to think we need to knock the bacteria bothering on the head?

[OtraCosaMariposa]

So unless you've been living under a rock we all know that single use plastics are bad, too much air travel is bad and that we're killing the planet with "stuff".

Just as important is the fact that bacteria are becoming resistant and that we haven't the new antibiotics to fight them. I know a lot of this si down to misuse of antibiotics, people not finishing the course or keeping old medication and popping it when they feel off colour. But I also think a lot of it is down to the sheer range of "anti-bacterial" products on sale.

The latest advert which really gave me the rage was for an anti-bacterial carpet cleaner, think it was Vax, which droned on about did you know how much BACTERIA there is in your carpet accompanied by pictures of children playing on the floor. Just like the "ewww, bacteria on your washing!!" adverts.

Do we really need to nuke all bacteria out of existence? Or do we collectively not need to chill out a bit, stop the paranoia about germs/bacteria and go back to basic cleaning with soap and water??

Anti-bac is banned in this house.

But does everything not end up smelling of vinegar. I use vinegar to clean the kettle and coffee machine and it stinks.

I'm so pleased I've come across this thread. I was out yesterday with my 2.5 year old and a man looked at me like I had two heads because I was letting him play in a very shallow stream. I was stood in it with him and we were picking up pebbles and dropping them in again.

He got arsey in the end and took his similar age child away from he water because he wanted to join in and they wouldn't let him near the water even though they'd dressed him in waders and wellies! He was made to stand at the side on dry land with a net to catch "fish" and every time he'd go near he'd shout "DIRTY!".

We live in a beautiful national park and the water is a running, clear stream. Not stagnant or dirty at all!

I see it all the time here. Parents shouting no don't jump in the mud! No don't jump in puddles! No, you'll get your wellies muddy! Drives me mad....why do they bother taking them?

Solonely No not in the washing machine I've used it for a long time admittedly at 40C I do use it WITH the Ecover type detergent though. The actual descaling stuff is toxic ( I don't like the smell of vinegar but it's not sooo toxic.). The smell of vinegar in the kettle has to be rinsed out a lot!

Ilove It's terrible to repress children like that I agree. I blame all the OTT health and safety type rules. Lucky you living in a National Park. Although there have always been fussy parents.

A lot of glass cleaning products are very vinegary though and your windows don't smell like a chip shop.

Yes to the fear of muck - my kids used to go to a pre-school which had an amazing outside garden space and their ethos was to get the kids out every day, whatever the weather. This was clearly explained to parents and we were all told to send old clothes as the kids would be out building dens, planting bulbs or whatever. The number of parents who sent their kids in pastel coloured, "smart" clothes was unreal. And the children would get so stressed about being dirty as mummy would be cross. So sad.

A few months ago I was looking through books in a local charity shop. A lady came, stood next to me and then got a pair of disposal gloves out of her bag, put them on and only then picked a book. Does she wear them when she's reading it at home ?

Idrather Some people are unbelievable. Remember libraries? There were people who wouldn't use them due to possible 'infection' from the books .

I thought bacteria couldn't live on paper. That's why they wrap chips in newspaper

I'm a charity shop volunteer. I spend 8 hours a week going through donations. Some are grubby. Some are dusty. Some are just old. I quite like washing the china and glass and polishing the silver. Therapeutic. We have gloves available (for the staff not the customers) but I don't use them, they make my hands sweaty and nasty.

However I am yet to fall ill because of handling old books or second hand clothing.

The worst for me is pet hair - I am very allergic to cats and a bag filled with jumpers with cat hair all over them has me sneezing in no time.

Do they do that any more, Solonely it's usually 'clean' white paper isn't it?

I may be wrong, but I don't think harmful bacteria can live for any length of time on paper. So any book that's been sitting around for a while won't be harbouring anything nastier than dust.

That's why I used books in my example (upthread). An utterly non-threatening item being turned into something to be feared unless you are armed with an anti-germ spray...

