Washing hands before eating

[Saurdaysarentwhattheyusedtobe]

Do you do it?

Do you make your Dc do it?

Always and always. Older DC got OCD so I have to tell him to stop washing his hands...
I can't believe some people don't wash their hands before eating. It's really disgusting, even just touching your phone you'll have plenty of microbes on your hands. No problem but when said microbes go into your mouth that's another story. I'm rarely sick and my children either.

I'm often surprised in real life how many people don't even wash hands before preparing food for others

Nor do I, but I do have to touch the loo to flush it. And hand washing after using the loo is a pretty basic level of hygiene.

I am not an obsessive hand washer by any stretch, but to selectively only wash after a poo is mind bogglingly disgusting. There is a gulf between washing every 2 minutes and revolting.

Don't you flush?

You do realise that loo roll is not impenetrable? Germs can get through quite a number of layers of toilet paper so while you may think you are only touching the paper, you're actually touching a lot more.

I worked at a racing yard briefly where we skipped out with just hands and skip bucket - you were considered "a bit of a sissy" (head groom's words, 1996) if you wore gloves. Nothing like the scent of manure from under your nails when you're eating your sandwiches!

These days I'm very cautious though, I hand wash a lot and I'm having treatment for OCD. But I'm reasonably surprised at the limited understanding people have of standard transmission and cross-contamination routes! Yes, our immune systems deal with most biological intruders effectively but it really depends on the level of viral load you've picked up from the toilet flush handle, trolley handle, PIN pad, lift button, public escalator, etc etc. People cough and sneeze into their hands and touch everything on the shelves, handle fruit & veg...

Faecal matter has been identified on supermarket self-service screens.

This thread is 🤢 So funny how people who lack basic hygiene thinks it improves their immune system.

Of course I do. My phone gets laid down all over the place and I regularly touch it so I'm quite sure my hands are never perfectly clean. Ditto door handles, remote controls. I'm not very good at tidying and cleaning my house so definitely make sure my hands are clean before eating .

If I meet friends in London for lunch, then I'd go and wash my hands after ordering before eating or at least use hand gel because I will have touched all sorts of doors and escalators and trains on the way in.

I work in a school. Children are gross. Hands down pants and up noses all the time. We always send them to wash hands before eating. And I wash my hands regularly during the day as I've been near them all. And definitely before my lunch!

You may not piss on your hands but the germs can pass through the toilet paper to your hands.

Nope I use my sleeve
Ditto lift buttons get my elbow

YANBU but I do use adult judgement - like others have said, will wash my hands throughout the day anyway, mostly within an hour of eating so wouldn’t wash them again.

DC, yes when they were younger and eating with their hands - now they wash when in from school and before snack, probably not again before tea, doubt they do at secondary before lunch. And all more often if unwell.

I honestly think a bit of dirt is good for us.

🙄
Yeah tell that to the people sitting outside hospitals in an ambulance right now

No. I have taught my children to wash their hands after going to the toilet or if they get dirty. I do wash my hands before prepping food but not to sit down and eat. I haven't taught my children to do this either. It's over the top and I think actually harmful to over sanitise.

No, never had, hardly ever get sick , l wash my hands after using toilet that's enough for me.

How do the two relate exactly ?

So you think there are loads of people sitting in ambulances outside hospitals because of the hygiene habits of people who do wash their hands after going to the toilet or getting dirty, but don't before using their own hands to eat their own plate of food? Doesn't sound very likely, does it?

I'm wondering if the "noes" are all male?

So you don't wash your hands after you've been to the toilet? 😱

Please, let me off this planet....

Because of this stupid idea that exposing adults to bacteria and viruses is good for them .
Look up the innate and acquired immune systems
Also look up how viruses mutate-they are constantly evolving
You can get flu, colds and norovirus many times
Hospitals are in total crisis currently across the country

That’s up to you, do what you like. I have no idea why you quoted me though.

Absolutely. We did an experiment at school using a petri dish and comparing the bacterial results from a bare hand, a washed hand and a bare hand through loo roll. Some memories never leave you....

They will be picking up and transferring viruses from their environment
That's the primary route for Norovirus
Virus particles spread from an ill person onto surface, you touch the surface, you then have virus on your hands, you eat. 🤮
Obviously if you are unlucky enough to be exposed to vomit it's almost certain you will get it
Resp virus spread by droplets but are also picked up from surfaces, touch your mouth or nose and you catch it

I can't believe people don't know this!!
Handwashing is a cheap and simple way to stop the spread of diseases.

I wash my hands throughout the day - after I've been to the toilet, before and after cooking, sometimes when I come home - but no I don't deliberately wash my hands before I eat. It's never occurred to me, and if I think back to all the times I've eaten with friends at their or my home/in the shared work kitchen at lunch/out in restaurants etc I've never seen anyone make a point of doing so either?

Im not boasting. I'm explaining that NOT washing your hands every five minutes does not equal noro, "eeeww" "ick" and so on. I've given factual info about our level of hand washing and out lack of subsequent illness.

But by your logic, given my hygiene level, me and my kids should be constantly ill. But we're not. Not even slightly. So...... I'm not a biologist but i understand enough to know about building immunity and so on to know that normal everyday living should not actually include constantly disinfecting our surroundings and bodies.

🤮 yuck, before, during and after depending on what I'm prepping.