The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Welcome and General Discussion => Topic started by: frugalnacho on May 17, 2019, 09:04:08 PM
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I get grossed out by touching the garbage can and want to wash my hands. I got a trash can with a foot pedal specifically so I wouldn't have to touch the lid just to throw something away. When I change the trash bag I also wash my hands. When I touch the outside trash cans I also wash my hands. My wife is the same way, but it seems like we are completely alone. We've been watching our friends and family for several years now, and I have not witnessed a single person ever wash their hands after touching the trash. We constantly have husband/wife conversation about how grossed out we are every time we see someone do it, which is every single time we get together with any friends and family, because garbage is just a part of life. They all touch all over the trash cash (even ours with the god damn foot pedal!) and go about their business touching everything else. My wife's cousin is town and staying with us and it's driving me nuts. Instead of using the foot pedal she will reach over and open the lid, then immediately put her hand in the chip bag, or touch the silverware, or touch all the items in the fridge. Or she will use the foot pedal, but then just rub her hand on the lid for fucking reason!
At family get togethers everyone is always touching all over the garbage can and never washing. Especially when they are in the kitchen doing food prep. Or the trash will get full, and they will replace the bag, and take the full bag to the outside garbage cans, then come in and continue with food prep without washing. All my neighbors do the same thing. I have witness them smoking while taking their trash cans to the curb. I have also witnessed them eating while doing it.
Am I just being a little OCD and germophobic? Or are they all gross?
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Yes
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They are all gross
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It depends on the trashcan. If it's a gnarly looking public trash can, particularly one with a door, yes. For example, there is an ice cream place around the corner from us that has a trash can where you have to push the door open to throw away your trash. That door is always smeared with ice cream, fudge, sprinkles, or whatever else the kids couldn't finish. I want to light my hands on fire to kill the germs.
At home? No. Most of what we throw away is dry and we compost all of our food scraps, so nothing gross is ever hanging out in our trash can. We also don't have any garbage cans with lids. Step cans usually have lower capacities, it's hard to get a bag in and out if it's a tall skinny one, and the foot pedal mechanism invariably breaks.
Honestly, I think you are being a germaphobe. Your keyboard at work is probably dirtier than your trashcan. You will not be able to escape all the microbes in this world. You shouldn't stress over avoiding them, washing them away, or worrying about other people touching them and spreading them. You've probably come into contact with many things that have been touched by people who have touched a trash can then immediately touched something you touched and never known about it.
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We compost, recycle and don't have any meat in the house. I really can't fathom why I would be more concerned about touching my garbage can, which is nearly 100% unrecyclable plastic waste, over any other surface.
Do you wash your hands every time you touch your phone? The remote? The buttons on debit/credit machines? Door handles? Pets? Etc?
You are absolutely right, people are disgusting, but not particularly because they don't wash their hands after touching their home garbage cans.
Go ahead and be a germophobe, but be cautious about being a judgemental germophobe.
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hell yes.
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No. That’s ocd territory.
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I'm with Malkynn: my trashcan doesn't come into contact with anything that's going to do me harm. But a fetish/OCD about the cleanliness of the trashcan in the home that one shares with one's spouse is far less crippling, functionally and societally speaking, than any other, so I'd hope OP can live and let live on this one.
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Many things in life made me far less concerned about germs. They were:
1. Working in a kictchen and as a CNA at a nursing home
2. Spending a couple months in Asia eating street food daily
3. Spending 3 weeks motorcycle camping in Baja and eating tons of local food
I don’t consider myself “gross” but I’m far less concerned about germs as I once was.
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Can't you just clean the trashcan lid, if it's freaking you out? To be clear, I don't share this particular phobia -- there's nothing magical about household trash that makes it full of dangerous germs, unless you're regularly rubbing raw chicken on your container or something. But even if you were, you could just clean it, and it would go back to being essentially as clean as the rest of your home (or a bit cleaner, even).
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Always. I close the doors with my feet as I come inside after taking out the trash so I don’t get the doorknobs dirty. Even my kids know that you don’t touch the trash can. Our inside can is hidden in a cabinet. I can open the cabinet door with my toes and then grab the sliding mechanism with my toes to bring the trash can out. Keeps my hands clean and since no garbage touches the bottom slider, feet are clean too.
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Part of my cleaning routine at home is to spray the trash can cover with lysol and wipe it down. I do still wash my hands if I touch it though :)
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In my house? No. What the heck are you putting in your trash?
I wash dishes all day and my hands are plenty clean.
