To think hygiene standards are low in Britain?

[castemary]

This obviously does not apply to everyone. But in Britain, I think there is a general acceptance of fairly low hygiene standards. I see it in several areas.
With individuals you have people telling everyone they do not wash bras for months, do not clean their teeth every day, do not wash face masks every day.
In public areas, offices and shops the cleaning often consist of no more than a quick hoover occasionally, a mop and a bit of damp wiping. Apart from toilets, places are rarely properly cleaned.
I think most people simply do not realise how unhygienic Britain is until they go to countries that do have a good standard of hygiene. There seems to be a lot of emphasis in Britain on superficial things that make places look good such as scatter cushions or make-up, and not on basic hygiene and cleanliness.
AIBU?

You didnt clarify which are wealthy the South Asian countries with high hygiene standards ?

I don't really understand these threads about hygiene. If people don't clean their teeth or wash their bras why are you so bothered about it? It's not what I'd do but I'm not going to worry about it, it's their choice and their problem. Pre pandemic there were people in my office who would regularly steam clean their keyboards and disinfect their desk every day. It was OTT and unnecessary, if you are never exposed to any germs you will not have any immunity to them. There are people on here who really need to chill out about cleaning.

They are studies indicating that over cleaning is contributing to a massive increase in allergies in kids.

‘DH/family smell my pits and wonder why I don’t smell‘

Best post of the thread.
I am crying with laughter at the image of your family crowding round smelling your armpits of an evening. Have you considered getting Netflix? 😂

@Ofallthethings

I don't really understand these threads about hygiene. If people don't clean their teeth or wash their bras why are you so bothered about it? It's not what I'd do but I'm not going to worry about it, it's their choice and their problem. Pre pandemic there were people in my office who would regularly steam clean their keyboards and disinfect their desk every day. It was OTT and unnecessary, if you are never exposed to any germs you will not have any immunity to them. There are people on here who really need to chill out about cleaning.

Couldn't have put it better myself 👏

All the bleach queens I know are often sick with gastro ailments.

I clean my teeth every day and wash my clothes, but otherwise live a fairly mucky outdoors sort of life with dogs and cats inside shedding their hair everywhere. I rarely clean my keyboard.

I am hardly ever sick and have a great immune system, as do my children. In fact, both of them have never had a day sick from high school.

There was someone the other day who was blatantly proud she only bathed/showered every third day. Her nether regions must jank.
The soap dodgers are usually the ones spouting off about the environment too, just wash your smelly body fgs.
We’re also viewing houses, jeez, that’s another eye opener, people clearly don’t clean their homes.

Very much agree re excessive cleaning and poor immunity. The people I know who wash bedding and towels very frequently and bleach kitchen surfaces and sinks daily are the same ones who seem to get coughs, colds and stomach bugs more often.

Me and my two DCs rarely get a cold (DH gets one probably every other year so I reckon he’s an anomaly 😆) and I can’t remember any of us having D&V in the past 10 years or so. I appreciate there is luck involved too and I am grateful for that, but I like to think that exposure to a few germs has helped.

The soap dodgers are usually the ones spouting off about the environment too

Yeah, fuck the environment, innit?

I do not think people understand hygiene. It is not about bleaching surfaces. That is not a good idea.
But basic hygiene is lacking. I was taught as a child to wash my hands before eating. In Britain, it seems rare to get your children to do this unless their hands are visibly dirty.
Schools were complaining at the beginning of the pandemic that they do not have enough sinks for all children to wash their hands before they eat.
I think this is very basic hygiene. It is not bleaching every surface within an inch of its life or following Mrs Hinch. But very basic hygiene.

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel

Who doesn’t wash their bra for months? I have never heard of that.

Some places are definitely cleaner than the UK, but this post generalises rather.

Thread after thread after thread 🤮

And I have read threads on here of multiple people boasting they do not wash their hands after a wee.
Yes, it is a minority, but a pretty large minority.
I was taken aback by the masked thread as well. No wonder people are complaining that wearing masks gives them spots. Just wash them.
In very poor countries with difficult access to clean water you can understand hygiene being poor. But generally people in this country just turn a tap on.

