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?

@GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing

The tolerance of flies in this country really shocks me. British people seem to have no issue with flies crawling on their food, getting on the kitchen surfaces etc.

I am genuinely surprised by this, it’s not my experience at all.

The posts about masks, about washing and there is another 1 about sharing a mask.

Hobbesmanc- I was surprised how dirty rural Japan was when I went there. It wasn’t what I was expecting at all.

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

I have lived in...

• UK
• India
• Saudi Arabia
• USA
• France

And each country has some things or aspects of themselves that
they keep much cleaner than others, and some things they are much more relaxed about cleaning than the others.

I can't say the UK stood out as especially low, tbh.

I wear about 3 bras on a rotation throughout the week and wash them all on a Sunday! So months, at the most one of them will have been worn 3 times throughout the week with days inbetween. I guess that’s quite grim but they’re delicate and bloody expensive and the wear and tear on them in the washing machine means I don’t want to wash them more often. I shower every morning though and often have an additional bath in the evenings so my body never gets really grubby
But seeing how my class wash their hands I would say you’re right, standards had been pretty low until I stood at the sink repeating “hand washing is a 20 second process” 32 times... 5 times a day...

@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?

Finding it hard to take the opinion of a very recent poster seriously.

Are you journalist?

Sorry, I meant new poster.

You're going to hear about the minority stuff, like people not washing bras for months or people who don't clean their teeth much because it's unusual and therefore remarkable. If everyone who kept to standard levels of hygiene banged on about cleaning their teeth 2+ times or washing their bras a reasonable amount, it would put the minority bad hygiene people into perspective. But no one wants to hear about people doing normal things, so the bad hygiene cases stand out and give a false impression that they are a majority.

I think the main thing is people in Britain are more open about themselves doing things that go against social norms, even disgusting things, so you hear about it more. I've seen Brits admit things to their colleagues that astound fellow American colleagues (apparently people don't generally talk about their toilet habits as a matter of routine in the States). I've also seen revolting levels of hygiene in other countries, including places people think of as obsessed with cleanliness (no mentioning names here, cough Japan cough). Maybe the gross people in other countries don't admit it as much?

That should have said "cleaning their teeth 2+ times a day haha. Not ever!

Maybe it's those kind of typos that are giving a false impression of our hygiene standards?

@the80sweregreat

Some public places are not that clean really ( I guess that cleaners are not hired or they hire too few of them to really deep clean everything) I was a cleaner for a while and they expected loads : it was honestly too much for one person to clean lights and the loos and mop and sweep an entire restaurant on your own. When I pointed this out I was told I was being ridiculous although it was obvious they needed a team of cleaners to do it properly! Hence things are missed. It wasn't seen as a necessity for them to hire cleaners. Plenty of managers though. Things are a bit better now since covid in some stores , but mostly places are pretty bad I agree. Personal hygiene is another matter. I always wash my bras after one wash and shower daily like clean clothes , clean my teeth , go to the dentist etc A bar of soap or toothpaste is pennies and it doesn't cost much to keep clean really. Maybe it's how your brought up ? My own parents were clean and the house was immaculate.

I agree with this, personal hygiene is a separate thing, and a personal thing, depending on what you do and what age you are kind of dictates how much you need to wash really.

But when it comes to commercial places being kept clean it's my experience it boils down to money and not hiring enough people to get the job done properly, expecting too much in the time allowed and not getting decent (or any!) Cleaning products, yet expecting the highest standards of cleanliness.
Unfortunately cleaning takes time, no matter how it's dressed up.

That said I do think some people are a bit OTT where cleanliness is concerned and think bleaching everything in sight every 10 minutes might cause more problems than it solves.

I think that too much cleaning is as bad for health as not enough.

I don’t think it’s especially bad but as others have said personal hygiene and cleanliness of public places or workplaces is different.

I agree OP. From wearing outside shoes indoors to people not washing their hands after being on public transport (pre pandemic anyway) to putting handbags on bus floor then on tables etc etc etc.

Every week (pre pandemic) I used to clean my own office desk, phone etc as the standards were so low. I was once hot desking and I always clean the phone on the desk I'm using. Well....it was absolutely bogging...there was yellow earwax all round the bit in the centre!

Huge sweeping generalisation. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t wash their bra for months or who doesn’t brush their teeth... You obviously know some very stinky people. I don’t think this is the norm at all.

I am not a new poster, I just name change frequently because of poor data protection here.
I agree there is a minority of British people who go the other way and bleach everything in sight. But there was a recent survey published nationally that said about one-eighth of British people did not clean their teeth every day. A minority, but a big one.
I go to swimming pools and am disgusted at how dirty changing rooms are.
The office I worked in until working from home, the light switches, door handles were never cleaned. Desks and surfaces were cleaned about once every two months. Hoovering was done about every three to four days. Maybe it was supposed to be more frequently, but I got into the office at 7am and so saw what was actually done.
As I said Britain is good at keeping the toilets clean, people do seem to care about that. But a lot of other public places are filthy.

I would argue hygiene in Britain is actually quite high compared to most places in the world...

@GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing

The tolerance of flies in this country really shocks me. British people seem to have no issue with flies crawling on their food, getting on the kitchen surfaces etc.

Not at all! I live in the country and the flies from the farm next door are a menace.

I have one of those UV light zapper things in the kitchen to deal with them

‘But there was a recent survey published nationally that said about one-eighth of British people did not clean their teeth every day. A minority, but a big one.‘

One eighth?

Where would I find this survey?

@Skinnytailedsquirrel I am so glad I have never had to hot desk. I clean my keyboard once a week, so not over the top, but it does need cleaned. The same with office phones, they quickly get filthy.
And the threads on here pre pandemic with many people justifying not washing their hands after going to the toilet.
Most people look neat and clean, but the reality is different.

@VladmirsPoutine

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

I kiss my dog, why on earth wouldn’t I? She’s absolutely adorable.

I was surprised at the face mask post, I thought the % of people who voted that they should be washed every day would be in the 90s, but still 60% said they should be, so it was still a minority who disagreed, just a bigger minority than I thought

Oh bore off

I think we get the balance about right. Which countries have clearly better hygiene?