Dirty hands?!

Emily Mitchell80 said:What do you even do when the restroom door is too heavy to push open with your elbow, and there isn't a single paper towel in sight to use as a barrier? You're basically forced to use your bare hands.
You suggest washing your hands; but do you honestly feel they're clean if you just touched the faucet and turned off the water after someone else—who likely didn't wash up properly—just used it? I won't go into the messy details, but I hope you see my point.
So, does nobody else bother disinfecting the seat after guests leave?
I get the impression everyone here is quite particular about hygiene, yet you don't wipe down the seat after a guest, friend, or neighbor sits down (especially during this sweltering summer heat)? To me, disinfecting seems like common sense.

Generally, I avoid using restrooms anywhere else. As for neighbors, I have to admit they rarely visit mine, 🤷though occasionally some kids stop by to play, or perhaps a family member like a grandma, sister, or sister-in-law. I don't host anyone I find unpleasant. If a neighbor were to sit down, I would definitely disinfect the seat first.

I also forgot to follow up on that question—can you actually turn the faucet on and off using a paper towel, or do you happen to have some Kleenex on you?🤷.

Emily Mitchell80 said:I am quite diligent about washing my hands, though I must admit I was somewhat taken aback by the suggestion that one might leave a restroom without washing up at all. When I find myself using a restroom in a local coffee shop or a restaurant, I often hesitate to wash my hands because the thought of touching the faucet or the soap dispenser—even if it is a pump style—really unnerves me. I can't help but think about how many people have touched that same handle right before me, and it makes me feel as though I am just spreading more germs rather than getting clean. It is perhaps a bit of a flawed way to look at things, I suppose; while my hands may be unwashed, I find it much more tolerable to deal with my own skin than to touch a communal faucet or door handle that a stranger has just used.
I truly find the most peace when I can use a paper towel to turn the handle so that I don't have to make contact with anything else.
I am not entirely sure there is a perfect solution here, so perhaps it is simply best to hold it until I get back home.

Oh goodness, no... 🤦
I honestly cannot fathom how anyone could walk out of a restroom without washing their hands; it is such a fundamental, automatic habit for me that I struggle to even find a comparison for it.
Haven't you seen the standard hygiene protocols that medical professionals always emphasize? You simply turn on the tap, use the liquid soap—which is fine since no one else touches the bottle itself—scrub your hands, grab a paper towel to dry off, and then use that same towel to turn off the faucet...
While I find bar soap in public places a bit unsettling, liquid soap doesn't bother me since it remains untouched by others. If there are no paper towels available, I’ll use my elbow or even my foot if I have to, or perhaps I'll use my left hand to close the valve since my right hand is usually busy. There is absolutely no way I would skip washing my hands after using the restroom.

Emily Mitchell80 said:Regarding the seat itself, I don't even sit down at my own house if someone who isn't a member of my immediate household—like a friend, a neighbor, or a sibling's guest—has used it recently; in fact, I often end up layering toilet paper over the seat just to be safe.
Whenever a guest uses the restroom, I make it a point to spray the seat with a disinfectant cleaner once they've finished, just to feel a bit more secure, much like some of you mentioned.

I certainly understand wanting to wipe down the seat after a complete stranger, but doing it after a close friend? 😲

Emily Mitchell80 said:What on earth are you supposed to do when the restroom door is far too heavy to nudge open with your elbow, and there isn't a single paper towel in sight to use as a barrier, leaving you with no choice but to touch the handle with your bare hands??!?!

I usually just manage it with my left hand—specifically using my pinky finger, if I’m being honest😉... how do you typically handle it? 😁

Emily Mitchell80 said:You suggest washing your hands; but do you truly feel they are clean if you've had to touch the faucet or turn off the water after someone else—who might not have been particularly hygienic—used them? ... I won't dwell on the specifics, but I hope you understand the essence of my concern.
So, am I to understand that nobody else disinfects their toilet seat after guests leave??!?!
I was under the impression that everyone here was quite particular about hygiene, yet it seems we don't all wipe down the seat after a guest, friend, or neighbor sits down (especially during this sweltering summer heat)? To me, cleaning it seems like the only logical step.

