Disgusting things discovered on MN

[Pricklypear12]

During my time on MN I have read about some disgusting/unhygienic things that people do on a regular basis.

Examples are:
Letting dogs lick human plates
Washing dog bowls in dishwasher with regular dishes
Sharing bath water (seen this one today!)
Sucking snot out of a baby's nose (I somewhat get it but really think I could never)

What are some vile things you've read about on MN that are seemingly normal to those that post about them?

Also "flushable" wipes is a marketing term. Yes, you are able to flush them in that technically you can. But don't because they cause blockages in the sewer system. How do you not know this?

That said, dry wiping has served me well for decades. I used a portable bidet for a bit after I had a baby and rather liked that though!

We don't have a shower so I don't piss in it but the problem wouldn't be the shower tray anyway it would be the bottle trap under the plughole

If you ever remove one of them and tip em out you'll find it has stuff, hair, bits whatever, collected at the bottom and under that is normally some pretty vile stinky water that pretty much never goes anywhere. For the shower pissers a portion of that is gonna be piss

Traditional toilet design with a u-bend is creating a water and air gap between areas where piss or shit might stick and start to smell. If you've ever been into a blokes public toilet and even though it looks clean there's a certain acrid smell that's because urinals use bottle traps, which despite being on a regular flush cycle never quite clear all remnants of piss from them

The grossest thing I have come across is a breastfeeding mum whose blocked duct was so bad, she couldn't shift it in any of the usual ways. Her husband had a suck and got a mouthful of pus sad - cleared the blockage though

😭

And sorry they're not bottle traps under showers but they still retain liquid to an extent

Surely you only wash bedding and towels when they start to become crunchy

I jest of course,but I do think the obsession with cleanliness is not doing this planet any favours. Not to mention generations of children being raised with a shitty immune system because they're never exposed to germs.

To be honest, i do find the idea of poo covered wet wipes sitting in a bin really gross. And I would never pee in the shower.

As posted above, I'm quite lax on the pet hygiene and clothes washing issues .

My cat is currently sharing a piece of toast with butter and lemon curd with me. He can hear the toaster a mile away. Also I sometimes kiss his and his brothers little wet noses although I know what cats do with their bums. And sometimes if we have had something nice with cream or icecream for puddings we let them lick out the bowl before it gets dish washed.

We cant have wet wipes (Old plumbing) and I agree that dry paper doesn't get sparkling clean but I shower after the loo every morning and seem to be blessed with regular habits so I'm confident of anal cleanliness should anyone need to inspect....

Mind you as a child bubblegum was banned in our house (early seventies) and I horrified my mum by admitting to scraping it from under desks and recycling it.........

shinynewapple21 Thu 25-Mar-21 08:59:57
To be honest, i do find the idea of poo covered wet wipes sitting in a bin really gross.
....
I agree. I know people put nappies and incontinence aids in the bin but they are well wrapped up (hopefully), would you be prepared to wrap up a 'bum area' wipe every time you go to the loo? That in itself can't be eco-friendly.

There are ones that you can flush, biodegradable, eco-friendly or whatever. You just have to read up/research before buying. Boots, Andrex and other outlets sell them so it isn't difficult. I use those.

@Pricklypear12

To clarify, obviously many moons ago, I understand that families had little hot water so had to share baths.

What I find abhorrent is when a person that needs a bath gets into the bath to have a wash, gets out and then the next person gets into that same water and does the same and so on. It's not hygienic on any level and neither is it necessary in today's first world lifestyle.

This is different to for example kids getting in together for a splash about or 2 adults getting in together at the same time to relax as generally they would probably hose down after or be clean in the first place anyway.

But it wasn't deprivation, it was just normal. People were as healthy as they are now (I'm talking about the 1970s not the 1870s). So why does something suddenly become abhorrent that was okay a few decades ago? It's not about actual hygiene, but perceptions of it, more shaped by advertisers endlessly telling us we need to kill 99% of germs, etc than by fact. And no, I doubt most kids or adults who bath together would 'hose down after'.

On the bath thing, people can't use the "in years gone by' thing, showers weren't commonplace then!

This all just seems a bit Marie Antoinette: I have all these opportunities to wash that others don't/didn't, so I'm going to use them just for the sake of it! Meanwhile in the real world nobody needs to be cleaner than they were 40 years ago, and it's shocking to be so wasteful of resources just because you can.

My point is why do it? It doesn't save money to get in after someone else. You can even turn the hose off while you lather in the shower. There is zero need to share water

Of course it saves money. Most people have metered water and electricity - the less you use, the less you pay for. That's just the financial cost to individuals, but what about the environmental cost? It all just feels like people are more concerned with their right to clean towels than their children's right to grow old in a stable world. I know there's a limited amount individuals can do compared to large scale government interventions, but surely we should all be using resources more carefully?

