. Just because you've not been ill from not washing your hands, your germs go on the door handle to exit the loo and then someone who has washed their hands leaves the loos and opens the door, getting exposed to the germs you have left..... Disgusting. I always take a paper towel from the sinks or extra tissue and use that to open the door to counteract this as I know there are lots that don't wash their hands. I wash everything from the supermarket too before use.

abigailthespiderinthehat · 05/06/2018 19:24

I'm generally quite a minging person (well according to mn) - I rarely wash my bra/jeans, shower every other day, don't wash fruit, change my bedsheets only when I realise they haven't been done for ages, yet I am meticulous about washing my hands and I'm also one who opens toilet door handles with my clothing .

Snowflakeslayer · 05/06/2018 19:48

When DS was younger, and lots of us would go to the park, everyone used to sit on the grass, on a rug, chatting, while all the kiddo's ran off playing, exploring, being kids. Every 5 minutes, this one little boy would come running over, whining, with his hands outstretched, making weird noises, like he had been shot in the face, in fact, he had touched some mud, or grass, and insisted his mum wiped it off with a wetwipe, which she did, every time, in a mad panic, like he would catch aids.
This was, of course to everyones amusement. That same boy is now allergic to almost everything (apparently), and the mum wonders why. We need germs, and bacteria to retain our immune system and natural defence systems. I'm not saying to eat dog poo, or lick raw chicken before bedtime, but come on, crikey.
And someone has just ut that they clean everything they buy from a supermarket before 1st use? Hilarious, you need to enjoy life a little, and spend those hours with your family and friends, instead of on the worktop, surrounded by antibac sprays, wipes, and new shopping items. What do you clean the bottle of antibac with? Another bottle, of course. What did you clean that with.

How do you even get to sleep, what dust could have blown through the window, or the door when you opened it!!

Oh, the terror......

neveracceptpoortrading · 05/06/2018 20:03

If you touch shit or your genitalia you should wash your hands - so many dirty people that don't - disgusting

sadiekate · 05/06/2018 20:11

@abigailthespiderinthehat Are you my twin?

I'm surprised that some posters think the list I provided of instances in which one would wash one's hands is unreasonable. While I would be the first to admit I wash my hands a lot, I deliberately chose instances in which it is recommended by health professionals that you wash your hands.

@roselind I've heard of that happening with polio too ... which is pretty serious!!

OP posts:
Mummadeeze · 05/06/2018 20:25

Okay, am going to be completely honest, I always wash my hands after doing a poo and I also wash them after doing a wee if I get wee on them by mistake or I have had to touch the seat or the chain. If, however, I do a wee and I have not touched anything other than the loo roll and it is an automatic flush and the loo looks clean, I don’t bother washing them. I know people will think that is gross but each to their own. Am pretty sure I am not really spreading germs around by doing this.

Greensmurf1 · 05/06/2018 21:25

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

I feel 🤢 when I see people leave a public toilet and touch the door with their poo and wee germ filled hands. A quick rinse and rub against your clothes isn’t doing anyone any favours.

Hushhush89 · 05/06/2018 21:52

I'm the complete opposite... I wash my hands and use sanitizer far to much that my hands are completely dry and constantly split... raw food I have to wear gloves and I still wash and use sanitizer. I'm even worse if someone in the house has an illness. Visiting doctors/hospitals my sanitizer is constantly out. Think I may have a problem really Hmm

TwoDogs9 · 05/06/2018 23:26

Since having a baby I seem to be constantly washing my hands and have given myself dermatitis as a result! I wash my hands after everything the OP listed but I think it’s important not to become totally obsessed with cleanliness. If you think about it, all those non hand washers in public toilets let themselves out by touching the door handle that you then touch after you’ve washed your hands. Microbes are everywhere. Apparently most homes’ chopping boards harbour more bacteria than the average toilet seat!

Lethaldrizzle · 05/06/2018 23:37

So how do you meticulously clean lot cope with sex?

Cleaningoutdacloset · 05/06/2018 23:39

Some posters are STILL confusing bacteria and viruses on this thread and how you catch them, like a pp had already said...

sadiekate · 05/06/2018 23:46

@lethaldrizzle Because sex doesn't, for me, involve piss, shite, bins, nappies or raw meat ... Each to their own, though.

OP posts:
Catsinthecupboard · 06/06/2018 00:03

@abigalIinthespiderhat ...wait till menopauseShock

Whisky2014 · 06/06/2018 00:07

I wash my hands at all the things listed on the OP. I've noticed I get ALOT less colds than the rest of the folk in my office.

RoseWhiteTips · 06/06/2018 00:25

It’s the actual choosing NOT to wash your hands that baffles me.