What are your 'hygiene horrors' - slightly irrational things that just send you insane?

[Legacy]

I have realised today that two of mine are:

• putting 'outside things' on the kitchen table e.g. DH comes in with the picnic bag we've had sitting on a field (of cow dung, for all I know) today and plonks it straight on the kitchen table - drives me mad! I always put it on the floor or a chair.

Similarly, having suitcases on the bed. I just think of all the places those suitcases have been, all the dust, dirt etc and I don't want to think of it going on my nice clean bedspread. (This could be related to an incident with an early boyfriend of mine, when he put my suitcase down on the pavement in a pile of dog poo? )

• newspapers on the sofa. If you looks at how much newsprint comes off on your fingers and then imagine it rubbing off on the sofa, and then your clothes....

My DH just things I'm loopy, but these things REALLY annoy me!

Anyone equally mad?

Carpets in bathrooms, public toilet flush and door handles, mattresses and remote controls in hotels.

I kiss my dog though

I'm amazed at how many of you with OCD tendencies have dogs

Drinking from cartons/bottles that the whole house has to share

Especially milk cartons..

Aaargh I never thought of remote controls in hotels yuck. What gets me in hotels are the bedspreads. I mean they change the sheets but do they change the bedspread? Hand dryers in public toilets really get me, I always use tissue to dry my hands.

runs fast after wickedwaterwitch and tinker

This is a scary thread Right now I am tolerating at least six of the things mentioned on this thread. What's more, I didn't even realise they could be a problem to anyone

I think I have all of these hangups & more besides.

I'm another one who can't bear to share towels. Not with DH, not even with the DCs. My worst one is that I feel sick whenever I see a kid with a horrible snotty nose. I can cope with my own kids' noses but they have to be wiped at the first sign of any 'drip'. It used to drive me mad at toddler groups when there were mums who'd happily let their child run round for the entire session with a green nose.

cut findernails left on the sofa. (shudder]

I am with the sponges thing. Mil has a pile of mouldering ones in her kitchen and dh has this thing about never chucking them out - and uses ours for everything, floors, you name it. We used to bicker about it. Now I buy loads and just chuck v regularly

Oh, and I loathe other peoples feet.

Face flannels and bathmats that aren't washed (very hot) and changed every day.

Worn, toothpaste-encrusted toothbrushes.

Dirty washing-up cloths/cleaning cloths - I wash/throw at the slightest sign of dirt.

Greasy finger marks on glass doors/windows/furniture.

Bathrooms that don't shine - bath, basin, taps, mirrors, tiles - and with lots of half-used bottles and pots hanging about.

Have decided I am definitely not a hygeiene horror. Although I probably horrify most people on this thread .

Oh yes-any clothes worn when on public transport-or Dr's waiting room seats ets have to be removed and washed as soon as I get home....don't want them on my furniture....

Petrol pump handles-my life was made so much easier when they introduced gloves.

Idris - yes some posters would be horrified by my house

can i just say
those anti-bac soaps are major factors in the rise of MRSA
what used to be SA is now MRSA
ordinary soap is fine for everyday handwashing
so if you use anti-bac soap, please dont moan about the rise of MRSA
or even better, dont buy the anti-bac soap
PLEASE
(pet hate of mine)
studies show there is NO NEED FOR IT AND IT IS ACTUALLY CAUSING MORE PROBLEMS THAN SOLVING
thank you

Crusty ketchup bottles. Blee!

Have to buy the stay clean ones or nothing.

Bottles of Mayo and salad cream that have been hanging around in the fridge for months and therefore cannot be dated.

My mum is espiecally guilty of this one.

Oh, and bits of butter/crumbs in the jam.

Some of these are really scary.

I don't mind handdryers in public loos but I tend to push the button with my elbow so my hands stay clean.

Of course, if some genius has designed it so that the exit door is a "pull" one, I have to pull my sleeves down over my hands.

nailpolish - antibacterial soap is awful on the hands.

even worse are those alcolhol gels - so many people in hospital think that it can replace handwashing!

When I've woked in hospitals I've had a permanant rash on my hands from the strong soaps.

worked not woked

god yes belgo - the alcohol gel - argh!

we were at the park with BIL - got home for lunch - he pulled out a bottle fo the gel and
'washed' his sons hands in it before lunch
"the bathroom with a sink and soap is over there" i told him
FGS

i do use the alcohol gel at work - but after i have wahsed my hands and am about to do a dressing or whatnot
its horrid tho - need 3 gallons of handcream every night after work

Whoosh, same here!

DH is allergic to petrol - it gives him a rash on his hands and he has to wear gloves when fuelling up.

I'm sure washing children's hands in alcogel regularly will cause damage. I wonder if there are any studies done on it?

nailpolish - I had a placement on one ward in Belgium where the nurses would wash their hands just twice during the whole shift. Once before leaving the ward for lunch, and once before leaving the ward for going home. The rest of the time they used alcogel.

There were six cases of MRSA and c.diff on that ward. (28 patients)

ah the lvoely aroma of C. Diff...

dh goes spare if i get into bed after being at work without showering or if i bring my work shoes home "argh! they have human bits on them!" - i have to leave them in the car

my shoes never came home. They stayed in my locker.