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?

Have you ever walked through the streets of Paris?

Last time I went to Paris, one of the first things I saw was a man pissing openly in the street. One of the next things I saw was a woman shitting openly on the Champs Elysee.
If I was Coolandcalmy I'd immediately draw the conclusion that all French people did this, and accepted it as normal.
Luckily, I'm not unhinged.

@deydododatdodontdeydo
"That's illegal in the UK, which is why you have a separate person taking money or they remove gloves. If you see people doing it, they're breaking the law. We have excellent food hygeine inspection systems here."

Well, up and down the country cafes are breaking the law filling panini and baps with tuna mayo etc. Apart from department store cafes I truly cannot recall seeing a cafe with a cashier reserved strictly for taking payment.

Calling me names isn’t going to change the poor hygiene in this country is it? Getting touchy and hysterical won’t magic away the problem. My OCD that manifests itself only in this country is the point. That’s because poor hygiene is noticeable and prevalent here. That’s the point!

Stop hopping mad about my OCD, it’s existence or lack thereof, why I am in this country or not, whether I am a fool or not or whatever else and consider the problem of poor hygiene in this country. I am not the cause of the poor and ingrained hygiene issues and practices here.

@Coolandclamy

Calling me names isn’t going to change the poor hygiene in this country is it? Getting touchy and hysterical won’t magic away the problem. My OCD that manifests itself only in this country is the point. That’s because poor hygiene is noticeable and prevalent here. That’s the point!

Stop hopping mad about my OCD, it’s existence or lack thereof, why I am in this country or not, whether I am a fool or not or whatever else and consider the problem of poor hygiene in this country. I am not the cause of the poor and ingrained hygiene issues and practices here.

Where you from? What do they do where your from that we could learn from here?

you’re

As someone who's travelled around the US and Europe I can't say I've noticed substantial differences in hygiene between countries.

Agree the Paris metro smells of urine but then so do some of the streets in London.

I noticed a lot of litter in some roadside areas of Greece but then we're hardly litter free in the UK.

I've found dirty bathrooms and clean bathrooms in all countries.

Not really sure there's much point arguing over who's country is dirtiest.

Back when I was a teen we stayed in the Paris apartment of some very wealthy friends of my parents. It was just off the Champs Elysees and super posh.

They were away when we stayed and it looked immaculate but we noticed that the toilet bowls in each of their four toilets were completely brown. We thought it was just because they were old, but my mum then used a toilet brush on one and realised it was just 'dirt'!

She then cleaned all of them with bleach - it took about 15 minutes in all. They had a cleaner and we couldn't understand why the toilets were never cleaned properly!

@Coolandclamy

Lifespan does not equate to how healthy a person is.

Actually, I think you’ll find that it does! 🙄

I read through the whole thread, it seems most of us are pretty average in what we do & don't do (well, apart from Coolandclamy) but no-one's yet mentioned the thing that really sets my teeth on edge - when did that habit start, of female doctors in hospitals dragging their handbags around with them? eeewww.. over their shoulders & dangling on beds when they've probably previously been on car floors or worse, public transport, shop counters etc.. is it just me? :-0

I have very high standards of hygiene I don't wear bras everyday, wash them after wearing and wash the mask when I can . I clean up frequently. I shower everyday and sometimes twice a day. Dunno what English people you've met. Though bras aren't really private parts and I've been known to wear more than once if they don't smell.

Standards all round have dropped, food hygiene in shops is not good and if you complain you get abuse. he ONLY improvement is personal hygiene now we have indoor bath rooms and toilets.

@Coolandclamy

Calling me names isn’t going to change the poor hygiene in this country is it? Getting touchy and hysterical won’t magic away the problem. My OCD that manifests itself only in this country is the point. That’s because poor hygiene is noticeable and prevalent here. That’s the point!

Stop hopping mad about my OCD, it’s existence or lack thereof, why I am in this country or not, whether I am a fool or not or whatever else and consider the problem of poor hygiene in this country. I am not the cause of the poor and ingrained hygiene issues and practices here.

to be fair you are the one that is touchy and hysterical , you have ocd and it would be manifesting itself in any country that you feel isnt quite up to your standards . no one is mad about your ocd either , its your problem thank god . the supposed poor hygiene is noticeable and prevelent to you , not to many other people . you are the one that is a slave to it , whilst you are busy looking down your noses at us filthy english who might not be showering twice daily i feel sorry for you , it must be wearying living in a country you regard as dirty to the point you are paranoid about what you are touching and cant even accept a cup of fricken coffee in someones house in case they havent soaked the cup in bleach first or whatever it is they are meant to be doing to suit your standards , its also not only this country your ocd will manifest in , there are many countries like a lot in the far east , middle east that have far lower standards than ours , india , bangladesh ,egypt for example . 3 countries iv always wanted to visit ,but i suspect you never would be able to without having a meltdown

@Coolandclamy

Calling me names isn’t going to change the poor hygiene in this country is it? Getting touchy and hysterical won’t magic away the problem. My OCD that manifests itself only in this country is the point. That’s because poor hygiene is noticeable and prevalent here. That’s the point!

