To think this is unhygienic?

[TrainsandDiggers]

AIBU to think that my PILs decision to lay full carpets in their bathroom and kitchen is unhygienic? I’d also have thought a fire hazard in the kitchen??

I really struggle with hygiene practices in their home generally (e.g. not installing sinks in two of their three toilets, so people have to wash their hands in the kitchen if they bother at all), so not sure if I’m just making this into something it’s not? They say they like it as they like warm feet...?!

We had carpets in bathroom as a kid - they were carpet tiles and used to come up so I used to soak them when cleaning and frankly it was disgusting the colour of the water after 🤢 two teen aged brother who clearly couldn't aim (which I thought was normal for boys until I met my DH who has no problem keeping a toilet clean 🤔)

My in laws have a kitchen/diner so have lately in there although they do have a widish strip around the kitchen part in front of all cabinets.

Nasty

My parents have always had bathroom carpet. It's honestly never bothered me, I like warm feet! I've never viewed it as dirty, either, mum keeps it pretty spotless.

I'm not sure that I'd have it myself, although I'd prefer their nice carpet to the nasty cheap ingrained filthy lino in my rental atm. If my new flat has a carpet in the bathroom (think it does, as memory serves), I'll change it but when I can afford to do it now I want it.

Carpet in kitchens is grim and wrong! Why??? A friend of mine, her family home has the same carpet through the whole house in every room. I find that exceptionally weird, too. My parents have lots of cream carpet, but it's mixed in with a gold one and green in the dining room.

Perhaps none of my business, but as I and my children eat there I think it’s fair enough that I’m mindful of the hygiene issues.

I was sort of with you until this comment.

I had forgotten just how much I hate washbasins in bedrooms! Just horrible!

People who are saying the no sink isn’t a problem are wrong , walking from bathroom to kitchen then putting bathroom germs all over the kitchen sink a room where you cook and prepare food is breaking one of the first rules of hygiene and infection control . It doesn’t need to be next to the toilet but at least have a dedicated area not associated with food .

Why on earth is it weird to have the same carpet throughout a house? 😳

Bathroom carpet?

No. I steam clean the tiles.

Kitchen carpet?

How would you zoflora carpet?

I remember having carpet in the bathroom in our house when I was a child in the 80s. It seems really gross to me now though (& iirc it was the same burgundy stuff we had in literally every room except the kitchen, bluergh). Anyway I agree it's grim but the lack of sinks next to toilets is even worse! That's absolutely bogging!

Some motorhomes have a sink that folds down from the wall in the shower room/toilet. That'd be a great solution for a really tiny downstairs lav.

No sink is just revolting. I can see why older people opt for carpet though.

I remember, in the 1990s, reading that Americans found it very confusing that Brits so often had carpet in the bathroom, and that if you were planning to rent a house out you should have hard flooring there. I still went ahead and installed carpet in our family bathroom. Would never do it now!

Carpets in kitchens and bathrooms were normal in my childhood in the 1970s and 1980s. There were whole sections of carpet shops devoted to carpets suitable for these places, with water - resistant backing.

No washbasin in a separate loo also used to be the norm - you'd find somewhere else to wash hands.

It's your in-laws' business and I think it's a bit much to say it's "disgusting" - it's still normal for many people their age. Just ask them where they would like people to wash their hands after using those loos, and remind your kids to wash hands. The carpets aren't a health hazard unless you are eating food that's been dropped on them.

You could mention that you can change the loo cistern to [[https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00TOMVYQO/ref=asc_df_B00TOMVYQO54816105/?tag=googshopuk-21&creative=22110&creativeASIN=B00TOMVYQO&linkCode=df0&hvadid=256007919056&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9494087586149441561&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9044970&hvtargid=pla-421297022334&th=1&psc=1
one with an integrated basin]] , like the combination loo/basin that someone posted up-thread. You only need to change the cistern part, not the loo base (which is much more difficult to change). The water fill for the loo cistern is used to feed a small tap.

Both my current and previous houses have/had separate loos next to the bathroom, with no space for a wash basin. Built 50's and 60's respectively. Previous (60's) house was fine, I was able to knock the bathroom & toilet together and have one large room, but in my current (50's) house the layout makes that impossible.

