Wash Your Hands!

What about the women that "hover", leaving the toilet seat and floor wet! I always wear trousers but have to hold them up with my knees to stop them trailing on the floor. I use toilet paper to sit on, much easier. Escalators, I just lean on them, no touching with my hands and yes, I do wash my hands, although it does seem a waste of time some times!

So interesting to find so many kindred spirits who open doors with elbows or tissue etc. I use my sleeves or a scarf if possible to open the door. I also have a slight problem with taps which must have germs on them from being turned on and then transferred back to your hands when tap is turned off. I am also much more cautious if there is yet another door after the 'ladies' door through which both men and women have to pass to exit as I think statistics show that men are less fussy about hand washing than women.

I've also been in the US toilets which have the paper seat cover which slides over as you go in. Also ones which automatically flush as soon as you stand up which is a bit off-putting if it doesn't give you chance to get dressed! I don't have a problem touching the toilet door as you have to wash your hands after that but hate it if there's nowhere to hang your handbag in the cubicle and agree it's difficult juggling a handbag and shopping bags between the washbasin and the drier! As someone who uses a lot of public toilets I've been in some amazing ones and some I would avoid like the plague and one in an airport where the attendant was singing opera as she cleaned

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/12097838/Dog-walkers-and-gardeners-should-avoid-washing-hands-to-encourage-friendly-bacteria.html

I agree, and would also point out that although we seem to be obsessed by 'tiolet germs' there are many other sources of infection, such as mucous, saliva, cat and dog faeces, coughs and sneezes etc. And contaminated food is far more dangerous than a bit of wee...

I think computer keyboards are one of the dirtiest places. I digress.

I am pleased to see newly designed toilets have a place to put your handbag, soap and drier all close together so you can carry out the whole operation without moving. In many toilets you have to carry you handbag with wet hands to a drier far from the sink. I am always in fear of having my handbag stolen if I leave it unattended so are often quicker than I would like to be when drying. At times it is a bit of a juggling act especially at the airport with hand luggage to manage.

There seems to be concern about the toilet door handle yet everywhere we go we are touching things other people have touched, especially the supermarket trolley.

All in favour of hand washing, but like children being allowed to play in the dirt we need to built up immunity as pollyparrots family seem to have done!

I think we've all read about those little bowls of nibbles on pub counters being analysed and found contaminated by - er - urine.

It occurs to me though, that the male anatomy requires a more hands on approach to urinating than does the female. I wonder if there's any correlation?

Just a thought...

Yep, paper towels are better to dry your hands with.

Foxyferret why on earth wash your hands TWICE?

Some science survey recently in news which claimed high-powered hand dryers make matters worse by spraying germs from wet hands everywhere. You can't win!

We have two cubicles where I work and it never ceases to amaze me how many ladies come out of the toilet and walk straight out of the door and never wash their hands .

I don't see what the problem is Granjura I use antibacterial hand wipes or antibacterial gel it's not as though I don't do anything !If I'm in a disabled toilet then I wash my hands but needs must I'm afraid .

It's not like I'm wiping my hands on my pants now is it and judging by a lot of comments I'm probably picking up more germs as I leave by opening the door!

I wash my hands. My husband washes his hands. We are constantly amazed at witnessing kitchen staff (both here in the UK, and the States & Oz when we visit) using the same public toilet and just walking straight out without washing their hands.

Always makes me a bit uncomfortable about eating out now!

A bit off the thread but several years ago on holiday in Las Vegas I was amazed at the public loos in our hotel. There was a button the wall that you activated on entering which made a paper covering move around the seat. I was quite alarmed at first until I understood what it was. There was a notice asking you not to activate it as you left so the next person could activate it and know it was a clean covering. It also said that the used coverings were not like roller towels and once used did not reappear.

I have noticed in some places the exit doors of public toilets open automatically or they have hand towels and a bin next to the door so you don't have to touch anything. Why isn't this common practice in all public loos?

If I'm not happy with washing facilities, for example our local beach has a contraption to soap, wet and dry your hands and just doesn't do it. I use a bacterial wash, I always have one on me. I'm a bit OCD in that regard. In my final job we could always tell which men hadn't washed their hands. As they were still 'adjusting their dress ' when leaving the toilet. Disgusting as you don't know who has and hasn't. And that's why I never eat loose peanuts in a dish in a bar.

When unpacking my shopping I always wipe milk bottles etc with antibacterial liquid before putting in the fridge? These days of self service everything is handled many times. Shopping bags are often put on the ground and then on work surface to unpack them. There are germs everywhere!!!

My niece and her husband are very tardy when it comes to hygiene. If you go to the loo at theirs it's never clean and the kitchen could massively do with a scrub. None of them, including the four year old and the two year old, ever seem to wash their hands. The four year old takes himself off to the toilet but doesn't wash his hands. Hand washing before meals never happens. I'm quite revolted by it to be honest yet, guess what? None of them are ever ill!

My aunt was a professional cook. At home she always washed all hard fruits in Milton solution, before rinsing, drying and putting in the fruit bowl. I always thought she was a bit obsessive about it. But now, thinking of all those unknown and questionable hands they must have passed through, in all parts of the world, I think how wise she was all those years ago.

I always wash my hands coming out of a toilet. I instilled this practice in my children and grandchildren. Recently I was called to my grandsons nursery to pick him up early he wasn't too well. When I got there he was in the toilet where there was a big notice showing the children how to wash their hands when they come out of the toilet. Even though he wasn't feeling too good he still stopped to wash his hands without any prompting. He's 4 yrs old. My granddaughter who is 9yrs old at her school there are big signs up telling them to wash their hands, and little diagrams of bugs that live on your hands especially after the toilet. Education that's what we need, hand washing is a basic necessity after the toilet.

Willow500. I'm another one!

Hello,
My husband, who is a retired public health lecturer, made a film on how to wash your hands. Unfortunately it is no longer available to watch online, but here's what was demonstrated:

Wet hands and use the soap (where available)
Lather backs of hands well
Circle thumb and fingers around wrists and rotate several times
Circle fingers around thumbs and rotate
Lace fingers together and slide up and down a few times
Put nails together and rub them on each palm in a circular movement several times
Rub palms together
Rinse
Dry

You should now have pristine hands.....

Getting out of the loo is a problem but I usually hold a tissue!
? ?

When the grandsons leave the bathroom and claim to have washed their hands, I check for damp hands - back they go if not and I have to wash my hands too. Interestingly DGD never has to be reminded.

I always use a tissue to open toilet door after washing hands ----the difficulty is there is not always a convenient bin to put it in afterwards .

The best public toilet I have ver been to was in an hotel in St. Moritz. Apart from the luxurious surroundings, in the cubicle was a hand sanitizer to use before opening the door when leaving.

The washbasins were as expected, with disposable towels, but then there was another hand sanitizer by the door to the corridor.

I certainly felt germ free when leaving!

Other than that I try to avoid using public loos.

X

Antibacterial wipes are absolutely fine. Or hand gel. As good as or better than hand washing if the soap isn't antibacterial, surely?