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It's in the same category as the toilet for me - it's automatic, I wash my hands even if I've only walked in to the toilet. I'd be grossed out too if people were preparing food and not washing their hands after touching the rubbish 🤢
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Sounds like the solution is to take the lid off of your wastebin. Then no-one has to touch anything unless they're taking out the trash.
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Sounds like the solution is to take the lid off of your wastebin. Then no-one has to touch anything unless they're taking out the trash.
We have a winner.
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Yes, I wash my hands after touching garbage cans, garbage bags, and other things that may be germy.
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Yes, I wash my hands after touching garbage cans, garbage bags, and other things that may be germy.
So...everything??
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They are all gross
Much too often I've watched cashiers at the grocery store (and other stores) lick their fingers to facilitate separating a bunch of bills that were in one of the cash register's trays.
The cashiers are also handling raw produce, and worse, all kinds of packaged meat that sometimes drips its juices out of its packaging onto the checkout's conveyor belt.
AND THEN THE CASHIERS TOUCH MY ITEMS AS THEY SCAN THEIR PRICES.
Where is the vomit emoticon?
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Yes, I wash my hands after touching garbage cans, garbage bags, and other things that may be germy.
So...everything??
Not everything, but if you are obliquely making the point that LOTS of things have germs on them I do concede it.
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Yes, I wash my hands after touching garbage cans, garbage bags, and other things that may be germy.
So...everything??
Not everything, but if you are obliquely making the point that LOTS of things have germs on them I do concede it.
K...
Sure, some things are sterile. Not sure how oblique my statement was...
Maybe since I'm in healthcare my perception of pathogens is a little different than most?
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I have witness them smoking while taking their trash cans to the curb.
wait...you witnessed your neighbor intentionally inhaling carcinogenic chemicals deep into their lungs and the only thing about it that grossed you out was the fact that they were touching a trash bag at the same time? I guess I do find that a bit strange.
Nevertheless, your wife's cousin is doing something that bothers you enough to vent on the forum about it. In her mind she is probably trying to be a helpful houseguest by pitching in with cleanup. If she knew how much it bothered you she would probably feel bad and want to stop annoying you. So find a kind and respectful way to tell her that you are a wee bit OCD and could she please try to be understanding and supportive of your struggle. A little self-deprecating humor might help.
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Yes, I wash my hands after touching garbage cans, garbage bags, and other things that may be germy.
So...everything??
Not everything, but if you are obliquely making the point that LOTS of things have germs on them I do concede it.
K...
Sure, some things are sterile. Not sure how oblique my statement was...
Maybe since I'm in healthcare my perception of pathogens is a little different than most?
I think your perception is surely heightened because of your training and experience.
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Ours is not just a dry paper bin, we throw rotten food, meat, bones, and dirty diapers in it. It's definitely fucking disgusting. I'm not taking the lid off and having an open air stinky garbage can, that's also disgusting. We do wipe it down on a regular basis, especially when people are coming over because no one seems to think trash is dirty and shouldn't be touched. However I never see other people wipe their own trash down. I do frequently see them open the lid, remove the bag and take it to the outside trash or dumpster, then come in and replace the bag and shut the lid, then immediately move on to touching food, etc without touching their hands. I know the outside trash cans and dumpsters are dirty because there are varmints and bird shit other visible gross stuff on it all the time which they just transferred to their inside can/fridge/everything in their house. My family is objectively disgusting and I was never raised to wash after touching the garbage, but I always thought it was gross and wanted to wash after handling garbage. I thought my family was just a bunch of animals, but from all the people in my extended family, neighbors, wife's family, friends, coworkers, etc I have never witnessed anyone with the same mindset as me, with the exception of my wife.
Sometimes I do think I am a little OCD and germophobic by comparison to other people, even though it just seems like common sense and good practice to me. Wash your hands after touching garbage cans or toilets. Wash your hands after touching public door handles. Wipe your own door handles, phone, and remotes down on a semi-regular basis to not spread gross germs around. I know I'm probably not going to get sick if I touch my indoor trash can lid and don't wash my hands, but it still grosses me out. But other times it just seems so clear cut to me that it's disgusting, like when a friend will help out by taking the trash out either while smoking a cigarette or immediately preceding smoking a cigarette (cigarettes being disgusting is a separate discussion). I mean it's full of rotting trash, I can smell it, it smells like gross trash. There are scuff marks and chew marks from animals (probably rats, raccoons, etc) trying to get into it. I've seen maggots in that trash. I've thrown dog shit in that trash can, while lugging it around the yard cleaning up dog shit. To handle it and then touch your lips while smoking is the equivalent to just putting your lips straight on it.
