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

[sadiekate]

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.

[gamerchick]

Op I'm confused - so not washing hands after a wee - in your own house say - is gross, but having sex with partner which may involve touching (tasting!)genitals with traces of urine on them - is ok? So somebody else wee is fine just not your own confused

touching is fine,. Not washing afterwards while you go about your day is not.

Would you want you bloke giving your mother a hug and a kiss on the cheek after he's been buried in your nethers? Would you want him handing your child food with hands that haven't been washed since sex?

[WakeUpFromYourDreamAndScream]

Because I have eczema on my hands and can't wash them a million times a day without flaring them up and ending up with dry cracked and painful skin

[sadiekate]

It isn't the wee that's the problem. It's the other things you're touching (in a public toilet, at least).
Sex should not involve shite. I honestly can't see how this happens - and no, don't @ me.

[gamerchick]

Well it depends on what kind of sex you're into I think

[Icanttakemuchmore]

Sorry but not washing your hands after 'certain things' ie toilet is just gross!

[SpecialDelivery22]

Ah well it's nice to hear of those not washing 'becausep they never get anything and it does not effect them' - Maybes they need this think about other less fortunate souls who pick up bugs every day that are life threatening. ..fucks sake...it takes nothing to wash your hands!!!!!
I am foaming at this attitude...makes you frightened to eat out to be honest.

[Elspeth12345]

One of my friend's kids has a serious illness. He has gone to school in the UK and in Sweden. In UK there are no lessons on hygiene, parents take a lax attitude to hand-washing (e.g. instructing kids only to wash hands after poos or when muddy) AND the teachers do not ask kids to wash their hands before eating.

In the school that he went to in Sweden the kids were taught about hygiene and instructed to wash their hands before eating and parents took it much more seriously.

He was hospitalized far more often with infections in the UK.

[3out]

Our schools do teach hand hygiene here.

A few myths on this thread. Firstly, urine is not sterile. (One of the most common bugs found in urine infections is e.coli) Secondly, alcohol based hand rub generally will not work on viruses, so there is absolutely no point in reaching for the hand rub to try to ward off norovirus etc. After any exposure to body fluids, soap and water should be used, so there’s little point in using it after the bathroom, but I know it’s the next best option compared to some facilities provided in public bathrooms. I wonder why they don’t make bathroom doors all push to exit?

[Nanny0gg]

Do you know for sure everyone in your house puts the lid down? Yep I do know because they do, every single time.

BTW why don't hospital loos have lids? Obviously more cleaning time required, but still...

[WalkingOnAFlashlightBeam]

BTW why don't hospital loos have lids?

More to clean, and also the general public are disgusting and will literally leave shit or piss all over them. So not just an extra swish of bleach, potentially a lot more time spent cleaning.

Plus there aren’t any toothbrushes in there are there? So why would it matter if microscopic bits of fecal material puff up into the air, if the concern is that they’ll land on toothbrushes then go in your mouth? :P

[3out]

If you’re in a single room with en-suite, you might leave your toothbrush out. With patients with c.diff, we suggest they replace their toothbrush and not to keep the new one in the bathroom (or to keep it covered).

[MissCharleyP]

I agree it’s minging but as I said before, what does everyone expect us to do when out and about and public bathrooms are so crap? Lots of cafes and the like no longer have soap dispensers but get bottles of liquid soap - fine but instead of replacing it when nearly empty they top it up with water. You may as well not bother using it. A lot also only have a cold tap, no idea how they get away with it as my parents had to install one of those mini-shower things in their staff loo. It’s for this reason I carry wipes/gel - surely that’s better than nothing until you get somewhere you can wash properly? My hands never feel clean unless I wash them at home for some strange reason. Toilets aren’t the worst culprits either, I recently read that a dumbbell in a gym contains 327 times more bacteria than a toilet, so I always take wipes to the gym as well!

[3out]

For effective hand washing, it doesn’t really matter if it’s hot or cold water. However, water which is too hot or cold isn’t good for the hands if there is frequent hand washing, and that’s why staff who are identified as being in such a group should have access to warm water for hand washing (so that they don’t develop occupational dermatitis)

You’re right though, if the facilities are rather questionable then the next best thing is appropriate.

[Looneytune253]

I feel like I am actually a hand washer compared to those around me (wasn’t brought up that way though) and I wash after the loo but not before food or anything. Wouldn’t usually after touching the bin either unless it was actually dirty. Tbh your phone or door handle is prob dirtier! I am actually rarely ill I genuinely think there is such a thing as too clean

[Dontknowwhatimdoing]

I think its very easy to get obsessive about hand washing, and end up doing it a ridiculous amount. If you did it for everything on the list in the OP that is going to be an awful lot of hand washing in a day, and I am not convinced it is necessary. Yes for anything poo related, but if you are eating with cutlery, why wash hands before? If you have washed hands within the last hour or so, I don't see the need to wash again to prepare food.

[WalkingOnAFlashlightBeam]

I assume people have mental images/obsessions that germs are going to scurry from the hands up the cutlery, and then onto the food/into their mouths?

Can anyone confirm?

[Icanttakemuchmore]

Dontknowwhatimdoing it would all depend on what you've done since washing your hands to preparing food. If you've sneezed or coughed into your hands or touched a bin or been scratching your skin or touching your hair, I wouldn't want to transfer anything to other people's food

[Dontknowwhatimdoing]

But if I'm cooking for people I share a home with, they are already exposed to my germs. I will touch bannisters, door handles, even them without washing my hands. Why are my germs in their food going to cause them any more issues? Obviously cooking in a restaurant is different and I'd expect different standards.

[Haberpop]

Because I can't at the moment, surgery has left me with dressings on my hand which must be kept dry for two weeks, I am washing the other hand as best I can.

[fantasmasgoria1]

If I use a public toilet and the sinks/taps/door are minging I will not bother. I’ll use some anti bac gel instead!