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?

I also agree about how vile it is to wear shoes in doors. Have 10 showed a week, clean your teeth 3 times a day but if you wear shoes inside then your a minger!

@NoSquirrels I have never seen a shoe rack outside the changing room or in the lobby in any swimming pool in Britain.
Changing rooms in British pools are usually rank.

I don’t find our hospitals particularly clean. I haven’t been in one since before covid though.

How utterly bizarre.

I would say Britain is more hygienic than the majority of countries.

If you are mixing with people who don't wash their bra or hands for months then you need to look at your friendship group, Op. They do sound particularly scummy.

[quote castemary]@NoSquirrels I have never seen a shoe rack outside the changing room or in the lobby in any swimming pool in Britain.
Changing rooms in British pools are usually rank.[/quote]
Delightful

Maybe go and live somewhere else where you can sneer about us from afar.

It took a pandemic for some people to wash their hands! Before Covid, people would cough or sneeze in other people's faces without turning away or using their elbow. Lacking basic hygiene and courtesy. I remember when I saw photos from a friend visiting her family in Japan. I was struck by how clean everything was. Even the roads.

I've recently moved houses and landlord sent 2 different cleaners to clean the house over 2 days and in the end, I paid for my own regular cleaner who isn't from the UK originally to come and give the house a good clean. That's the standard the UK is at with cleaning and hygiene. Shoes indoors, pets, potty in the kitchen sink is what I've seen recently when viewing houses. People don't air their houses, clean their toilets, kitchen and bathrooms properly. The amount of money people spend on technology, grey coloured interior and homeware clutter, one would think they could spend that money to their fucking fridge cleaned before it becomes a breeding ground for salmonella and listeria.

@tricyclepop

I've recently moved houses and landlord sent 2 different cleaners to clean the house over 2 days and in the end, I paid for my own regular cleaner who isn't from the UK originally to come and give the house a good clean. That's the standard the UK is at with cleaning and hygiene. Shoes indoors, pets, potty in the kitchen sink is what I've seen recently when viewing houses. People don't air their houses, clean their toilets, kitchen and bathrooms properly. The amount of money people spend on technology, grey coloured interior and homeware clutter, one would think they could spend that money to their fucking fridge cleaned before it becomes a breeding ground for salmonella and listeria.

True

Original poster I agree with the thrust of your opinion. However having previously visited countless nations for work, family and pleasure I would probably place British standards mid to high in a relative hygiene cultural expectations table. From my experience Britain falls far behind the likes of Japan, Switzerland, Nordics, Canada and New Zealand. No offence intended (of course) but TfL Underground is another world from the cleanliness of trains in Hong Kong, Singapore amongst countless others. The pandemic may have upped our game but many nations were using UV light deep cleaning for years as this is still quite a new concept in Britain.

Haven't read all the posts. But, having travelled a bit, I can reassure you that, by and large, British standards are better than most. But you're right, our standards have gone down. And are disgusting. Yuk.

I think using dry toilet tissue is honestly quite grim and I couldn't go back from wet tissues. My French mate once asked "If you got shit on your face would you wash it off or rub it with a dry napkin?" and I think he has a point.

Of course it isn't an issue for most as it feels dry and they shower daily, but the thought of just dry rubbing poo against my skin is a bit eugh. 🤮

The British Beer garden is a wasp magnet because unlike abroad rarely gets hosed down and properly cleaned.
Abroad, all furniture znd patio floor is thoroughly cleaned and hosed diwn every single day. Here it's just a wipe of the tables and sticky mess pretty much everywhere.

@BeneathYourWisdom

I still can’t believe it’s not yet the norm here to have a hose installed next to the loo, and wash yourself with warm running water instead of dry paper! Dry toilet paper, why? If you don’t have a hose or jug you could at least use wet wipes or that foamy gel stuff on the paper. I’ve lived abroad and going back to English bathrooms can be a shock.

Even the layout is often unhygienic eg toothbrushes stored next to the loo so every time it’s flushed they get splashed with loo germs. The fastest way to spread norovirus and other bugs! Mouldy carpet edges and poor ventilation so everything stays damp.

I think carpet in bathrooms is very unhygienic. Wet rooms are much better, you just disinfect the floor and hose it down. In many countries kitchen floors have drains too, so when you’ve finished cooking you spray it then hose it down and all the dirty water goes down a drain. Saves using a grubby mop and you know it’s always clean, no splashes of oil or sauce or juice left for weeks to gather bacteria and fluff.

I’m shocked people don’t always clean their kitchen and bathroom sinks daily, clean their loo after each use and generally keep on top of basic hygiene like wiping down surfaces with Dettol before and after food prep.

I think it’s important to shower before going to work if you’ll be in close proximity to others, use anti perspirant and wear freshly washed clothes. With close family it’s still good hygiene to wash hands regularly, clean and floss teeth twice a day and wash feet, armpits, genital area, face every morning even if not taking a shower. Plus clean underwear.

