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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To NOT disinfect shopping and mail?

113 replies

safariboot · 31/03/2020 23:24

When I get into the house with the shopping I just wash my hands then put it all away as normal. And when the mail arrives I just open it and read it. But seems like everyone here is spraying, wiping, setting stuff to one side, the works. AIBU to not do any of that?

OP posts:
Youcunnyfunt · 01/04/2020 00:02

I think it's just common sense. If you go out, don't touch anything unless necessary, don't touch your face.
When you come back, always keep keys and bags and mail in one place that can be wiped down regularly. Wash your hands immediately, preferably somewhere you don't have to touch a doorknob to enter. I wear shoes I can kick off anyway. I have a towel specifically for this purpose that is washed and changed regularly.

Shopping - wipe down any hard plastic surfaces (or empty plastic packaging straight to bin - I don't have much so not an issue). I leave cardboard, it doesn't linger as long on cardboard. Wash hands again. Everything is clean to stick in fridge. A good amount of foods won't be eaten within 48-72 hrs (that might come from packaged foods) so not a major issue as it will have dwindled away by then anyway. Not an issue.
Post - open and dump the packaging straight into bins. Wash hands. What the hell is the issue with that?!

Cindie943811A · 01/04/2020 00:04

We just leave the mail for a few hours before opening it. Plastic bags groceries come in are put away for days before being touched. (Supermarket insists on bags and this limits time deliverer spends and how close he needs to get.
Seems as if viral load has to reach a certain level before one is infected so you’d need to be very unlucky to catch it just because you didn’t wipe every grocery item

LangSpartacusCleg · 01/04/2020 00:06

I’ve just been talking to DH about this post and a similar but opposite one and have formulated a theory.

There seem to be some people who think that the virus will attack them when they touch something. By attack, I mean pass through their skin, into their blood stream, and then travel to their respiratory system to kill them. (Public service announcement - that is not how CoronaVirus works).

TheJoyofBeingSingle · 01/04/2020 00:06

I only clean stuff I'm likely to handle in the short term in circumstances where I may forget or not wash hands in the house.

Classic example is a bottle of wine. If you've just bought it, it's been touched by the checkout person who probably has touched loads of other goods handled by loads of other people. If you just put in in the fridge, you may pour youself a glass of wine and not even think of washing your hands and sit down with it, potentially with virus all over your hands.

Whereas if you are opening a packet of fresh meat, you will wash your hands afterwards anyway.

bengalcat · 01/04/2020 00:07

I just stick to washing my hands but if people feel comforted by washing their shopping and mail then so be it .

Sh05 · 01/04/2020 00:10

Erm I've been washing down milk gallons and stuff😳
To justify my actions I've been telling myself that everything to do with this virus is so new it feels like even the experts are playing a guessing game and so I feel reassured I'm doing the best I can. We have 5 children and the youngest is only 6 months, I just think this is my way of making sure as much as we can that we all stay safe.

endofthelinefinally · 01/04/2020 00:17

We know the virus can survive on metal and plastic for days. Obviously we can't see it, so we don't know if it is on there or not. I prefer to assume it is, having seen the way people pick their noses, sneeze into their hands, then handle stuff in the supermarket.
I don't see the point in worrying about baskets and trollies, those aren't coming into your home, your cupboards, your fridge.
But everyone is perfectly entitled to do whatever they feel comfortable with, and I understand that there is a balance to be struck, particularly around anxiety, ocd etc.

Femail · 01/04/2020 00:17

Nope I dont I work in a supermarket and we all are very hot in our handwashing and hand sanitizing. It's the customers we worry about more

CatAndHisKit · 01/04/2020 00:20

what's the point of disinfecting/throwing away mail packaging (envelopes) when a letter inside would also have been touched by someone? and you can't get it wet.
Just read it and then wash your hands, and don't touch your face inbetween.

dellacucina · 01/04/2020 00:22

@endofthelinefinally It takes me all of ten minutes

I must confess that you lost me there Shock

sestras · 01/04/2020 00:25

I don't do that but I do wipe my doorhandles and letterbox.

oakleaffy · 01/04/2020 00:25

@TheBananaInPyjamas
'' I'm not either. I did start to today, and then had to stop, I mean I really don't have it in me to wash all of my shopping. It's so draining.''

Agree....I washed a water bottle, and now always wash fruit...but actual groceries?? NO.... I feel like you do...It could turn into an obsession.
My hands are already resembling a crocodile's skin with all the washing...Getting through so much hand cream too.