Thank you OP for starting this thread - I was beginning to think I was alone! I saw the Vax advert last night and was ranting at my DH that over-sterilisation is damaging to all of us and he just did the usual husband thing of agreeing haha

I had to tell my cousin who has a toddler a few weeks younger than my twins that she didn’t need to disinfect her high chair/tray every single time her child ate there. Even if DC only had toast she’d grab the anti-bac wipes 😳 when she asked me how I cleaned mine I said “bit of soapy water and a sponge” and she went ballistic at me claiming I was risking salmonella... funnily enough I don’t have a habit of rubbing raw meats or half cooked eggs over my twins high chairs 😂 and I let my twins play in the garden when it’s muddy - shock horror!

The cleaning companies should be more regulated with what they can show on tv etc because it scares people and then they are sterilising everything within an inch of its life.

I don't ever use anything other than a soapy dishcloth Navi and had the same rant from a relative about the advert rubbing raw chicken breast over the high chair and that's what I'm doing with my dishcloth apparently.

They were adamant that it is the same thing and the dish cloth that had been in a hot bowl of water for a few minutes would have as much bacteria as a raw piece of chicken!!

Coincidentally a new episode of a podcast I listen to came out today all about antibiotic resistance and superbugs if anyone is interested

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/making-sense-with-sam-harris/id733163012?i=1000447412524

My dog left his ham bone on the living room carpet and my dh wanted to disinfect the floor.

DD is crawling but I still didn't do it. It's only ham.

And, let's face it, Solonely - the dog's paws probably bring in more dirt than a bone left on the carpet.

I once had to stop one of my daughters from sucking one of our chickens (which used to run loose outside and would come in every time anyone left a door open). She was fine (the chicken was traumatised, though).

Completely agree. My house is full of bacteria. We had a dog and cat since mine were newborns and they rolled around on the floor with them.

Mine also at mud and frequently got dirty etc in puddles etc. They’re rarely ill.

I once had to stop one of my daughters from sucking one of our chickens

(You know what they say - erotic is using a feather; perversion is using the entire chicken.)

My kids often sucked on the dog's feet . . .

And, let's face it, Solonely - the dog's paws probably bring in more dirt than a bone left on the carpet.

That's my thinking. He lives in our house, any germs on the dog are already on everything. Dh uses to wash his hands every time he stroked the dog!

Dh uses to wash his hands every time he stroked the dog!

My SIL used to insist her kids did this when they stroked our dogs "You've touched the DOG! Wash your hands NOW!"

My niece and nephew have asthma, eczema and all sorts of allergies.

My kids don't.

I think growing up around animals is good for exposure to germs.

Though high levels of dust and hair can cause reactions and aggravate asthma. I have no allergies other than mild hay fever, but I could never stay at my ILs for more than one night as I'd struggle to breathe - they never hoover and had two shaggy dogs. DH and siblings would hoover as much as possible every visit, but I remember doing the lounge and dining room with a brand new Dyson (emptying the hoover three times for each), starting on the kitchen, and the motor burnt out. Not designed for 'intensive use', Dyson said, refusing a refund. If someone has asthma then medics recommend reducing dust, ie not having carpets.

It's always hard to tell whether families were already sickly so then got paranoid about cleaning, or the other way round. I'm diligent about the kitchen, but don't have much raw meat and cut it with scissors straight into a pan, don't have pets, and otherwise squirt limescale remover with bleach down the loo each week (and wipe the outsides with disinfectant). Cleaner does bathroom and kitchen and lots of hoovering fortnightly. If I could, I'd hoover more often rather than just using the mini hoover on crumbs, but that's aesthetic, not a health concern.

My friend and I went trekking in a country of extreme poverty and poor hygiene. She was washing her hands with anti-bac every 5 minutes, where as I just washed mine after using the toilet and before eating. She was the one who ended up with chronic diarrhoea.