Personal hygiene dilemma

[LONDONER]

According to a survey carried out by Michegan Stae University; Centres for Disease Control & Prevention, Queen Mary University of London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

10% of people don't wash thier hands after using the lavatory.
Fecal matter can be found on 26% of people's hands in the UK
Only 5% wash their hands properly after using the lavatory
39% of people wash their hands before eating
15% of men don't wash their hands after using the lavatory compared to 7% of women.
When men do wash their hands, 50% don't use soap compared to 78% of women.
14% of banknotes and 10% of credit cards are contaminated with fecal matter.

Now, what's your hygiene routine?

I confess I am a bit obsessive. At home I use soap to wash my hands thoroughly and as an added precaution, I use a small amount of anti-bacterial gel.

Using a public lavatory always provides added problems. Once you've cleaned yourself and flushed the lavatory one is faced with the problem of what do you do next. Your hands are contaminated and you've yet to pull up your trousers and buckle your belt. My solution once again is the anti-bacteial get. But then you have to open the door using the contaminated door handle, touch a contaminated soap dispenser, turn on the contaminated tap and finally, trying to get out, how do you open the door without contaminating yourself again? Sometimes I wait for someone to open it so I can get out or, have to resort to the anti-bacterial gel again.

Life is full of dangers. Insert your credit card in to an ATM and you realise that it might be contaminated, Putting in your PIN number in the ATM means that your touching those contaminated keys. You take out the banknotes and then realise that 14% are contaminated. The risks are endless.

It reallty is a wonder that I am still alive at my age!

[Undreamt]

You do realise that without bacteria then we would starve to death?

Without building up immunity with common nasties we'd never survive a bad cold not to mention everything else out there.

You're worried about a tiny bit of fecal matter on something that you might touch?

You didn't say anything about things you smell/inhale on a daily basis.

Where do you keep your toothbrush? Not in the same room as the toilet I hope, cos every time you flush guess what sprays into the air?


anti-bacterial gel is horrible, its like covering yourself in band-aids to avoid a broken arm

[partisan]

I agree more with undreamt, im an animal and what i cant see wont hurt me (and it doesnt) i never wash my hands after peeing EVER! And im proud. Whats the point, theres more nastys on a bread board than there is a toilet seat, you cant win, it all helps with immunity, if my fingers touch my willy for 15 second im not going to scrub my hands with alcohol & soap.

Example - yesterday in cafe was a really smelly guy, it was quite horrible, but when he left the waitress sprayed a really toxic airfreshner, it was worse than the man, i wanted him back!

[LONDONER]

Did you read the last line of my post?: "It really is a wonder that I am still alive at my age!"

[Juniorlove]

I think as a common courtesy I wash my hands in public restrooms. But at home I do not. I only wash my hands if they're really noticeably dirty and i'm about to eat food. Other than that, it's not really a big deal. As long as your hands are not smelling like unclean ass. LOL

[partisan]

Did you read the last line of my post?: "It really is a wonder that I am still alive at my age!"

OK it wasn't aimed at you. I do think we should wash our hands before eating, I think some cultures had it right when they have a little bowl of water on the table to clean fingers, I find myself in these keep clean modes, its horrible because you can't do anything, its a never-ending battle, like if I have clean trousers on I can't sit on the grass, when i want to do that more than anything else, I used to bathe too much and it made me feel weak.

[trialbyerror]

I ain't too fussed, I do rinse hands after toilet and before eating or prepping food.
I shower / bath at least 1 a day (given that I can) Other than that I just apply common sense good hygiene.

What I HAVE to do
shave every day
Polish my ivories (brush teeth) & use mouthwash every day
Use cologne / deodorant at least 1 per day sometimes more often

Things I hate :eek:
Dirty fingernails
Dirty dish-washing items dishcloth ETC
Damp towels

Funny things I do :eek:
I don't make up a bed in the morning, I leave it to air and make it up at night.
Make sure a plate is clean underneath before I use it
If I eat out I first wipe (more like polish) the knife & fork with the napkin before use

As for the rest I let nature take care of. Germs are a good thing they keep you fit & healthy.

Trial by error

[Bowyn Aerrow]

I only wash my hands when I potty on them, and that only happens four or five times a day...:biggrin:

[Genersis]

It wont kill you...well...it likely wont.(Statistically speaking.)

Though washing ones hands if they come into contact with ones faecal matter or other bodily fluids is pretty important for both hygiene and courtesy reasons.

I must admit, I tend not to use soap if I've only urinated, as my penis is normally pretty clean. If I do get some urine on my hands by mistake, then I use soap.

So, yeah, I'm not that hygienic...
When I do wash my hands with soap though, I'm quite thorough.

[TimeSage]

I wash my hands only if I'm cooking food for someone else or came in contact with my own body fluids (Other then maybe tears) or use the restroom at all.. Or trash. Or anything gross. My OCD goes into overdrive as of late on this.