WorraLiberty · 01/04/2020 00:31

I've never washed the shopping and nor has DH.

We just wash our hands as soon as we get home and again after putting it away.

ViveLEntenteCordiale · 01/04/2020 00:35

We did wipe down the shopping quickly last week before putting it away. DH unpacked and wiped and i put it away. We very quick. I didn't do loose fruit and veg because they live in a separate drawer and I always wash before use anyway.

Mail often sits in the box for ages before we pick it up because the post person isn't coming every day and I have no idea which days they do come. So only check the box every 2 or 3 days. I do wash my hand when I've opened it though.

SisterAgatha · 01/04/2020 00:36

I do wipe down handles and places I’ve touched often, like the fridge handle too. Saw that show where she put UV gel on a families hands and then showed them where they had touched afterwards and it had been flicked about all over the front of the fridge and the milk.

Otherwise, if it’s going in to my freezer, it’ll probably die by the time I eat it anyway!

SisterAgatha · 01/04/2020 00:38

So yes, you can wash your hands after you’ve put it away but the hand marks and germs you left on the fridge when you put it away, remain.

That’s my point really. If you don’t want to, that’s fine of course.

LizB62A · 01/04/2020 00:47

I figure that everything from just inside my front door and outside is potentially contaminated e.g. car door handles, my shoelaces, steering wheel, shopping trolleys etc.
Once I get home and take my shoes, coat etc. off, I wash my hands (and my face too sometimes) then not bother with anything else.
I can't be washing my hands every time I touch something, my skin just can't take it.

Gloves give people false reassurance - they don't protect anything really apart from your hands getting dirty and don't stop you from touching your face.

I'm resigned to the fact that I'll catch the virus at some point if I haven't already so I'm taking what I think are sensible precautions without getting tied in knots about it.

Everyone is different and we all decide what we each think are sensible precautions

Blizzardwhizard · 01/04/2020 00:48

I wear gloves, i disinfect all the fridge stuff with anti bac wipes and other stuff (non perishable) stays in the car for 3 days

Each to their own....

Blizzardwhizard · 01/04/2020 00:51

I wear gloves and mask in the shop.

Throw both away when i leave the shop, then clean gloves to out shopping in car.
Bin Gloves....
Out of car, clean gloves, shopping in the house/ leave in car.....
Disinfect before putting in fridge.
Disinfect sides / gloves in bin.

Maybe OTT.... But i have underlying health issues and i CANT catch this bug.

00Sassy · 01/04/2020 01:00

My poor d-bro is self isolating for 12 weeks.
I bought him some shopping and he told me not to buy anything ‘too fresh’ as he’d leave it in the hall for a few days before touching it Sad

I bought him some fresh foods and advised him of some careful hygiene measures.

He was also concerned that he had his windows open on a windy day, I explained to him that the virus isn’t airborne!

Mummyshark2019 · 01/04/2020 01:04

I do the same as you OP. Just wash your hands before and after and don't touch your face.

YourWinter · 01/04/2020 01:10

No, but I wash my hands properly after opening and disposing of the packaging (or envelope, in the case of mail), and I am careful not to touch my face (eg push hair out of my eyes) until I've washed them. I wash the letterbox and the fridge and cupboard handles with diluted bleach. I wash loose fruit and veg when I get it home as it could have been picked through in the shop display by someone who didn't wash their hands after the loo, not just because of coronavirus, and I won't buy loose bread that has been displayed within reach of customers for the same reason.

TheJoyofBeingSingle · 01/04/2020 01:22

@CatAndHisKit

what's the point of disinfecting/throwing away mail packaging (envelopes) when a letter inside would also have been touched by someone?

I'm not a disinfector of mail packaging but the answer to your question is that the vast majority of letters or mailed material people receive will have been put into the envelope by a machine (Catalogues, electricity bills, bank statements, letters about mortgage). It won't have been touched by anyone. On the other hand, the envelope will have been handled by the postman.

LittlePaintBox · 01/04/2020 01:28

It's up to everyone to do what they think is best in this respect, I think. DH is up to speed with what's known about the virus, and rigorous hand washing several times a day, shopping only when necessary to avoid contact with others, and avoiding handling newspapers are the main precautions he's taking. I guess hand washing plus normal food hygiene will take care of anything that comes into the house via packaged food?

MrsSnitchnose · 01/04/2020 01:32

A significant number of them are completely neurotic about germs

Probably why there are people that are always ill. Nothing to be gained by sanitising your whole house all of the time, not building up any resistance to any germs