MaryPeary - when did I say it was “disgusting”?

My parent's new build in the early 90s came fully carpeted. That included the bathrooms. They had those fluffy mats on top of the carpet. Now just carpet. The same, piddly carpet as was there 25 years ago...

My new build flat in the late 90's had carpet in the bathroom too. We replaced it. I hadn't considered how weird that was until now

when did I say it was “disgusting”?

Sorry @TrainsandDiggers, my mistake misremembering the start. "Unhygienic" is much less emotive and I do agree with you about it being so. Was just feeling a bit sorry for these, presumably elderly, in - laws, but I see on re-reading that you're not being judgemental at all - you're being entirely reasonable.

It was only when I pulled these bathroom carpets up and saw the stains - and smelled few smells - on the back that I realised just how horrible they were. I'd never have carpet in a bathroom now, but then - it was just what you did, amongst my friends and family anyway.

I remember when laminate flooring first became popular, which for a lot of people meant that a nice, wood effect was affordable for the first time. Someone was telling me with wonder in his eyes how, if your kids puked, you could just wipe it up - no hours of washing the carpet! A revelation!

No worries MaryPeary! 😊 My PIL are otherwise good and decent people so this is not intended as an attack on them personally, just a difference of opinion. I think times have changed a lot and people are a lot more mindful (aware?) nowadays of potential hazards of germs and how they easily they spread. I’m perhaps a little obsessed with hygiene though, which may be why it bothers me so much!

I have a healthy regard for germs and how they spread etc but honestly cannot quite see why carpet designed for the area is such an issue. Carpet cleaners used regularly will keep the carpet clean and sweet smelling...and carpet tiles can be taken up and wahed or replaced as can the pedestal / bath mats. The mucky colour seen when washing some bathroom carpet is not exclusive to bathroom ..., any carpet in the house will have dust, skin debris , pet hairs and anything coming in on shoes on them too... it's an indication of dirt, not germs.

're the poo laden splashes from flushing....there's a poo lid to deal with that potential issue. If you don't put it down then the residue will be on a lot more than the carpet ! Does everyone wipe down all surfaces , items in the toilet room plus handlers etc every single time. Oh and at what point in the process does one wash hands to maintain sufficient cleanliness as you then might have to use your clean hands to open the loo door to get out...which is covered in air laden with germs yet to settle on the carpet !

There are two of my family.members with OCD with regard to cleanliness and germs.... and carpet tiles in the bathroom.

Kitchen has tiles...easier to clean food and liquid spills from... much more likely than in a bathroom.

Depending on when the loos were installed, it’s potentially against building regulations not to have sinks in the loos. It may make their house quite hard to sell if they ever want to move.

FWIW my PILs are in their 70s, otherwise normal people who had normal jobs, read, keep on top of current affairs etc., but their hygiene at home is really quite shocking, especially with regards to food preparation and cooking. I understand how you feel...

Given the number of pps who don't think a lack of hand basin in a loo is an issue, it's a bit of a leap to say it will be an issue when selling a house. For every buyer for whom it would be a deal breaker there will be another who won't care.

True. But something with a potential lack of building regs means extra legal questions in conveyancing. And I don’t know a single person who’d buy a house like that and not remodel to include sinks, so leading to extra cost.

Only MN do people not care about washing their hands after the loo and before food prep...

Sweeping Statement Prize...

Only MN do people not care about washing their hands after the loo and before food prep...

😂

no way!! all of the bathroom nasties and kitchen spillages... i cant bare thinking about it

Flotex carpet was de rigeur in kitchens in the 70s and 80s. Apart from the hideous patterns it was ok until the line of grease developed along the plinth.
Remember, in the 60s and 70s, wall to wall carpeting was a sign of prosperity - in the working/middle classes, a hard floor with a rug in the middle was a sign you were not doing so well as the neighbour's with their brownish shag pile everywhere. Proper bathroom carpet was available, with a sort of,plastic backing, but only in baby blue, powder pink and pastel green.

It is the opposite nowadays.

The only building regs taken into account are those current at the time of building, they change all the time. No issue. It wouldn't bother me, I can wash my hands in the sink quite happily, hell people used to bath babies in the sink once.