I get the feeling you might be feeling a little defensive since your perspective hasn't found much support here, which is perfectly fine; if that's your routine, then more power to you. Personally, I tend to use an antibacterial wipe—like a Clorox wipe—if someone I'm not entirely sure about has used the facilities, though if it were a close friend or a family member, I probably wouldn't bother...

Emily Mitchell80 said:I am honestly not quite sure why you feel that is an overreaction; if one does not make a point to disinfect a bathroom surface at home after a neighbor or a friend visits, it really isn't much different from sitting down on a restroom seat in a coffee shop or a restaurant where a complete stranger was just sitting moments before you.
In my house, the toilet and the shower are in separate rooms and I always keep the doors shut, so those concerns don't really apply to my situation.

It isn't truly the same thing because you are consistently cleaning your own facilities according to your own standards, whereas in a bar, there is no way to know how thoroughly they actually sanitize everything... plus, at a pub, you have no idea who else has used that restroom, while at home, you at least know the people you are inviting inside. You wouldn't just let some random stranger off the street use your private bathroom without a second thought.

I always—and I mean *always*—use the paper towel I used to dry my hands to turn off the faucet. I’m seriously questioning how we teach kids hand hygiene... because medical pros basically say wash before meals and after using the restroom—do it for yourself first, then for everyone else. 🙂 Honestly, I don't see many people actually scrubbing up properly after hitting the bathroom, so it makes me wonder what kind of lessons kids are even getting. 🙄

Hey Carol Scott98, no hard feelings! 🙂
I’m not offended at all; we’re just having a debate, right? 😕
Look, I didn't come here to pick fights with anyone. I just wanted to see what other people do for hygiene or how they view things. Nobody has to agree with my take or my habits—I’m definitely not looking for validation here.
If you want to wash your hands, go for it. If you don't, that's on you.
It’s so rare that I even use a public restroom when I'm out that those few times I skip washing up aren't going to ruin my health. Besides, half the time there’s no soap, or the water is barely a trickle from the faucet... what am I supposed to do, cry because I didn't wash my hands?
As for glassware in cafes—I worked as a waitress at several coffee shops and once at a restaurant during college. Glasses are supposed to be washed in high-temp machines to disinfect them. Any cafe that doesn't use a machine is basically a breeding ground for bacteria. Health inspectors are pretty strict about this; they'll take swabs of everything from lemon slicers to utensils, and if they find any residue, the place gets shut down immediately! In restaurants, they’re even stricter—there can't be anything else on a bread cutting board. Period. I heard of one place getting closed down just for leaving jam residue behind!
Don't stress about the glass. If you see one that doesn't look perfectly clean, just ask for another one!

Look, there are strict health codes for bathrooms just like there are for kitchens, and don't go assuming businesses are just ignoring them. The fines are massive, so it’s way cheaper for them to just pour some bleach in the toilet and scrub it down than to deal with a citation. If you're in a public restroom at a cafe or a restaurant, it doesn't automatically mean it's filthy—that's usually just our perception because we have no idea who was in there before us. Plus, if a bathroom smells, it might just be old plumbing issues rather than actual dirtiness, even if our brains immediately jump to "this place is gross."

Emily Mitchell80 said:I wash my hands constantly, too, but I’m honestly shocked you guys are talking about skipping them after using the restroom. When I’m at a coffee shop or a restaurant, I almost never wash my hands because the idea of touching the faucet or the soap dispenser—even if it’s just a pump—is revolting. Then there's the door handle. I can't stop thinking about how the person before me used those exact same surfaces with their dirty hands, and then I touch them and pretend I'm clean? That logic is broken. Sure, my hands feel gross after using the bathroom, but I'd much rather deal with my own mess than touch a communal faucet, soap dispenser, or door handle that some stranger just handled. If you know what I mean! And
The absolute best feeling is grabbing a paper towel just to pull the door handle so I don't have to touch anything else.
There isn't really a fix for this. Maybe the best move is just holding it until I get home.