I'm glad to see some of yall on the same page as me, because with the exception of my wife I am like 0 for 100 in observations with everyone I know. No one seems to be bothered by touching trash cans. I also know a fair number of people that don't wash after using the restroom. Most do though, but they don't seem to have a problem touching things in the bathroom as long as they aren't actually going to the bathroom. Like they will go in and open the toilet and flush a kleenex, and not wash since they didn't actually go to the bathroom.
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Yeah, I wash my hands after changing the trash. But we don't keep a lid on our can, so I never have to touch it any other time. Everyone whose homes I regularly visit has a foot pedal lid or no lid, so it's not something I've really noticed. And I am more obsessive about washing my hands than most people.
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My outside garbage can has bagged trash inside it and a handle on the outside. My inside (kitchen) garbage can is clean because I put bags in it like a civilized person.
So no, washing my hands every time I touch it seems unnecessary.
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Ours is not just a dry paper bin, we throw rotten food, meat, bones, and dirty diapers in it. It's definitely fucking disgusting. I'm not taking the lid off and having an open air stinky garbage can, that's also disgusting. We do wipe it down on a regular basis, especially when people are coming over because no one seems to think trash is dirty and shouldn't be touched. However I never see other people wipe their own trash down. I do frequently see them open the lid, remove the bag and take it to the outside trash or dumpster, then come in and replace the bag and shut the lid, then immediately move on to touching food, etc without touching their hands. I know the outside trash cans and dumpsters are dirty because there are varmints and bird shit other visible gross stuff on it all the time which they just transferred to their inside can/fridge/everything in their house. My family is objectively disgusting and I was never raised to wash after touching the garbage, but I always thought it was gross and wanted to wash after handling garbage. I thought my family was just a bunch of animals, but from all the people in my extended family, neighbors, wife's family, friends, coworkers, etc I have never witnessed anyone with the same mindset as me, with the exception of my wife.
Sometimes I do think I am a little OCD and germophobic by comparison to other people, even though it just seems like common sense and good practice to me. Wash your hands after touching garbage cans or toilets. Wash your hands after touching public door handles. Wipe your own door handles, phone, and remotes down on a semi-regular basis to not spread gross germs around. I know I'm probably not going to get sick if I touch my indoor trash can lid and don't wash my hands, but it still grosses me out. But other times it just seems so clear cut to me that it's disgusting, like when a friend will help out by taking the trash out either while smoking a cigarette or immediately preceding smoking a cigarette (cigarettes being disgusting is a separate discussion). I mean it's full of rotting trash, I can smell it, it smells like gross trash. There are scuff marks and chew marks from animals (probably rats, raccoons, etc) trying to get into it. I've seen maggots in that trash. I've thrown dog shit in that trash can, while lugging it around the yard cleaning up dog shit. To handle it and then touch your lips while smoking is the equivalent to just putting your lips straight on it.
I'm glad to see some of yall on the same page as me, because with the exception of my wife I am like 0 for 100 in observations with everyone I know. No one seems to be bothered by touching trash cans. I also know a fair number of people that don't wash after using the restroom. Most do though, but they don't seem to have a problem touching things in the bathroom as long as they aren't actually going to the bathroom. Like they will go in and open the toilet and flush a kleenex, and not wash since they didn't actually go to the bathroom.
I'm way more freaked out by restaurants that serve shrimp than touching garbage bins.
Actually...um...you should really probably avoid restaurants in general if you're antsy about germs...I've worked in a few and...well...yeah...
I wash my hands about 100 times a day and apply antibacterial hand sanitizer another 100 times a day, so I'm pretty down with the infection control, but really, the world is absolutely, unavoidably, utterly and disgustingly filthy. Especially people, we are soectacular incubators of pestilence.
This is coming from someone who regularly comes home from work and won't let my husband touch me because my hair has been lightly misted with human blood/fluids...of several people. It's delightful, really.
Even that doesn't freak me out as much as shrimp does. I'm not kidding.
Anyhoo, do your garbage bin hand washing, there's nothing wrong with it, but don't get too bent out of shape about it.
Shrimp and restaurants though, you might want to worry about.
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Yes. 99% of what goes in really isn't going to hurt me (coffee grinds, paper towels, banana peels), but I'd rather have clean hands and not have to worry then forget I tossed something like raw chicken pieces and walk around with dirty hands touching everything. I also have two babies that need constant changing and handling so it's more important to stay clean.
This reminds me of YouTube cooking videos where people handle the meat, then touch everything else. How do these people not get sick every time they freaking cook! Nuts. I specifically leave the meat handling for last,gather up all the spices and veggies first into bowls/containers, THEN cut up the meat. The lack of thought process 90% of the people around me have sometimes amazes/disturbs me...
