..to want to tell people in public toilets...

[MrsMerryHenry]

...to wash their hands?

This is inspired by another thread.

Obviously I never have, and never would say it! But I am shocked by the numbers of people that walk straight from the cubicle to the door without so much as a wave offering of water at the sink.

How vile!

I do find it just as irritating when I see someone flick their finger tips under the cold tap for a second and then wipe their still dirty hnds in the hanging towel.

urgh yes Spaceman - washing your fingertips under cold water for a secnod or so is as bad as not washing them at all!

No we're not WhiteFish. We are just saying that in the same way we do not wish to share saliva with every tom dick or harry, we do not wish to touch the bottom secretions of all.

I keep my compulsions to remain 'clean' in my head, just there...in my head. This is why it is fine for my DC to open the door for me. I just secretly squeal and remember not to hold their hands the rest of the afternoon.

Whitefish who's talking about catching HIV?? As far as I can see the only people who've mentioned 'catching' stuff are the ones who disagree with my OP. Seems to me you're relying too much on your imagination and too little on facts!

Sorry this is a bit rude, but it's a genuine query.

I do wash my hands, but have always wondered what the big fuss about toilet-related hygiene is when oral sex involves sticking your gob right into the bits we wee from? Or even poo from if that's your prediliction! Surely that undoes years of handwashing in seconds and it must be pretty rare to catch anything from it, even if a person isn't the most hygenic?

I reckon, StealthPolar, that if you tested the hands of people who don't wash and people who flick their hands under the tap, the latter would come out cleaner.

It's one of those annoying scientific realities. Sigh.

pinkdelight - I always get dh to wash beforehand!!

But isn't it a bit like changing the nappy of someone else's child - their poo smells worse than your own kids'? So touching the bodily fluids of a stranger is FAR worse than touching those of your loved ones.

pinkdelight, it is soooo psychologically irrational. That's the explanation.

I will even put my tongue in that place with a DP but I DO NOT cope with even half an arse cheek touching the urine dregs of an unkown in the John Lewis Lavs.

Yes, you wouldn't lick a public toilet seat - that's quite a different matter from giving someone a blow job!

On that score I heard the most unbelievably grotesque story about someone's 'tastes' and public loos. Triple-boak!

Thank god someone's explained - I've been wondering for ages, but it's not exactly polite conversation!

So it seems like the whole issue of wee/poo/handwashing is essentially psychological. In which case, the OP shouldn't be worrying what other people do, unless she's planning to shake hands with them. I agree though about the other people's excretion thing - must be a deep-seated animal instinct about who belongs to our territory.

Do you all stick your hand in the pee stream or in the toilet itself?
I mean when I go to the toilet I don't actually touch the pee or poo and I'm fairly good at wiping without touching anything but clean toilet paper. Where are all these germs on your hands coming from?
(I do wash my hands from habit but I'm not quite sure where all this paranoia about germs is coming from)

never thought about it as being a territorial 'animal' instinct before.

But I don't agree that it's a purely psychological thing to not want to sit on other people's wee and shit. That's like saying it's psychological if you don't appreciate people leaving dog shit on the road. Or having your buggy wheels plough through it and you not realising until you've pushed the buggy halfway down your hall. That's not psychological, it's dirty and unpleasant.

At least the unknows urine dregs on a John Lewis loo seat would be refined and of higher quality, hobbgoblin!

...Not just any old pish!

It is dirty and unpleasant, but in the past the streets would've been teeming with animal and human poo and people weren't constantly disgusted by it. Mind you, they dropped dead a lot more from nasty diseases.

Can't believe I'm eating my lunch as I'm typing / reading all this! Nice!!

Stayingsunny. 'cept the wee might stink from asparagus munching.

I do pick my location as far as possible when using public toilets.

Moto service stations being my preference if on the road, M&S if shopping, Mc Donalds presides over Sainsbury's, Morrisons's beats Tesco...

MrsMerry, you have made this v. confusing now. I still think pink's territorial thing applies. We don't shag dogs.

hobbgoblin - I'm getting more confused by the minute!!

if the individual is healthy, wee should be sterile, in fact in an emergency its apparently a good way to clean and sterilise a wound

not that one likes other peoples wee everywhere of course, its a bit vile but its hardly satans own bacterial vector...

"satans own bacterial vector..."

No, he has Kim Il Song to fulfil that role...

"I take an extra bit of loo roll and put it over my hand to open the door. "

So do I!! Thought I was the only one.

I always wash my hands and then use my antibac stuff when I get out becausee I dont know how many people have not washed their hands and then touched the handdles to get out. Reading this back too myself I may have a problem

Sorry to sound crude, but another thing! Just say someone has got a bad case of thrush and she wipes her minge with tissue but touches 'it'. Next step opens loo door, then taps, etc etc oh I hate it!!!!

I try my best not to use public toilets as they do freek me out. My MIL NEVER washed her handss and funnily enough is rarely ill.

I try very hard not use public toilets, when we do its usualy for ds in which case i use our RADAR Key and they seem to be cleaner than your bog standard public lav. I don't however use the cleaning facilities in public loos, nor do i let my children, i also dont sit directly on the seats. I carry antibacterial handwipes in my bag and we all wipe our hands when we come out the toilet.