Things that annoy you about other people's housekeeping

[chumbler]

Recently stayed with a friend, in the week we were there the hand towel in kitchen wasn't washed, there's no hand towel in the bathroom (just their body towels???) They ran out of handwash for about 4 days in the bathroom do had to keep washing my hands downstairs and ran out of loo roll!!!

Now obviously these things never happen in my home and I am vigilant about it (wash hand towel everyday, hand towels, soap and loo roll always available). But I wondered if I do anything that could potentially annoy guests? What bugs you when you stay with others?

When I grew up the four of us shared a towel. This now disgusts me and we all have our own towels. My bug bear is wanting my own towel, which I take with me if I go away. I also like to see clean kitchen tea towels and hand towels. One friend has a grubby tea towel that doubles up as a hand towel, yuk!

"Also why is it basic hygiene to use separate towels for dishes/pots and hands? Both items - the dish and the pot - have just been in the same water."

I remove the washing up bowl to wash dirty veg that probably has elements of animal poo on it in the sink (I grow a lot of my own stuff!). I'll then wash my hands, and dry them on a hand towel, because even though I've washed and rinsed really carefully singing two choruses of happy birthday , the chances are I'm still wiping some of those germs off. I think the same would be true if you were prepping meat (I'm veggie). Then I'll rinse out the sink, replace the bowl and wash stuff up. I guess at this point if you eat meat, you disinfect chopping boards that you've used for raw? Washing up gets dried on a tea towel so there is no cross-contamination.

If you only use tea towels for hand wiping why not just do away with tea towels and have a normal towel in the kitchen

Eh? But why?

If the issue is that people don't like sharing the same towel to dry washing up and their hands (which I don't get anyway, because the washing up has just been, you know, washing up and is therefore clean), that's one thing.

But if the towel is just for wiping hands, what the hell is the difference between a tea towel and a hand towel? It's still a towel!

Don't have guests if you're too mean to put the heating on for an hour or two

Ever considered that different people like their houses at different temperatures? What's cold for one person is perfectly fine for another.

This thread is absolutely batshit and actually one of the most judgmental things I've seen on MN in ages.

theres one place that is filthy but coz its my husbands family i have to keep tight lipped. I dont mean dirty dishes unwiped surfaces thats childsplay id ignore that.

I mean crisp packets used tissues on kitchen floor. Muddy veg from garden on floor with the same mess, no newspaper or bowl bang it on the floor. Now i know this family use a south asian blade, you sit on the floor to hold it in place, thats fine but clean ur veg get a huge bowl and papers dont place it on the floor?
Bathroom is a scene from the hoarders next door, the soap bar looks dirty too, would you use a handtowel in this house? I keep pocket kleenex with me.

Everytime im.invited there i get a stomach upset after. Im grateful for the invite but they really lack basic hygiene. The saddest part is most the kids are adults, and they think its normal they walk around wrappers instead of picking them up.clothes on living room.floor np walk around it, throw it on the sofa guests can sit on them.

Its ironic because said family's daughter once said your table has crumbs on it, i wanted to laugh, how did she notice biscuit crumbs on the kitchen table but the blatant filth in her mums house is invisible to her? I dont understand it.

Thats extreme though so stuff u mumsnetters are mentioning is tame i woukdnt give it a second thght or be judgemental. I didnt think i was judgemental until i saw the horrors in family members house, really wanted to take a bin liner and rubber gloves get to work but its not my place to. Husband has had quarrels over it, he used to clean it up, but within a week its the same so no point,psychological issue?

shovetheholly i hide my tea towels theyre only out to dry pots and pans. But lately i put the cooker on dry them out like my mum on the burner.

we have a tissue dispenser for hands. Ive seen my mil wipe her hands n mouth on a tea towel at her daughters tell me thats fine? She doesnt wash properly either.she has dementia and has lost the ability to care. So lovely tumeric stains on the tea towel. Then her grandkids who are sane adults use the same one for their face, i think its gross. No way is she getting her hands on mine theyre hidden unless im cooking then straight in wash lol

I guess that uni had low standards lol

Yep. Lol.