Stop hopping mad about my OCD, it’s existence or lack thereof, why I am in this country or not, whether I am a fool or not or whatever else and consider the problem of poor hygiene in this country. I am not the cause of the poor and ingrained hygiene issues and practices here.

Not calling you names. Just stating fact 👌

I have one of those mesh umbrellas that go over food, never leave food unwrapped, if it's open it goes in Tupperware or fridge. I'm not over the top about cleaning but food hygiene I am. I hate air fresheners with a passion, if your home smells, clean the bin, litter tray and open windows dont cover nasty with nice.

I have ocd but not about cleaning, locking doors is a nightmare been known to drive twenty miles home to check again again again. Neighbours think I'm batshit loony. Happened after an illness. Not fun.

I find people who say, my home is immaculate, generally I'm shocked at. Then you get those that moan about the state of their home and it's like a new pin. Mine is somewhere in the middle, to me anyway!

Have you never been to a motorway service station in France, op? Loos are holes in the ground, the vast majority of people come out and don't wash their hands (sinks are communal, outside the loos). Britain - and most Brits - is about a million times cleaner.

Litter trays indoors 🤢
I don’t understand why people would encourage a cat to poo indoors. The tray’s often kept in the kitchen too!

Using warm running water and soap to wash yourself after using the loo is always going to clean better than dry paper. A jet of warm water is great when you’re on your period too or have cystitis/post partum stinging! I’m surprised the U.K. hadn’t cottoned on to this yet. Wet wipes are better than dry loo paper but still don’t clean properly, or we’d use wet wipes on our hands instead of soap and running water?

If you got poo, wee or blood on any other body part you’d wash it off with soap and water. Just because we wear undies doesn’t mean it’s ok not to clean ourselves?

And - France again - the number of men peeing in the street? Revolting. And pooing...

And I love France.

@bluebell34567

they say they clean the trains. they mean they sprayed them with antibacterials etc. not actually cleaning, wiping seats. even the floors look cleaner than the seats. i wouldnt dare to go to a public toilet. i couldnt touch anywhere, even the doors of toilets, forget about sitting on a toilet. i dont know with which cloth they are cleaned. if they were checked i am sure many millions of bacteria will be found.

How on earth do you manage without ever using a public toilet @bluebell34567?

I can never get through an evening in a pub or restaurant, theatre or cinema without having a wee at some point. I'd have to stop for an alfresco piss on the way home if I didn't go to the lav before leaving.

And what about on long journeys? A five or six hour drive requires at least one piss stop en route, and given that the 50-mile train journey back from London to my house has been known to take 4 hours or more on occasions (thank you, Thameslink), I have had to use station bogs loads of times.

If you have some magic bladder control secret, I'd love to hear it.

I want to know why this is a problem. Why does it matter if someone is using a "visibly filthy keyboard" or only washes their face mask once a month. Does it make them ill? Does it make them smell? Does it affect their life or the lives of others? If not then why does it matter?

I believe in cleanliness like nothing worse than seeing piles of dust or rubbish or dirty surfaces especially in public places , an shocked by number of people that still don't practice hand hygiene even in times of covid , I do also believe far too much use of anti bacterial cleaners/bleach are more harmful to children than a bit of bacteria i know of at least 3 people obsessive with cleanliness and their kids always off sick , its good for children to build up immunity, I now live with my 92 yr old mother and her hygiene levels are shocking now lol wonder don't get anything, worse is when I've cleaned surface with clean cloth then she goes over it with a dirty old thing put to side to be chucked, 🙄

My OCD that manifests itself only in this country is the point. That’s because poor hygiene is noticeable and prevalent here. That’s the point!

But as others have said you can't pick and choose when you have ocd, you either have it or you don't. You don't, HTH.

Litter tray in kitchen, guilty!
Sink bowl, guilty!
Carpets, guilty!
Cat on bed, guilty!
Cluttered, guilty!
Anyone fancy a cuppa at mine 🤣🤣

@BeneathYourWisdom

Litter trays indoors 🤢 I don’t understand why people would encourage a cat to poo indoors. The tray’s often kept in the kitchen too!

Using warm running water and soap to wash yourself after using the loo is always going to clean better than dry paper. A jet of warm water is great when you’re on your period too or have cystitis/post partum stinging! I’m surprised the U.K. hadn’t cottoned on to this yet. Wet wipes are better than dry loo paper but still don’t clean properly, or we’d use wet wipes on our hands instead of soap and running water?

If you got poo, wee or blood on any other body part you’d wash it off with soap and water. Just because we wear undies doesn’t mean it’s ok not to clean ourselves?

Indoor cats? Or would you prefer my cats to shit in your garden?