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?

@Mrgrinch are you really shocked by that though? I mean genuinely shocked. Or are you just making a point about how clean you are.

How do you have the time to wash 4 towels a day? Do you not have better things to do with your time? Because realistically I get out of the shower clean, the towel touches my body for 10 minutes maybe. Its fine.

The thought of snot sucking makes me want to puke.

Sharing bath water, only if I get to go first.

Animals licking bowls, washing them in a dishwasher, not an issue at all. Anything that goes through a full cycle in mine is completely sterile so not an issue at all.

In the 70's people regularly shared bathwater, as the water heaters only heated enough for one bath, then took ages to heat another tank full. I really don't see the issue with shower weeing, I mean it's instantly washed down the plughole, what is the problem?!

I'm happy for my cat to sleep on my bed (she very rarely does as she likes to be outdoors all night)

People wash their towels after one use? As per the wet wipes comment above, that really is grim for the environment.
Of course hygiene is important round e.g. toilet & food prep, Covid precautions but since we all have about 3 times as many microbes in/on our body as human cells, maybe we should just all chill out a bit and recognise that ‘ick’ may not be logical or harmful. We are never going to be sterile!

(the microbial cells are maybe 1/100th the size of ours by the way)

Not peeing in the shower? Why not it all goes down the plughole so what's the big deal?

I find that people are very scared of threadworms on here-they were even mentioned on the pjs in supermarkets thread. I’ve never had them (or been aware/any symptoms) or put much thought into avoiding them actively. And surely if you did get these, they’re easily treated?people seem to be terrified of towels, wash bedding ALL the time, and clean the bath thoroughly between uses to avoid worms. I didn’t even really know they were a thing

Putting pet bowls in the dishwasher with your own plates is fine.

The dishwasher cycles at 60 to 70C for the wash and over 80C for the rinse. By contrast, water over 44C can cause scalding if you are hand washing your dishes in the sink, so the dishwasher is far more hygienic.
I have put my cat’s bowls in the dishwasher along with mine and the family’s crockery for over 35 years - we have never had a problem.
The PPs who are so keen on wet wipes for toilet hygiene - I hope you are not flushing them away, as they cause blockages in sewer pipes and act as foci for fatbergs to accumulate. Dry lavatory paper by contrast disintegrates on flushing.

I have a friend that thinks we're disgusting for putting the dog's bowls in the dishwasher/running stuff through the canine pre-wash cycle etc. She's happy for her dog to leap all over her sofas & beds/pillows, kiss her etc but draws the line at, shock horror, dog food remains going anywhere near the dishwasher. Anyone sensible that has ever opened the dishwasher mid-cycle to retrieve something knows that the temperature is plenty hot enough to kill any germs.
Same woman is certainly happy to eat in plenty of restaurants and put cutlery in her mouth/use a glass or cup and not know where that stuff has been previously!

@StellaKowalski c'mon, we all love it really!

When I was a kid the whole family of six shared the bathwater. Once a week. I was last in and used to play with the scum. I lived.

@StellaKowalski

Oh good, another competitive cleanliness thread

At least I don't expect to have the usual pps claiming that not washing hands is fine and healthy.

I don't care what other people do or don't do to keep themselves clean, as long as they're not smelly and in close vicinity to me.

However, please, please, please don't put wet wipes down the loo, if you do use them. They're blocking the sewers up and doing horrendous damage to the environment. Don't put anything down the loo, actually, except loo paper.

www.lanesfordrains.co.uk/domestic/help-advice/using-drains-and-sewers/wipes/#:~:text=Never%2C%20ever%2C%20put%20wipes%20down,take%20500%20years%20to%20decompose.

Like none of these things do I find particularly disgusting, even if I wouldn't do them.

Its not like eating poo or something that's genuinely disgusting (or unblocking a sewer because of all the wet wipes). I just can't muster up any shock or horror at someone else's cleanliness, because its them who has to live with it not me

The only thing I've seen on MN recently that I thought was genuinely vile was the thread about not washing hands if you've only had a quick wee.

Amazing when people argue that none of the disgusting habits have killed them so it’s fine. Very low bar for hygiene standards.

I wonder how many of these things are actually backed up by evidence that it's unhygienic and bad for us.

I don't have dogs and never have but I would have thought a dishwasher washes at a really high temperature to kill germs and bacteria etc. Isn't it just the idea of eating where a dog has eaten that creeps people out rather than there being an actual hygiene reason?

Also while I wash every day and would feel weird not to there's some evidence that it's not the best for our skin and hair. Some of these are just cultural rather than good for us.

Also never knew that using toilet paper was considered weird. What do people do in public toilets? Do you carry around wet wipes in your bag?

@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?

I used to wash the cats bowls when I had them - not every time but occasionally in the dishwasher - they weren't touching other plates closely though

I don't know anyone who has wet wipes in their toilet. It's a fairly recent thing and most people just use toilet paper.

Up until a few months ago I hated when MIL would let her dog eat the leftovers off her plate etc. Then we got a dog and she loves nothing better than to come over when I'm finished to see what I've left her. The plates get washed in hot water so I know they're clean. My mother was horrified at first, now she asks the dog for kisses lol

I mean, leggings are pretty easy to launder, don't need ironed and don't cost that much. Just sayin'

Why do it though? There's nothing wrong with wearing something more than once. It's much better for the environment not to wash things that often, both because of the washing itself and the increased wear on the clothes.

Same with towels. I've washed myself, then I dry myself. There may be a few dead skins cells on the towel then, but guess what, there are a whole load more on me.

No wonder the environment is fucked.

For the record, I’ve sucked snot out of my baby’s congested nose. It’s something you just don’t think about when a tiny baby is crying in pain and not breathing clearly. More effective than the nasal sucker you’d use for toddlers

Ha, according to this thread, I have discovered I am the most disgusting thing.
I let my dog pre-wash my plates. No dishwasher so they get handwashed.
Let her sleep in my bed with me.
Have gone a couple of months without changing my bedding.
Do the "sniff test" on clothing to see if I can get more wear out of it.
Have worn PJs outside the house.

I live alone though so I am only accountable to myself, along with having depression which would be a reason I am gross on a few points too.

@Catwoman123

You could wet the tissue first then wipe which is what most people I know do and what I've taught my kids. Eww when thought if dry wiping

But wet tissues disintegrates so you would get poo/wee on your fingers

Theres obviously a difference between something being actually unhygienic and therefore a possibility of causing harm and just finding something repulsive...

@sst1234

Amazing when people argue that none of the disgusting habits have killed them so it’s fine. Very low bar for hygiene standards.

Indeed, it is hard to have pps claiming that their disgusting habits have killed them. Some selection bias there.