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.

[Sametimesameplace]

You would have touched the door handles and flush.

[LakieLady]

Digressing slightly, can anyone recommend a hand sanitiser that is gentle and doesn't sting?

I have to visit lots of minging houses in my job, and the stuff they issue us with is brutal. Get it in the slightest nick or torn hangnail it sends me through the roof.

We used to be able to get lovely anti-bac wipes as well, which left your hands feeling fab, but they stopped buying them because they're expensive.

[WalkingOnAFlashlightBeam]

Oh and everyone seems to think they know better than scientifically proven NHS handwashing advice

Well this is hardly restricted to hand washing advice. Last I checked the NHS guidelines suggested that you don’t smoke, maintain a healthy BMI and eat five portions of fruit and veg per day. Yet look at the number of adults in the UK who smoke and are overweight or obese!

Advice is there, and it’s down to the individual whether they wish to take it or not. When someone doesn’t take it it’s not usually because they’ve decided they know best about the risks and effects of the behaviour, it’s usually for other reasons like lack of time, acknowledging and accepting the increased risk, sticking to the guidelines could harm them more than it helps.

[gamerchick]

Nowt like a competitive minger thread to start a Monday

People are gross and they like to compete in that grossness. Just remember there are people like that and just wash your own hands. As soon as you come in the house.

[BertieBotts]

I admit I'm more likely to wash my hands after a poo. You can get worms from not washing after poo and DS is in primary school so it's always an imminent threat. Plus with a wee sometimes you barely touch anything. Especially if I wee during the night and don't want to wake up any more than necessary.

[BertieBotts]

Sometimes I wash my hands before using the toilet, if they were dirty, and then I don't bother to wash them again. Because I don't really believe that it's the act of using the toilet (especially my own clean toilet) which requires hand washing but more that it's good practice to do several times a day and whenever you use the toilet is an easy one to remember and something most people do fairly often and can't put off.

[Elphabaisnotwicked]

I was at a friend’s house recently and she doesn’t even have soap in her bathroom I was rude enough to mention it to her and she shrugged and said that she washes with water and we all survived before soap!

[frasier]

When DS started nursery I was told he was only one of two children that knew they had to wash their hands after using the loo. A couple more knew to wash their hands before eating.

[adaline]

You would have touched the door handles and flush.

Do you wash your hands every time you touch money? What about touching doors in shops, hand rails on buses/tubes/trains? What about after using your phone or your keyboard on your computer?

Germs are everywhere. Yes, washing your hands after the toilet is probably a good idea but I bet you're exposed to more germs when you go into Tesco!

[flowerslemonade]

when i go for a wee i dont touch the door handles i touch the loo roll and the flush thing but i clean that each day with a sponge and fairy liquid and also i use dettol on it. i go for a wee maybe 20 times a day so i dont wash my hands each time because they would hurt. i would always always wash my hands after handling raw meat, i think not doing so is asking for major problms and i always wash them after being outside. but the wee thing i think is a bit OTT when everything is very clean and the only thing you've touched is loo roll and an ultra clean metal flushing button.

[Timeissliplingaway]

Has anyone had a look inside those new hand dryers in public toilets, I think they are due in ones? I wash my hands but never use them and never let my kids use them they are disgusting!

[adaline]

I also don't think I've ever washed my hands before a meal unless at my grandma's house as a small child.

I'm prepared to be told this makes me a complete minger though 😂

[caithuait]

Yuck! I always wash my hands after the toilet. Soap is the most important element of handwashing too because it captures the bacteria.

[Lethaldrizzle]

All I know is I get less sick than the obsessive hand washers i know.

[MumofBoysx2]

I agree, I always wash my hands after stroking the dog too before eating, but loads of people don't do this! The only problem is my hands are always dry and chapped as I wash them probably 30+ times a day, but I don't have low immunity because of it, as some have suggested!

[Lovemusic33]

I rarely wash my hands unless I’m touching raw meat (chicken, pork), obviously if I’m cooking for people other than myself I will wash my hands.

I don’t wash my hands before I eat, rarely after I have been to the loo at home (will if I’m using public loos), I don’t pee on my hands, I don’t touch the loo seat. I’m often digging in the garden, stroking dogs etc.., a bit of bacteria is good for you, I rarely get ill.

[twotallgiraffes]

Oh god this thread is vile. I wash my hands all the time! Trolley handles are the ones that make me feel a bit ill. All those germs... 🤮🤮

[Laiste]

Just had a look to see the recommended time for soaping your hands before rinsing, to get germs off. It's 20 seconds. NHS.

If you sit here now and count 20 seconds (1 elephant 2 elephants ) it's AGES!

I can honestly say when i wash my hands i soap for about ... 5 seconds max. and never when i put my bin out

[QueenoftheNights]

Semster Mon 04-Jun-18 04:49:24 I use a hand sanitizer instead - and as I keep it in my handbag you probably don't see me using it after you've seen me leave the toilet without washing my hands (and no doubt tutted)

And in the meantime you are transferring anything on your hands to the handles of the main entrance doors (which we all have to touch) on your way out of the loo.

[SquashedToes]

I think by far most people don't wash their hands properly. 10 second quick rinse, soap up and rinse seems totally pointless. Unless you're going to do it properly (including between fingers and thumbs and proper drying) what's the point? I just don't touch anything in the toilet, but I do wash my hands before eating if I've been on public transport, supermarket etc and always before food prep.

I think if you did it all the time you'd get awfully dry sore hands, then end up putting a ton of lotion on and that would stink on any food prep....

[TeacupDrama]

urine is sterile when it leaves the body so no germs

[londonfeather]

Obviously people should wash their hands after going to the toilet or after using the tube, cutting meat etc but also it’s not ideal to be blitzing every single germ. Some sort of middle ground is ideal but I guess that’s personal for everyone.

I don’t know if anyone else saw this recent study into causes for childhood leukaemia- but it just shows how complex the issue of germs/bacteria is:

Our modern germ-free life is the cause of the most common type of cancer in children, according to one of Britain's most eminent scientists.

//www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/health-44199844

[QueenoftheNights]

It's about balance.

I suspect that women's toilets are quite clean most of the time. I doubt any of us get poo on our hands or smear it on the surfaces in loos.

There is though the spray factor- when you flush the loo, it can send tiny particles as far as 15 feet from the loo, which includes poo. So any surface could be covered with microscopic particles.

More yucky IMO are trolley handles- because they are covered in everything. Packaging on raw meat is often broken (often behind the scenes of the shop so you don't see it) so putting raw packaged meat in your trolley can mean you have touched something with e.coli or salmonella. There are also lovely people who pick their noses then think nothing of pushing their trolley or using an ATM.
ATMs have more bacteria than a toilet bowl.