To let you know how to wear gloves safely in a supermarket?

[Isla727]

I have read some people saying that it felt a bit pointless to be wearing gloves in the supermarket, which touch the trolley then the food items, then the checkout desk etc. This is obviously a real concern because you could spread Coronavirus from the trolley to your food, then from checkout area to your food etc.

One option is to just use hand gel or wipes instead of gloves if you have them but here is a safe method if you are going to wear disposable gloves:

1. Take three disposable gloves with you.
2. Use glove no.1 to wipe the trolley clean then take it off as it may be contaminated with Covid-19 (it may not be!) from the trolley.
3. Put glove no.2 on your dominant hand to push the trolley.
4. Use your non-dominant bare hand to pick up food items (this avoids spreading germs from the trolley-glove to the food)
5. At the checkout; remove your 'trolley glove'; apply hand gel or use a wipe then pack your bags.
6. Then put glove no. 3 on to pay (as card machine may be contaminated) and to push the trolley one handed. At the car, take off your final glove.
7. Apply hand gel or wipes after putting bags in the car.

Hopefully most people’s ‘differently’ involves hand washing/ not touching their face and getting in and out of the shop as fast as possible. This will allow the next person in the queue to to the same. Not faffing with a glove ritual.

Your way means everything you put in the trolley, then load onto the conveyor belt, then pack into your own bags would potentially contaminate your hands.

Healthcare professionals are taught how to put on and take off PPE such as gloves and masks in a special way, this prevents contamination.

I understand everyone is worried and wearing gloves or a mask might make people feel less anxious. However it can give people a false sense of security and experts believe that the behaviours of people wearing PPE ineffectively can cause more spread due to them being less likely to hand wash and social distance.

At the supermarket I also use the "scan and go" handheld scanners. They have spray and paper towels to wipe those down before you use them and you pack as you go. Minimises interaction with staff too.

Sounds like ocd gone mad.

Wait a mo!

Gloved hands of staff that clean trolleys ... surely the gloves get cleaned as part and parcel of cleaning the trolley. Glove, cloth, trolley all get covered in whatever spray they use.

Or is the spray contaminated once it leaves the bottle?

I think we should be told...

... can you clean cleaning fluid?

I take a dettol (undiluted) soaked kitchen roll in a plastic bag, get out of car, put on gloves, wipe trolley down, put on gel on gloves, shop, put on gel now and again. Pay via card, put on gel, put stuff in car.
Remove gloves, use gel on hands . Drive home, take shopping to back door. Wash hands. Boil kettle, drop of washing liquid and bleach in water, wipe down shopping before bringing in house. Wash hands again. Put away shopping

I also meant to say that this is presumably a piss-take.

I was wondering the same thing, but it's so hard to tell these days!

Sorry but this is madness. YABU. Wastes your and other shoppers' time, generates rubbish, gives false reassurance and is not government advice. It's really simple. Get in and out quickly, wash your hands, don't touch your face. All this cleaning and faffing isn't actually a robust way of managing the risk. It may make you feel better but as most responses say, it's way OTT. Just follow the official guidance and shop as little as possible.

I don’t agree with this.

I just put on a pair of gloves as I leave the house and use them for touching trolley and picking up shopping. Once the shopping is packed, I take the gloves off and my hands are clean if I need to touch the interior of my car, my face or the kids etc.

The gloves are also a helpful reminder not to touch anything I’m not happy to get contaminated (eg inside my car).

Goodness, I'm finding it hard enough to shop whilst trying to dodge everyone else in the shop, let alone trying to remember which hand I'm supposed to be picking my shopping up with.

What happens if you pick something up with the wrong hand by mistake, do you have to start all over again?

When I was at the the supermarket earlier this week I did my whole shop with an itch on the side of my nose. Managed not to touch my nose until I got home, which I was quite pleased about, by which time the itch had gone anyway.

I've always washed my hands when I come in the house from being outside, whether that's shopping, walking the dog or putting something in the dustbin.

I'm not sure if a lot of these people using gloves are that aware of the proper way to remove them either.

I had to have someone come into my house recently to do an urgent repair. He came into the house already wearing gloves and spent the whole time we were talking about the repair rubbing his eyes and touching doors and things. I suspect he'd probably been wearing the same gloves at any other jobs he'd been to before he came to my house.

I had to go round after he'd left and clean stuff he'd touched.

Seems OTT to me. I wipe everything down when I get home and wash my hands thoroughly, and avoid touching my face until all is done. Surely that’s enough.

our supermarket (not in the uk) washes each trolley between uses (bucket of soapy water)
it is handed to you by the shop assistant after you applied the hand gel provided.

there is no need to be wasteful with single use gloves&wipes.

I went to the supermarket last week and saw lots of people with masks on. I remember quite distinctly one woman with an N95 mask on and how she scratched her nose with her bare finger because the mask must have clearly been uncomfortable to wear. Useless!!
I started off by wearing my scarf over my mouth and nose but then decided to pull it down as it gave me a runny nose.
In the end i shopped by pushing the trolley with my bottom arms, disinfecting my hands and washing my hands in the loos at the supermarket. And obviously again when coming home.
Shocked by how much people are discarding their PPE onto the street!

Nobody is actually going to follow your advice because it's ott. We'll just carry on washing our hands thoroughly.

Where are people getting all of these gloves?

How many people who wear gloves reuse them?

I wash my hands thoroughly both before and after shopping....I'd rather the gloves were used by those who really need them, like caregivers who are crying out for gloves.

I keep a few boxes of gloves around the house for cleaning, DIY, messy nappies etc.

I don’t reuse my latex gloves, but have been trying to wear marigolds more often and disinfect then afterwards.

1. Put on gloves.
2. Walk to the cabinet in the hallway, pick up bell and ring it hard and long, for about 20 seconds while humming “Happy Birthday..” twice over.
3. When Parsons appears, ask him to pop down to the village farm shop for a list of provisions.
4. Ensure Parsons is at least a stable broom length away from you.
5. Get Parsons to don a well-fitted mask. Then Parsons repeats the order back to ensure nothing has been accidentally omitted.
6. Remove gloves, leave on floor for Meg to dispose of. Return to study.
7. Parsons gets groceries and returns.
8. Parsons puts the meat in the game store and the remaining provisions in the orangery.
9. Leave for 72 hours.

10. Enjoy.

@EverdeRose, If you use sanitiser whilst packing bags then it's fine.

It's been discussed endlessly that hand sanitiser isn't the miracle some think it is.

metro.co.uk/2019/12/18/teacher-shows-class-dirty-laptops-bread-mould-experiment-11926572/

Soap and water is always best yeah but hand gel is just something you use until you can get to the sink at home!

Putting shopping away with gloves that have touched the trolley is more likely to contaminate the shopping (i.e. they'd probably resemble the laptop-bread) than taking them off, geling hands and then packing bags.

Really, everyone should just do what they want to do.

Really, everyone should just do what they want to do

Yes and be very quick about it as other people are waiting to shop.

I use Scan as you go on my phone app and wash my hands. Pack once.

@Isla727
Then why not leave the PPE to the professionals who have a shortage and use alcohol gel instead of wearing gloves for half of it.

OP, you are crazy. That is all.

This thread has reminded me that I didn't clean my card