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Yes. 99% of what goes in really isn't going to hurt me (coffee grinds, paper towels, banana peels), but I'd rather have clean hands and not have to worry then forget I tossed something like raw chicken pieces and walk around with dirty hands touching everything. I also have two babies that need constant changing and handling so it's more important to stay clean.
This reminds me of YouTube cooking videos where people handle the meat, then touch everything else. How do these people not get sick every time they freaking cook! Nuts. I specifically leave the meat handling for last,gather up all the spices and veggies first into bowls/containers, THEN cut up the meat. The lack of thought process 90% of the people around me have sometimes amazes/disturbs me...
K.
Again, go ahead and wash your hands after touching your garbage, it's not a bad habit.
I'm just suggesting holding off on being super judgemental about others not doing it since it really isn't a big deal compared to the million other worse germ things people do on a daily basis.
If you are going to walk around judging people for how they mishandle and spread pathogens around, you're going to be utterly exhausted.
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I normally agree with you, and reading your previous post has given me a bit of pause here. The question I hesitate to ask now is....what is so bad about shrimp? I generally avoid seafood in restaurants. If it's a prep thing (which it sounds like)-I'm well paranoid enough knowing 2 people who's lives have been affected by "bad seafood."
Edit-MIL after a bit of research MIL may have developed an "adult" allergy to shellfish, probably not caused by bad seafood but reaction terrible and can't handle any now nonetheless...
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I normally agree with you, and reading your previous post has given me a bit of pause here. The question I hesitate to ask now is....what is so bad about shrimp? I generally avoid seafood in restaurants. If it's a prep thing (which it sounds like)-I'm well paranoid enough knowing 2 people who's lives have been affected by "bad seafood."
Edit-MIL after a bit of research MIL may have developed an "adult" allergy to shellfish, probably not caused by bad seafood but reaction terrible and can't handle any now nonetheless...
Tests recently showed dangerous levels of antibiotic resistant bacteria in shrimp in Canada, and there is no system in place for testing for it systematically.
The shrimp themselves are fine to eat if cooked, it's the cross contamination and handling that's the issue, especially in restaurants where poorly paid, young, minimally trained kitchen workers who peel shrimp are simply not equipped to handle it. It's not the shrimp that are the risk, it's absolutely everything on the menu.
That said, I literally ate at a seafood restaurant last week. I'm not overly concerned, I'm just way more concerned than about touching my garbage bin, and have chosen to avoid it as much as reasonably possible. The dinner was a business event, so I sucked it up and deeply enjoyed the meal.
In terms of risks, it's all relative. I would literally rather lick my garbage bin daily than eat salad greens straight from a bag, which is something I see my co-workers do daily.
People stuff their faces with bacteria constantly.
I do it too, I don't hesitate to use my finger to remove lipstick from my teeth, which is also far more dangerous than licking the garbage bin, at least in my house, even if I've just washed my hands.
Yes, use your common sense, but again, don't get bent out of shape about it, because most people are actually pretty clueless about pathogens, so "common sense" doesn't necessarily translate to good hygiene practices.
Once you really understand it, you just have to accept the awful pathogen spreading behaviours of those around you because you really can't avoid it, so there's no point in judging or stressing about it. Just do your best to protect yourself.
And maybe get a garbage bin with a foot pedal?? Much cleaner. (Oops, thought you were OP, advice meant for them)
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Thanks for the follow up. Wasn't aware of that issue but it doesn't surprise me.
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Yes I realize restaurants (and pretty much everywhere else) are full of pathogens and people not following good hygiene practices and that also grosses me out so I just do what I can to avoid what I can.
I do have a garbage can with a foot pedal, and people sometimes use it, but those same people more often than not just use their hands to open it.
We have several friends/family with young children and they will often change a poopy diaper and and not wash afterwards (then proceed to open the trash lod by hand to throw the bagged diaper away). I've even seen them rub aquaphor cream directly on the butthole after changing the poopy diaper, and simply wipe clean with a wipee as if that cleans their finger off. When I see them do that I do insist they wash their hands. I try not to be too judgemental about it, but Jesus Christ you just changed a poopy diaper and put your finger directly on a butthole, why do I need to tell you to wash your hands?!
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I also see a lot of the same people cross contaminate with meat. It's like none of them have ever heard that meat has germs. Touch raw pork, then touch the garbage can lid, then touch everything else in their kitchen.