As for sitting on the toilet seat, I won't even sit down at my own house if someone who doesn't live here—like a friend, a neighbor, or a brother's buddy—was in there right before me. And don't even get me started on why I wouldn't sit anywhere without a thick layer of toilet paper covering the seat first!!!!!
Whenever someone visits and uses my bathroom, I make sure to spray the seat with disinfectant once they leave. Just like some of you mentioned, I feel like it's the only right way to do it.

And then you go around touching everything with filthy hands, spreading whatever germs you've picked up to everyone else.

If you're really that disgusted by everything, you can find high-grade hand sanitizer online that actually works. You just wipe your hands with it right after leaving the stall and you're good to go. It's basically the same stuff used in hospitals for sanitizing, so it's legit.

😂
I’m not doing anything out of the ordinary; like I said, I just walk out.
You wash your hands, turn off the faucet, and grab the door handle—and don't even try telling me there's always a paper towel available to touch the handle or the tap. After all that, your hands are dirty again, yet you actually think they're clean. Or maybe you use your elbow to turn off the water (as if your elbow isn't part of your body or something).
For the record, I’ve never dealt with warts, fungus, or any other infection, which is plenty of proof enough for me that my routine works. If it didn't, I would have picked up something nasty by now on the subway, the bus, grocery store carts, or in elevators...
When someone walks out of a restroom and grabs the handle with their bare hands—hands they just used to wipe themselves—it doesn't even cross my mind to touch that handle right after them and then wash my hands there (unless the sink is sensor-operated like in some shopping malls or fancy coffee shops). That's it. If you want to go around touching everything, be my guest. You can pick up all sorts of germs riding the bus, hitting the stop button, or pushing a cart at Target... do you use a paper towel to touch the cart every single time, or do you disinfect it first?
Of course not. That’s why when I get home, I scrub my hands thoroughly, especially between my fingers. Again, I haven't caught anything, and I’m constantly riding the bus, taking the subway, pushing carts through the store, and hitting buttons in elevators...

Look, I don't always scrub the toilet seat after someone else uses it, but if they do? I don't see anything wrong with that. Even if it’s a close friend or someone I actually like. Honestly, if there are some wet wipes nearby, I’ll give the seat a quick wipe just to be safe. I always leave things spotless when I’m done, but you know how some people are—they spray everything and leave little droplets everywhere. I’m not about to sit in that, regardless of whether it was my best friend or a family member. You don't need to be totally paranoid and sanitize everything after every single person, but if you remember to wipe it down once in a while, why not? When I'm out in the city, I usually avoid public restrooms unless it's an absolute emergency, and even then, I make sure I have wipes on me. I touch everything when I'm out—subway railings, whatever—but I'm careful not to touch my face or eat until I can wash up. Once I get home, I just give my hands a good scrub and call it a day. It's the same routine I've always had: washing before and after meals, before and after using the restroom, washing my face, all that stuff.

Emily Mitchell80 said:😂
I’m not saying anything. Like I said, I just walk out.
You wash your hands, turn off the water, grab the door handle—and don't give me that crap about always having a paper towel to touch the handle or turn the faucet. You end up with dirty hands again while thinking they're clean. Or you use your elbow to turn the water off (as if your elbow isn't part of your body or something).
Anyway, I’ve never dealt with warts, fungus, or any other crap, which is plenty of proof enough for me that my routine works. If it didn't, I would've caught something by now on the subway, the bus, grocery store carts, elevators...
When someone leaves a restroom and grabs the faucet with their hands—hands they just used to wipe themselves—it doesn't even cross my mind to touch that same faucet right after them. I just wash my hands. Unless there's a sensor faucet like you see in some malls or fancy coffee shops, then that's it. If you want to touch everything, go ahead. When you're riding the subway or a bus and have to hit the stop button or pull the lever to open the doors, you can pick up all sorts of germs there too. Or when you're pushing a cart at Target... what, do you have a paper towel to hold the cart with, or do you disinfect it first?
Of course not. So when I get home, I wash my hands thoroughly, especially between my fingers. Again, I haven't caught anything, and I'm constantly on the bus, the subway, pushing carts through the store, hitting buttons in elevators...

What kind of person walks out of a bathroom and doesn't touch a single thing until they get home? 🤷

If you're at a cafe, you're probably touching the glass you're drinking from, the table, the chairs, etc.

