Do you worry about your coat or bag being contaminated in public toilets?

[PloughingOnward]

When you use a public toilet, if you hang your bag or coat in the cubicle. Touch the lock on the door, and touch your bag or coat because you have to to get out of the cubicle and then are able to wash your hands. But your coat and bag now have germs on from the cublicle - does that mean you avoid putting your bag down on your coffee table at home? Hang your coat somewhere separate from other clothes?

Or sitting on public transport seats, then sitting on your own sofa at night without getting changed - is this unsanitary?

Maybe worry is too strong a word but how do you manage the hygiene around this?

I know Mumsnet has a deep dislike for people saying they are "a bit OCD" but I have diagnosed anxiety with OCD traits - just not a diagnosis of OCD. My anxiety is kicking off and my mind is racing so I have a gp appointment booked, but in the meantime I'm trying to pep talk sense into myself. How do other people deal with these germ risks?

Oh my goodness, yes. I think about all the urine and faeces germs and who knows what else on the floor. I forgot I had my apple in my bag the other day and couldn't bear to eat it after it had been on the floor.

I hate not being to drive because the people on public transport are vile and they are always sneezing and i try not to breathe because I don't want to get diseases. I want to wear a mask to protect my airwaves.

I don't put things on the floor in a public loo - hang up coat/bag - but the fact that they've then touched the loo door isn't an issue. I don't allow DCs school bags on the kitchen table though as I hate to think what they pick up from the bus/train floors let alone at school.... - not envy

To me it sounds sensible not to put your bag on the loo floor (which gets sprayed with microscopic faecal particles every time the loo flushed, great way to spread norovirus and all the other d&v causing bugs)

I don't put my bag on furniture either. I like to change out of my outdoor clothes into loungewear as soon as I get in. Why bring bacteria and viruses into your home unnecessarily? That's like saying don't bother to wash your hands when you get home!

Coats and shoes stay in the hall cupboard.

I am with you OP! I could never put my bag on a toilet floor, I try and avoid touching the door, the lock, the seat, the tap (unless it's a sensor that's automatic), I avoid the drier (germs being blown over my hands). I also avoid touching handles on the tube and trains. As soon as I get to work before I get to my desk I thoroughly wash my hands, I always wash my hands after my commute too. I keep wipes in the car for touching things (because it's previously contaminated by my hands touching things) and sanitiser on my desk. On the plus side I haven't had a cold or anything nasty for ages! I don't worry about it though - I just regard it as my level of normal hygeine.

Gosh - I have a screwed up immune system and have learnt not to worry about such things. Though like a PP I don't put bags on worktops or tables, and I wash my hands frequently especially when I've come in from outdoors.

If you worry about such things then you won't be able to do any food shopping or cooking as tins and packets often drop on the floor in supermarkets, and vegetables are frequently grown with manure (poo).

@BlueJava - if you don't touch the handles etc on trains how do you get on or off if it is one of the trains with a button to push to open the door?

I don’t have OCD but I detest public toilets of any description, even at the poshest of establishments. However, sometimes I do need to go! I hang my bag and coat on the hook. Even washing hands in there is yukky, having to touch those taps! Don’t feel like this when visiting family and friend’s homes. I have a friend who has undiagnosed OCD and she has very similar symptoms to you.

Doesn't bother me at all, I'll dump my bag and sometimes even my coat on toilet floors if I need to. I wouldn't do it if the floor was obviously wet or filthy but if the floor looks clean I don't worry about germs.

Yeah as above. This sounds like OCD.
I am diagnosed with OCD and these thoughts run through my head often.

CurlsLDN Wed 28-Nov-18 18:34:04
madmum how does that work? Surely if you touch the trolley handle then handle the shopping/bags you're transferring the germs anyway?

Use canvas bags, so they and gloves go in the washing machine. We have had reusable bags in Wales for a few years now, so it is just something else to bung in the machine along with tea towels.

As much as possible, I only really use public toilets when I am pregnant, or travelling - so nowhere near something remotely clean for long hours.

I don't touch door handles or anything, and even use paper to turn off the taps after washing my hands if they don't turn off automatically. It doesn't bother me, I don't even think about it, but I know that public toilets and public places in general are gross.

No it's never crossed my mind

No, this is not something I’ve ever thought about.

Yes.
And I take a couple of sheets of loo roll off before I use it in case someone has used it and stuffed it back in. In my defence I also knew someone who was as neurotic as me and did it too .

I do have an allotment by the way. But that's good dirt.

No, although obviously I would avoid them touching anything that is visibly dirty. There are likely to be bacteria in any public place; if I worried about it I would never feel able to put my coat or bag down anywhere. I always wash my hands before I eat.

I think that, with the exception of people who have a compromised immune system or are otherwise, we need to become accustomed to contact with 'everyday' bacteria to maintain immunity to it.

^ that should say 'otherwise unwell'.

I agree OP.
I'm also paranoid about people with colds getting my stuff off the printer at work!
Maybe having antibacterial hand gel and wipes around is a good idea.
Pops off to the shop ...!

Dear OP, how do you feel about a visitor using the toilet at your home? Do you scrub it afterwards? When you pull up your jeans after the loo the waistband and zip must get contaminated because you haven't washed yet. Relax, it's really doesn't matter that much! It's only poo and pee! We're all full of it!

I am sure I read somewhere that the most contaminated personal item any gender might have is a woman's handbag-not the inside of it, but the outside, because women put them on the floor of Public Lavatories.

I don't put my bag on the floor of public toilets or the tube. I have had to train DP out of putting his bag on kitchen worktop and the bed as he puts it on the floor on the tube! Also had to train him out of lying on the bed with his 'outside clothes' on..

I ALWAYS wash my hands before eating- if someone offers me a biscuit or something I will refuse if I'm not able to wash my hands before eating it. If they forced me to take one I wouldnt eat the bit I had touched.

I don't get really anxious about it so I'm not sure if you would call it OCD? Although I understand most people don't have these habits and it doesn't hurt them, I just feel more comfortable!

I do have emetophobia which is where these habits have come from.

I hear you, OP.

Try working as a carer with Alzheimer’s clients who fail to wash their hands after the toilet and then put their hands everywhere (no shade, forgetfulness of basic hygiene is expected in this circumstance). It would send you over the edge. I wear disposable gloves a lot of the time, as it is one thing I really can’t cope with, and thankfully am starting new job in another sector where cleanliness won’t be an issue.

None of this has ever occurred to me to do, though obviously I wash my hands. I do suspect that most people's immune systems can handle a decent degree of bacteria or the human race would never have survived.

Interestingly, I know a couple of people who refuse to use public loos. One doesn’t drink when out and about to avoid it, the other uses a jug in their car (useful when on a walk, apparently).

Wow; what kind of friend group am I in!

I'm the same op about public toilets and I DON'T have ocd. I even carry hand gel to use.