Obviously if someone has disabilities or these self care tasks use up a lot of energy it’s a different matter. But a lot of people without disabilities don’t seem to care/notice if they’re wearing the same clothes to work day after day or have greasy hair and dandruff or smell of stale sweat.

I also think it’s really grim to wear outdoor shoes indoors (unheard of in much of the world, and the height of rudeness in many countries). Carpet or rugs or wooden floors, why bring pavement dirt and bacteria into your home?

I’m also not keen on pets indoors unless they have a specific room, their own bed in that room and this room is thoroughly cleaned and vacuumed daily to prevent pet smell and shedded hair building up. Let alone pets in kitchens.

I also think many people don’t understand bacteria and viruses and how they spread, eg damp towels and damp bath robes are a breeding ground for microbes, and bacteria can quickly multiply on uncovered food left out of the fridge.

Same with dust and limescale, if you keep on top of it there’s no build up. And washing machines, why don’t people clean the filter and run the machine on a hot cycle every month at least?

This.

@CherryJane

The British Beer garden is a wasp magnet because unlike abroad rarely gets hosed down and properly cleaned. Abroad, all furniture znd patio floor is thoroughly cleaned and hosed diwn every single day. Here it's just a wipe of the tables and sticky mess pretty much everywhere.

To be fair to publicans in the UK, if you ‘hosed down’ the average Great British beer garden every day, you’d have a waterlogged and muddy swamp during an average Great British soggy summer. We’re not really the same climate as ‘abroad’ (wherever exactly that is you’re thinking of )

Someone needs to explain to me why washing up bowls are a problem

Because people fill a bowl with soapy water and dip all the dirty stuff in to wipe or soak then put it to drain without rinsing?

I wash crockery under hot running water with a soapy sponge if it can’t go in the dishwasher!

Washing up bowl water ends up cool and full of bits of food!

[quote castemary]@NoSquirrels I have never seen a shoe rack outside the changing room or in the lobby in any swimming pool in Britain.
Changing rooms in British pools are usually rank.[/quote]
Then we live in entirely different Britains, clearly, as I’ve never seen a changing room without a ‘please remove your shoes’ sign. How odd.

Bum gun is a hose pipe with shower head, in other words have a shower every time you use the bog

I’ve never heard it called that 😂 Here it’s a hose (I went to huge expense to get one plumbed into every bathroom). So I can wash with warm running water. And just use loo roll to pat dry. Great for before and after sex too or after giving birth or when you’re on your period, you can adjust the temp and flow to suit.

Basically the equivalent of a bidet without having to straddle an extra porcelain thing, you use the hose on the loo instead.

They come in handy for power washing the sink and loo as well 😂

In tropical countries if you leave food out overnight cockroaches are likely to appear and crawl in through air conditioning units. We don't have to contend with that so can be more complacent

True.

But in England we still have ants, carpet beetles, moths, silverfish and other creepy crawlies. And all sorts of beetles that try to get into food eg weevils!

I agree , carpets in bathrooms just one example. Standards in restaurants yuk. I have lived in Italy and Holland and honestly people do seem to have much higher standards of cleanliness there. Take outdoor shoes worn inside as one example , go to a pub, go to the loo, then walk inside thought house with piss stained shoes.

I think we've often too clean and need a few bacteria around.

I’m intrigued to know at what point on her extensive travels the OP deems it appropriate to ask the women of that country she’s in , how often they wash their bras?

BTW are you saying I shouldn’t have a cat as he doesn’t have his own bedroom? I’m worried he’s deprived as he has to sleep in the living room!

No I think you should do what you like. It’s personal choice. Just because I wouldn’t have a cat in my living room doesn’t mean others shouldn’t. Actually I confess, I lived in a shared house with a cat once and um he slept in my bed! But he also brought in lots of half dead creatures from his hunting trips, left a coating of fluff on all the furniture and once gave me cellulitis after biting my ankle. And brought in fleas, we had to get pest control to deal with the fleas in the carpets.

So no I’d not have an indoor cat now. I’d have an outdoor one provided he stayed in the conservatory and garden!

Each to their own I guess. I just don't see much of this as necessary in the UK's climate. Life feels way way too short!

Our climate is damp and mild (albeit less dusty than I’m used to) but means everything is prone to mould unless you clean and ventilate well and keep on top of stuff like floors and limescale. I see it as maintenance so I don’t have to do a massive clean every few weeks.

I have never seen a shoe rack outside the changing room or in the lobby in any swimming pool in Britain. Changing rooms in British pools are usually rank.

Same here, the floor is usually muddy from people wearing shoes on the wet bits! And I always worry about catching veruccas or fungal infections now they’ve done away with foot baths, so I wear swim socks (to protect my feet and grip, not because I need to protect others from my feet!)