Look, I'm not some hygiene freak, but man, I wash my hands after using the restroom. And I always carry wipes with me just in case I need to use them.

Besides, like I said, you can buy hand sanitizer. If you won't wash your hands because you're grossed out by the handle or the faucet, at least wipe down with some sanitizer.

Damn, looks like I'll have to start carrying a bottle of Purell with me everywhere. It's obvious people skip washing their hands way more often than I thought.

I’m not touching anything in a public restroom until I get back home. When you're out in the city, you're constantly touching stuff—there's no avoiding it. You touch door handles, subway railings, bus seats... it's constant. BUT ONCE I GET HOME, I WASH MY HANDS THOROUGHLY!!! And yeah, like someone else pointed out, I make sure not to touch my face or whatever when I'm out in public, regardless of whether I used a restroom or not.
Look, I agree with your point that people need to wash their hands, but you have to understand that I can't even stand the thought of touching a faucet or anything like that.
I don't have the energy to keep repeating myself. If you want to wash your hands after using the restroom, fine. BUT you absolutely must wash them the second you walk through your front door.

ruggedeagle95 said:I always—and I mean *always*—use the paper towel I used to dry my hands to turn off the faucet. Honestly, I’m not so sure if kids are actually being taught right... like, how were you guys taught to wash your hands? Because doctors say you gotta wash before eating and after using the bathroom—for your own sake and everyone else's—🙂but I don't see many people actually scrubbing up after hitting the restroom, so it makes me wonder how kids are even being taught at all🙄

I use that same paper towel to grab the door handle when I’m leaving the restroom, too! Especially since everyone who skips handwashing is out there touching everything, so I just toss the towel whenever I head out.
Medical pros have all these rules, but I remember it being: before and after meals, after using the bathroom, when you get home from outside, once you kick off your shoes, before touching any food regardless of what you were doing earlier (seriously, we don't even open the fridge if our hands aren't clean!), and also before washing dishes, setting the table, or folding clean laundry. And lately, they should definitely add cell phones and computers to that list—especially phones, because people play on them in the bathroom, then walk out and keep playing on them, and even if they *did* wash their hands, the germs are still stuck to the phone... plus a million other little things that I feel like nobody pays attention to.
The whole thing honestly creeps me out a bit, and even an ex of mine noticed it—he only started paying attention to handwashing once he started walking around with me...

The only thing that never made sense to me were those handwashing instructions you see in hospitals. They tell you to take off your rings and stuff after leaving the stall but *before* washing your hands, then put them back on, and then use a paper towel to open the door on your way out.
Okay, fine, you need to wash your hands really thoroughly there, but then all that jewelry is still getting touched, right? Because even if you didn't touch anything in the restroom, you're definitely touching it while taking the rings off, and then you put them back on "clean" hands... then you touch the door handle, ugh, gross.

Kids just aren't being taught properly. I'm not a parent yet, but I've spent years working with kids and I seriously don't get the struggle—there are endless threads on parenting forums and in magazines about how hard it is to get kids to wash their hands, brush their teeth, or even clean themselves... and then we act surprised when those kids grow up to be messy adults.
My crew never had issues with this, and none of the kids I worked with gave me much pushback either. The only thing was every fall, when they’d come back from summer break with their parents or grandparents, and we’d have to have a quick little refresher that in my house, skipping hygiene isn't an option.

fighting the bacteria
...

Yeah, it’s basic science—unwashed hands are the absolute easiest way to spread bacteria and viruses everywhere.
Personally, when I’m picking out soap (always liquid, obviously), the only things that matter to me are that it’s antibacterial and smells freaking great.🙂
I mean, look at public schools; half the time they don't even bother providing soap, just a sink full of water.🙄

electriccobra76 said:Yeah, that’s basically the fastest way to spread germs and viruses everywhere.

