Poor hygiene makes me cringe - AIBU?

[Defenbaker]

I've noticed that quite a lot of people seem to be clueless about basic hygiene, and I inwardly cringe when I see poeple doing certain things. For instance:

A woman served cake to people at a party. She served one slice then licked her fingers before offering slices to others (who all declined - think I wasn't the only one put off by that).
A cleaner at work picked up something dirty from the floor and threw it in bin, then emptied clean items from dishwasher without washing hands first. (She had disposable gloves on throughout, so perhaps as no dirt touched her actual hands she didn't think twice about it.)
A woman played ball with children in garden, then went into kitchen and began making sandwiches for people, without washing her hands first.
A woman in swimming pool changing room used a towel to dry her body off, then threw it onto the floor and dried her feet, before finally drying her hair with it. (I wondered how many people with athletes foot might have walked barefoot on that floor before she did that).

More generally, I hate it when people in cafes handle cash then serve/touch food without washing their hands first (it's widely known that there are lots of germs on money).

Maybe I'm more careful than some people, as I am emetophobic, which makes me very careful about food hygiene. Also I realise that there are germs everywhere, and children develop their imune systems by coming into contact with germs, so a totally sterile world wouldn't be ideal for humans, but AIBU to cringe at this sort of stuff?

Please share your pet hates here, re people's poor hygiene.

I love swimming and try to go a couple of times a week but the vast majority of people who get straight in the pool without having a quick rinse under the many showers at the poolside make me rage . On the odd o

I’m with you OP. whenever I hear DH open the dishwasher to empty it I shout “wash you hands”

Do you wash your hands each time you make a cup of tea? Every time you get a mug/plate out of the cupboard?

I have friends who are much more relaxed than me and friends who are so clean you could go into any corner in any room and there wouldn't be a speck of dust ANYWHERE and yet they'd laugh their socks off if I suggested washing hands before emptying the dishwasher.

I wouldn’t expect a 9 year old boy to have impeccable hygiene without being prompted to be perfectly honest.
There for me that’s quite incomparable to a dirty bitch licking her fingers while handling food.

All these things make my skin crawl.

But I have a problem with excessive hygiene, my hands have been known to crack with over washing.

I'm learning to relax my standards a bit, but it's so hard.

I remember an thread on here years ago where a lot of people who’d chose to have a kid didn’t wash their hands after changing its nappies. At best, they’d wipe their kids shite off their hands with a wet wipe. Appalling.

People setting their incontinent kid on a counter in any location is also absolutely disgusting. No ones arse needs to be on a counter, ffs, it’s not cute, just don’t do it.

Or don't have a designated utensil for the pet food. Or put the dirty pet bowls in the sink/dishwasher at the same time as human crockery

What's wrong with either of those things? My dog eats raw meat, the spoon I use to dispense it goes straight in the dishwasher - where the stainless steel dog bowls go, too. Dishwashers get scalding hot and kill virtually every bacteria in there. What on earth do you think could survive scalding water and cross-contaminate?

I wash my hands as soon as I get home and then purell. You sound obsessive.

Nannewnannew l work on a checkout in Tesco, and we are supplied with alcohol gel. There's a bottle on each checkout desk.
l have asthma and sometimes l have a tickly cough when l talk a lot (which l do on the checkout). lf l need to cough when l'm at work, l cough into the inside of my elbow, not into my hands.

Do those who worry about personal or family hygiene also have pets in the house I wonder?

Ugh, the hairs, the fleas and such. Yikes! But I suppose all animals are pristine just like their owners/masters (or maids if it's a cat or two!)

I’m never, ever ill and I don’t care about the stuff you mention. It’s the people who are over the top about hygiene that are ill all the time

Ahh The hygiene hypothesis. It is so misunderstood.

Everything on the OP's list would make me cringe too. These are examples of bad germs that can make us sick.

I rarely get sick. Why? Good diet and balanced gut bacteria. Good hygiene practices.