@castemary

And I have read threads on here of multiple people boasting they do not wash their hands after a wee. Yes, it is a minority, but a pretty large minority. I was taken aback by the masked thread as well. No wonder people are complaining that wearing masks gives them spots. Just wash them. In very poor countries with difficult access to clean water you can understand hygiene being poor. But generally people in this country just turn a tap on.

Please tell us where in South Asia has great hygiene?

Yes, it is a minority, but a pretty large minority.

It was not a large minority at all 😂

@castemary

And I have read threads on here of multiple people boasting they do not wash their hands after a wee. Yes, it is a minority, but a pretty large minority. I was taken aback by the masked thread as well. No wonder people are complaining that wearing masks gives them spots. Just wash them. In very poor countries with difficult access to clean water you can understand hygiene being poor. But generally people in this country just turn a tap on.

Pretty large minority? 🤣

I don’t know how you can generalise like this. I know clean Brits, dirty Brits, clean Germans, dirty Germans, clean French people and dirty French people. One thing you can really not do about the Brits is generalise. We are a nation of individualists and basically do what we think is right, or we don’t think about it at all. Basically we are all different. We all have differing standards from family to family, upbringing to upbringing. You can’t possibly say the UK is dirty unless you have been exposed to a LOT of peoples’ houses and offices and spaces. Yes there are a lot of minging offices in the UK but I bet there are in France, Germany, Spain, Hungary, etc etc. By the way, I don’t mean to be rude OP but you sound quite snobby from your posts. Perhaps it’s time to lighten up and be thankful for what you have rather than finding things to come on here and complain about?

@ClawedButler

Sorry, I mean to comment earlier but I've been trapped under a mantle of filth

Snorting with laughter here, you’ve made my day !

Where I live it's quite common to find vomit in shop doorways and spattered up the side of the building. It just gets left there for the rain I'm guessing. How hard is it to go out with a bucket of soapy water to keep your business looking presentable?

I'm going to entirely miss the point and be fascinated by Svalbard shoe-etiquette. I mean, in the high Arctic you'd think you'd want to keep your wee soft pinkies covered, lest they get frostbitten and drop off?

I see people kissing their dogs, letting their dc crawl over shop floors etc. I honestly wonder how some people manage.

@VladmirsPoutine Reading this post, I honestly wonder how some people manage.

People have different standards on many things and what doesn’t hurt others is just that. Not accepting it is called intolerance.

@maddiemookins16mum I used to shower every 3rd day until I started running. I don’t get sweaty unless I’ve been running (or it’s exceptionally hot). I wouldn’t go longer than 3 days but every third day was best for me and my dry eczema. My vagina and it’s surrounding area isn’t smelly so I would assume different body types have different showering needs. I wear fresh clothes every day. Now I shower most evenings if I’ve been running and have to use a lot of steroid cream for my eczema.

@RadicalFern

You're not supposed to wash meat! All it does is spread any potential bacteria around your sink!

Exactly! Shudder at the thought of anyone washing meat, especially chicken, potentially spreading germs everywhere, and then preaching that they have good hygiene standards and looking down their nose at homemade cakes.... I sincerely hope they don't cook for others!

What IS skin toning ?
Endorsed above.
DD has skin toner products.
They seem to be mostly alcohol, so they dry the skin out (right?)

I never figured out why have this routine:
apply soap (from skin remove natural oils and a tiny bit of dirt, tinier bit of bacteria)
rinse soap off with some water (add some water to skin maybe)
moisturiser (add artificial oils, and maybe some bacteria)
toner (kill tiny number of bacteria, strip moisture out of skin)

It just seems so pointless other than removing a bit of dirt. Especially the "toner" step

Op, your disdain is showing!

Having grown up in a family of 7 with one bath and no shower, I know some people have little choice. Perhaps you could remember that.
We always did hands and face before meals, teeth twice a day, but as children we played in barns, swam in the local stream and crawled around shop floors too. Average family life expectancy last generation was 92. Two centurions.No-one with allergies or health problems. My ds can get as mucky as he wishes, with my blessing