public loos - sit or crouch?

I buy 4711 sachets and use them as wipes on all journeys. I wish I had shares in them. And I wear gloves most of the time on public transport. And I use knuckles or elbows to open things. Mainly because I think people are not as hand washy as they used to be.

Nfk that's how I was brought up, plus wash hands after going to the loo.
I seem to have survived very well!
I don't think I've had more that half a dozen upset tummies in my life (keep fingers crossed!), two of which were caused by food poisoning in restaurants.

I'm totally gobsmacked at the lengths people go to - scarves, cardigan sleeves, pressing buttons at street crossings or in lifts with their elbows, knuckles and so on.
It is absolutely impossible to avoid all germs as they are everywhere. Do you completely strip off and wash all your clothes after every trip out of the house to free your trousers/skirt of the germs picked up on the bus/cafe/theatre seat? Or the germs picked up on cuff/elbow of your cardigan? Do you scrub the soles of your shoes to ensure there is no transfer of germs from the street to your hallway? And what about that cup of tea and cake you had while you were out? Do you know the cup was cleaned properly since the last person used it? Or the knife that you used to cut your cake?
Yes, I'm careful with public toilets, not wanting to pick up those particular things on my bare skin , but that's about it. I couldn't live with the levels of neurosis that are springing up on this thread. Get a grip people!

All shoes are removed at front door and yes I do sometimes wash the soles but that has nothing to do with germs, more to do with not putting dusty shoes in their slot in the cupboard.
I do not consider myself to be neurotic, it just makes sense not to add extra problems to my fragile digestive system.

I love Gransnet. Nine pages on how grans wee ! My main preoccupation is to,wash my hands post loo and pre eating. This has been a fascinating thread!

harrigran! You, with your particular career, know all about our antibodies.

]

Personally I have not like this thread. It makes me have images of grannies in our town walking around with whatever on their bottoms when out shopping.

Ash Tree- you beat me to it! Don't know how people can live with all this Germ Angst- day in day out!

with resident teenager cannot be too precious as everything I say and everything I do is wrong and complete opposite will be done just scrub hands and walk round with anti bac spraying handles,humans and knobs where appropriate,and hope for the best,but when my kids where growing up don't remember all ths hoo ha....we just washed our hands with soap and water and we all stayed healthy...

Our lav was halfway down the back garden, in the coal shed. Nearest only sink was the kitchen one. Don't remember ever washing my hands after a loo visit!

'Spraying handles, humans and knobs where appropriate' eh, downtoearth?

definitely knobs.

ahahah - I know a few that would resist ;)

My dad grew up in a house with an outside loo, and where the kitchen sink was the only place to wash hands- or the local fountain.

Acutally so many kids these days have allergies and all sorts of problems caused by being too CLEAN, not dirty.

I wash hands regularly when cooking, especially poultry due to salmonella- and meat also, and of course always after the loo- but then that's it. Get on with life and have survived to far. I just HATE those adverts about germs that attempt to make everyone totally obssessed and in permanent fear of 'monsters' jumping at you from every where, and attack you from below in the loo. Humanity is at huge risk of bugs resistant to traditional antiubiotics- and that risk is REAL AND TRUE- and is likely to kill 100000s in the near future. Now that is something to seriously worry about.

I'm one of those who crouch and yes, it's because mum told me to but she never did say why. Realising how difficult it could be I didn't say anything about it to either of my 2 daughters (who are now age 40ish) so will have to ask them what they do.
I now have arthritis in both my hips so crouching or going outdoors is almost impossible. I am therefore thinking of purchasing a Shewee especially as if I am not in hospital for a hip replacement we should be going to France for our holiday. No one has mentioned these so any comments on their use would be appreciated!

I think you'll find Shewees have been mentioned quite a lot on this thread, bonji. Have a proper read through it.

All this talk of ladies having problems weeing al fresco, and the pros and cons of Shewees and GoGirls, has reminded me of a joke I heard many years ago...

Two families, one with a little girl and one with a little boy, went off together for a picnic. The children both needed a wee so their mums sent them off to some nearby bushes. The little boy performed first and the little girl looked on admiringly. "Wow!" she exclaimed, "That's a VERY handy thing to take on picnics!"

Thank you all for an entertaining read this evening! I do think there are some posters with an unnecessary high level of worry about 'germs' (I know some of you have to worry because of particular health issues) but generally healthy women should not be worrying!!

Washing hands in soap and warm water after using the toilet, gardening etc and before preparing/eating food makes good sense. At a time of any flu epidemic it makes sense to add the use of anti-bac but all the faffing about with tissue on loo seats/ hovering, opening doors with sleeve covered hand etc I can't be doing with!

If a loo seat is not clean then if poss I just dry it with tissue and sit down. Fortunately I have very rarely had any UTIs or gynae issues. I have used hole in the ground loos abroard (and as a girl guide..we dug our own earth latrines in Arkengarthdale!)

The only time I am fussier is at the swimming pool. They require you remove outdoor shoes in the changing room but if you want to pee before you swim you have to walk barefoot into the loos..which always have wet floors...I have to tell myself it is most likely pool water not pee!

bonji success with shewees is very unpredictable. The most important thing is to not 'go' too fast. The Shewee cannot cope and it floods (down legs)

ashtree granjura me too - totes amazed at all this. And a few measly germs don't scare me at all

I have, in the past, used a pineapple tin (I had eaten the pineapple first) for an emergency wee

Ooo! Mind boggling Newest. I hope the tin didn't have sharp edges!

new_i_st. Sorry!

bonji I used to have a Shewee but changed to a Whiz Freedom recently as I found the Sheewee was made from a very hard plastic. The Whiz is much softer and can be scrunched up into a pocket much more easily. I found that it is a better anatomical fit as well! Perfect for use on trains and planes when the loo can be unsavoury by the end of the journey