There are ones that you can flush, biodegradable, eco-friendly or whatever. You just have to read up/research before buying. Boots, Andrex and other outlets sell them so it isn't difficult. I use those

Apparently this is not the case: "The UK standard of testing is considered a lot more rigorous and includes putting wet wipes through an imitation of the British sewage system. So far, none of the wet wipes sold as flushable has passed." Why you should never flush wetwipes down the toilet

Actually no, I'm wrong. There are some with a 'fine to flush' logo - article is from 2019, and has a pic of the logo.

We cant have wet wipes (Old plumbing)

You shouldn't flush wipes anyway. The only exception are the ones with the very specific "fine to flush" logo - no just all ones that say flushable, septic safe or biodegradable.

www.lanesfordrains.co.uk/domestic/help-advice/using-drains-and-sewers/wipes/

Ugh I have to get this off my chest ... I dont know if its because I come from an OCD family but I've moved in with pil's I cant stand their hygiene standards!
First of all - they let the cat eat up on the table.
They wash both cat and dog bowls with the same sponge that is used to clean out dishes 🤢
They throw tea towels and cleaning cloths in the washing machine with whatever, dirty rugs, underwear, you name it.
They rarely change the washing up sponge! I am always the one that goes it
When they wash up there is usually residue on the plates and cups
Recently had loads of rats in the house and never bothered to get the carpets clean even though they were running wild on them all
Put clean clothes in the bathroom to dry ( incase you didnt know if you dont put the lid down after you flush those particles go into the air and land on the clothes)
Dont know if they let the dog eat of plates but wouldnt be surprised

I wonder if the people collating all the census information are sighing heavily at the revelations on this thread and the missed opportunities to find out what is really happening in the nation.

Forget woke gender claims , there are far more pressing lifestyle issues the nation needs to be aware of , and plan for in the future.

Put clean clothes in the bathroom to dry ( incase you didnt know if you dont put the lid down after you flush those particles go into the air and land on the clothes)

I'd be less worried about clothes and more about tooth brushes.

I wonder if previous generations are a bit more robust against hygeine because they became accustomed to lower standards when they were young?
My Ddad had some questionable habits about food hygeine but was rarely ill. My inlaws are much the same (keeping cheese, sausage rolls out of the fridge for days when the house is about a billion degrees) and they are rarely ill.
MIL is super houseproud and spends days faffing about tidying, cleaning, washing up, rearranging stuff. She boil washes cloths, etc before putting in the washing machine. But she never used bleach or dettol. In the kitchen she just used a damp cloth to wipe everything. I asked her once for some anti bac spray after we had prepared something with raw meat. She laughed and said she wouldn't get food poisoning from not using dettol, and to be fair, she didnt.

I wash the cat's bowls with our stuff I. The dishwasher. It all gets washed with hot water and rinsed well. They're just bowls, that hold food - no different to our own really.
I'm vegetarian and don't have a problem with plates that have had meat on them being washed with what I've used - I'll even eat if those same (clean) plates! It's all clean and rinsed - what's the problem?

@Dee96 loads of rats in the house?? Oh sweet fuck, I couldn’t stay there.

@Pricklypear12

By sharing bath water I mean people going in one after the other, not at the same time. I think getting in the bath together to have a fun splash about with young kids or a romantic soak with OH is fine. It's more when the same bath water is used to "clean" several people.

Why is it different to sit in the Ayer together rather than one after another - it's still the same dirt?

There's nothing better than a diligent dog as a pre-rinse, especially for oven dishes with bits baked on saves me the elbow grease, and saves it being left in the sink 'to soak'

Do people not realise that washing machines and dishwashers CLEAN stuff? If you put dog bowls in with human bowls, the doggy bacteria doesn't leap inexorably onto the human stuff. Everything gets clean.

People were as healthy as they are now (I'm talking about the 1970s not the 1870s).

Are they?

Life expectancy has increased 10 years since 1970. Of course it won't be all due to a decreased rate of infectious diseases, but it will be one factor.

OTOH, looking at diarrheal diseases on this site, I was shocked to notice the peak in deaths by diarrhea between 2000-2010. You'll have to select only the UK on the charts. A more than 10 fold increase from 1990 to 2007!
ourworldindata.org/diarrheal-diseases

eat my own snot

Why? Under what circumstance does that even happen? What a revolting thing to admit to.

@inappropriateraspberry that’s where the logic breaks down..

I haven't bathed in about 2 years ( shower instead )
Don't own a dishwasher . If something is more greasy than usual, change the water in bowl.
I will wear something more than once.
Don't change towels daily .
Have a pet if it wanted to sleep on the bed , it can.
Shock horror , I even wear socks 2 days in a row sometimes !