@Outsomnia "We need to relax a bit and expose ourselves to germs. Otherwise we will have little resistance to bacteria will we?

The bacteria we need was lost over 150 years ago. We won't get that back by not washing our hands and playing in the dirt. We need to find healthy, gut balancing bacteria through diet. Not through eating the party hosts saliva or rubbing athletes foot in our hair.

I’m with the dirty slatterns then as wouldn’t be bothered about most of the OP.

I am careful about anything involving wee, poo or raw meat, but I don’t think any of the OP’s examples include those (except maybe soil from the garden).

I never get tummy bugs. I’m not saying lax hygiene has caused me to be tummy bug resistant but it certainly hasn’t resulted in lots of tummy bugs either.

Washing kitchen tea towels with other clothing especially underwear then getting incredibly offended when mentioned. This is why I struggle to eat at other people's houses.

I really don't care about most of this stuff. We have dogs so I'm sure our house is a Petri dish of germs anyway. We are never ill (DP hasn't had a day off work, well, ever) so I figure we are doing something right so why change?

Oh and the dog bowls go in dishwasher with everything else (and speaking of pre-rinsing plates and cutlery, we often have the doggy tongue pre-wash while they are being put in the dishwasher ) Muahahaha! I can hear the gasps from here and now I'm off to bed (clean sheets on tonight at least! although there was a dog on the bed briefly earlier so perhaps not...)

Washing kitchen tea towels with other clothing especially underwear then getting incredibly offended when mentioned

Eh - what's wrong with that?

I've read MitziK's list and it just sounds like pretty basic stuff, the only thing I don't do routinely is to wipe the counters before cooking.

However, washing your hands and then using sanitising gel?! How do you even have skin left- just thinking about it makes my skin burn.

The butcher giving cash and coins in change at the counter with hands covered in meat ( over his gloves )

Not just unhygienic but a health hazard .

I always put the coins in the bag with the meat and avoid handling the kids or anything else till I wash my hands .

And the cash ( usually coins) go straight in the sink at home .

I know of a child who put a coin from the butchers in her mouth and contracted a very nasty bug

*Washing kitchen tea towels with other clothing especially underwear then getting incredibly offended when mentioned

Eh - what's wrong with that?*

@Aridane you must have missed the pages long thread on that subject.

Mumsnet must hate me, I let my cats climb on surfaces, wash their bowls in the sink at the same time as I wash mine and let them sleep with me.

I had never considered drying my hair with my towel after swimming after I had dried my feet and fanny. I'm going to get a separate towel for my hair now.

I would notice all the things you mention and although it doesn't overly bother me I wouldn't do any of them myself.

Although kids sitting in food trolleys at the supermarket (inside the trolley where the food goes not the baby seat section) makes me heave.

I’m totally with you OP.
When I used to go to the gym regularly, the amount of times I’d see people wiping their sweat (and no doubt loads of other people’s sweat) off the machines - and the seats of the machines where all the sweaty arses have been and then wipe their face with the same towel 🤢

I avoid holding handles and rails on public transport having witnessed a man sneeze the snottiest greeny into his hand then hold a rail on the tube.

I’ve worked in hospitals where the lack of basic bloody hygiene made me cringe.

I could go on forever. Frankly I wish I wasn’t aware of this stuff - my friends think I’m half mad as they just don’t see it.

Most of this wouldn't bother me either, but then I'm also one who employs the dogs as pre-washers for the dishwasher and was a dummy sucker.

I do ensure that I sneeze into my elbow though, sneezing into hands makes me feel a bit queasy.

I guess we all have our limits.

My DH's aunt licks the spoon she uses to mix up potato salad...and then plunges it back into the bowl meant to serve everyone.

YANBU I am regularly grossed out.

Although kids sitting in food trolleys at the supermarket (inside the trolley where the food goes not the baby seat section) makes me heave.

Why????? Food is either packaged (thus OK) or fresh (and washed before use). What on earth is there to heave about?

I'm a big fan of washing hands after poo, other than this I really can't get worked up over any of these.