What kind of bacteria or viruses are we even talking about? Besides hepatitis, which is obviously bad, can you catch anything worse? Like what someone else mentioned—imagine someone's digging into a jar of Jif, licking the knife, shoving it back in, and then we all use that same dirty knife. What happens then?🙄>

electriccobra76 said:Yeah, honestly, the easiest way to spread germs and viruses is just through UNWASHED HANDS
For me, when I'm picking out soap (always liquid, obviously), the main thing is that it’s ANTIBACTERIAL and smells good enough🙂
Like, most public schools around here don't even have soap, just plain old water🙄

That's actually bad because it's loaded with alcohol, so it basically just dries your hands out! A regular, decent soap works perfectly fine if you actually use it properly!

Plus, that antibacterial stuff kills off all the good bacteria along with the nasty ones

Emily Mitchell80 said:I don't touch anything in the restroom until I get back home. When you're out in the city, you have to handle all sorts of things—there's no avoiding it if you want to board a subway or a bus... BUT ONCE I GET HOME, I WASH MY HANDS THOROUGHLY!!! And of course, as someone else mentioned, I make sure not to touch my face or anything similar while I'm out, regardless of whether I've used a restroom.
While I certainly respect your perspective that people should wash their hands, please try to understand that I find even touching a faucet quite unsettling.
I don't really have the energy to go in circles about this anymore; if you want to wash your hands after using the restroom, that's fine, BUT you absolutely must wash them when you walk through your front door.

I think you might have misunderstood what leeloo27 was trying to say. She wasn't suggesting that you touch things inside the stall itself, but rather that if you touch other items with unwashed hands—like a glass you're drinking from—and if a local coffee shop doesn't prioritize hygiene or lacks a proper dishwasher and only rinses things superficially, others could potentially pick up something from you (or from people with similar habits). So, shouldn't you wash up after using the restroom??😁

During my college years, which honestly feel like they're still going on, I worked as a waitress, and I've seen firsthand just how varied the standards are in different cafes and how clean the counters actually are. I've even seen servers who only rinse the rim of a glass, assuming the soap residue at the bottom will magically clean the rest. It really gives you an idea of how neglected the parts of the glass you actually touch can be.

I wasn't upset when you wrote that; I simply felt that perhaps you aren't quite accepting that others might disagree with you. I understand why you're being defensive because you feel strongly about your views, but it feels like we've drifted from a casual chat into a full-blown debate.

Ultimately, I believe washing your hands after using the restroom is necessary, even if you feel you haven't touched anything (though I'm a bit puzzled how one manages not to touch anything in a stall if they have to close the door behind them). I can't support the idea of not washing up; to me, it feels as unhygienic as not cleaning yourself after using the bathroom. Please don't take this personally, but that's just how I see it. If someone truly can't wash their hands, carrying hand sanitizer or wipes in a purse is a simple solution that isn't exactly a luxury these days.☕

All five. Honestly, I wouldn't even be chiming in here if I hadn't read about girls doing their makeup in public restrooms (somewhere I wouldn't even dare to put on lipstick) without knowing how to wash their hands properly. Maybe those girls find it gross to touch the soap dispenser handle because someone just wiped their butt and then immediately touched the lever—just like I would. My take? Your hands are cleaner after washing them in a public restroom than if you don't, but once you've washed them, you’re mostly just dealing with your own germs rather than everyone else's.
Even if you do wash your hands in a restroom, how long can you go without touching anything before they aren't "clean" anymore? Within a few minutes, you'll be grabbing something else, like a shop door, and you might need to wash them all over again.
Bacteria spreads via your hands IF YOU DON'T WASH THEM; basically, you touch stuff and then touch yourself, transferring everything. Personally, I wash my hands, and I do it more than enough.
Look, I get that people disagree with me. It was obvious from the jump that we weren't on the same page (and it's not just about handwashing), so why not debate it? Maybe someone can actually convince me I'm wrong.
If a coffee shop doesn't care about hygiene, you're going to get sick regardless of whether you washed your hands or not. Those kinds of places usually have storage rooms crawling with cockroaches that scurry over the juices and the fruit displays at the counter; in that scenario, my hands are the least of your worries.
I'm starting to lose interest in this argument since I feel like I'm just repeating myself.
I took the light rail to work this morning, touched a bunch of things along the way, and made sure to wash my hands in the restroom before walking into my office. It's just a habit. 😉