As a postdoctoral microbiologist I'm always amused by these kind of threads on Mumsnet. The utter paranoia about germs, particularly imagined contamination with poo, and yet no concerns about spraying the whole house with toxic chemicals

BTW most people are absolutely covered with faecal bacteria all over their bodies, mwah ha ha ha

Mewling - nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! I don't want to know about the faecal bacteria. Take your sciencey facts and knowledges away and let me have my imaginary clean tea towels!

My veg are covered with manure, though. Absolutely definitely. I know because I spend ages lovingly piling it up on the beds where they grow. And thanks to my OU biology textbook, I do realise that we all actually get trace vitamins and minerals from poo in our diet, but I would rather pretend we didn't.

Dirty toilets are a big turnoff. My MIL is not houseproud (understatement) and when the DC were toddlers, we would visit weekly. Then MIL began to neglect cleaning the toilet - it was awful. It looked like there was a mud bomb that had exploded in there. It was hardened and dried on the seat, lid and everything! I wouldn't let DC go to the toilet whilst we were visiting (which made visiting blessedly short). Her kitchen counters were always full of crumbs, open jam containers which had jam dripping down it, dirty butter knives left sitting on the sugar-encrusted counters etc. We have stopped visiting as we couldn't contain my gagging and cringing. No she is not depressed/mentally ill, she does suffer from bone-idle-itis and just can't be bothered (she's admitted as much). She lives on her own, so doesn't mind living in her own mess.

I use tea towels to dry my hands because I don't need a tea towel to do anything else. Have a dishwasher to dry dishes. I do occasionally use a tea towel to move a hot thing which is why I use tea towels not hand towels - accidentally dipping a hand towel in a mug of soup from the microwave would be a bit yucky whereas a tea towel won't mind. I do wash it of course if that happens

Just get some oven gloves Backing - better insulated to protect your hands.

Most things have been covered

House too hot, especially when bedroom windows have a security lock and you can't open them to get some fresh air / escape in a fire.

House too cold

I like to see 'the basics' clean towel, toilet roll, hand soap, working door lock and in the case of my BIL, a working light. We stayed at my best friend's house, nothing says welcome like a cat turd on the floor next to our bed.

TreadSoftly I always use rubber gloves because of dermatitis. I've never taken any to a friend's house, I do the clearing or drying!
I do take slippers to friend's houses who have a shoes off rule. I prefer raised eyebrows than stone cold feet!

This thread is a leeeetle bit crazy! But I am agreed on basics like soap and toilet roll!

I absolutely hate people who have cats and let them walk all over the table and kitchen work tops. Into the litter tray then onto the work surfaces disgusting revolting stomach churning I cannot accept as much as a cup of tea in such a household.

I've just stayed at friends houses recently and these are the things that annoyed me

No bath mat (hate standing on a wet floor)
The smell of dogs (can't be helped but yuk)
No dishcloths-using antibacterial wipes to clean sides? Weird!
Dirty kitchen floor
Itv in the morning! (The news is only watchable on bbc)!

I only have tea towels in the kitchen changed daily. I don't dry up, I wash up by hand and air dry
I don't have hand towels in the bathroom but always a big and small towel, one for body, one for hair or hands!

Running out of loo roll when you have guests is just wrong!

Snozberry I used to be with you about the cat thing but now I have one I have to say 'have you tried to stop a cat going anywhere in the house?' It's impossible. I do try and shoo mine off but she jumps up again. We always have antibacterial cleaner on standby.

JW35-it annoyed you about having itv on in the morning! Really?

How, despite being on MN, do people still seem to live in a lovely little bubble where they think that everybody does things the way they do, and any other way is wrong?

Endlessly amusing.

Ps -

No bath mat - lots of people think they are unhygienic
No dishcloths-using antibacterial wipes to clean sides? Weird! I'm at a loss to even know what's wrong with that one.

Skid marks and no loo roll but otherwise I don't care what my friends loos are like. I'm there to see my friends not inspect the toilet.

I've just remembered. Toilet rolls where the roll perforations don't marry up so you can't tear off a sheet cleanly.

I have to sort them. (Although, to be fair, it drives me crazy in my own house as well - anywhere in fact.)

Lorinda excellent - with an attitude like that you wouldn't be welcome in my house anyway

My thoughts exactly Lorinda. I'd set my cat on you! Joking of course

Whythefucknot's thoughts I mean.