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I guess I'm gross, because I don't know if I've ever thought about washing my hands after I take out the trash, or touch the trash can...I mean, if it was gross and my hands touched some nasty trash that wasn't just like, a coffee filter than sure, I'll wash after...I don't wipe down my door handles either, or my phone. I just didn't grow up that way, my mom was definitely not the kind to open bathroom doors with her foot or make us use hand sanitizer...ever. My dad was extremely anti- anti bacterial products when I was growing up because of their harm to the environment (he was a wetlands biologist) so it just wasn't part of our life. As an adult I definitely wash hands after using the bathroom, but not if I just go into the bathroom to fix my hair or something...if I'm cooking with meat, I actually prepare the meat first and get it cooking, then wash my hands, then prepare everything else. Other than that, I don't think there are too many reasons that I wash my hands during the day...just not a habit that was ingrained at a young age.
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Ours is not just a dry paper bin, we throw rotten food, meat, bones, and dirty diapers in it. It's definitely fucking disgusting.
If you are putting dirty diapers into your kitchen waste bin that is definitely disgusting.
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Ours is not just a dry paper bin, we throw rotten food, meat, bones, and dirty diapers in it. It's definitely fucking disgusting.
If you are putting dirty diapers into your kitchen waste bin that is definitely disgusting.
Where else would they go? Poopy diapers usually go straight outside unless the kitchen is full enough that it's about to be changed, then it can go in until the bag is changed. But pee diapers go into it. Lots of other disgusting stuff goes into it also. It's our main trash bag and all our waste goes into it.
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I think you are freaking yourself out by obsessing over other people's actions. OCD.
We constantly have husband/wife conversation about how grossed out we are every time we see someone do it,
This is what makes me feel it is obsessive for you.
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The stuff that I'm scraping into the garbage can just came off of my plate. How does it suddenly get so disgusting when I was just eating it? I scrape into a plastic bag, which only sits in my kitchen for a couple of days. I wash my trash receptable out several times a year just because (rarely is there anything visible to wash off).
In public, yeah, I wash my hands a lot. I wash my hands immediately when I come in from having been in the outside world. I wash after using the bathroom. I wash before cooking. I wash if I've touched anything that feels gross. In my opinion, that is enough.
So yes, I do think you are a bit OCD and over estimating your risk from germs. A bacteria free world also kills the good guys that keep our skin, and our digestive systems in good working order.
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However I never see other people wipe their own trash down.
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Did you ever think that perhaps people are wiping the trash can down WHEN THEY DON'T HAVE GUESTS OVER?
The only reason I'm going to do a bunch of cleaning while I have guests over is if it's my parents (who are in a different category of guests) or something happened to make a mess. Even then, depending on what it is, I may just shove it out of sight. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it isn't being done.
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Yep wash my hands anytime I touch the trash or can.
We have one at work in a bathroom that drives me nuts. You get done with you business then wash your hands and the trash can has a little spring door on it that takes a good amount of force to put your paper towel in and is almost impossible to do without touching the can...
WTF who thought of this stupid contraption! You see people blow their nose, push the door to the trash can with the tissue and throw away their used tissue and other things that are dirty.
I have tried sliding it into just the very bottom but then like half of it is sticking out, I have tried taking another paper towel to push the door open but then I am stuck with that paper towel. Tried pushing it open with my foot but almost ended up on the floor :)
Only thing I have found is to take the paper towel with me and throw it away
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No but I was my hands every time I touch a public restroom door... so...
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I always wash my hands after touching garbage or recycling inside or out. I would be repulsived to see someone touching the garbage and then eating chips.
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I always wash my hands after touching garbage or recycling inside or out. I would be repulsived to see someone touching the garbage and then eating chips.
I feel more repulsed seeing someone touch a dish sponge and then touch food, but it happens all the time.
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I also wash my hands after touching the dish cloth. Never use sponges as they are nasty.
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I wash my hands after washing my hands.
Seriously, I only worry about this stuff when I am cutting meat at home. And then everything gets washed/wiped down thoroughly.
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That would drive me crazy!
I have a foot petal can in both the bathroom and kitchen. No touch necessary. If I touch the trash can... which is when I take it out to the outside bin, heck yes wash my hands. Totally not over-reacting imo. But I do have ocd tendencies.
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I ALWAYS wash my hands after touching or petting an animal.
Do you?
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OP, you're going to absolutely die inside once your baby is mobile and licking the floor or finger painting with his/her own shit. Now might be a good time to practice mindful meditation and start to unclench a bit.
To the person who says they wash their hands after touching the recycling... my recycling is paper, glass and soda cans. If my can wasn't dirty enough to wash while I was using it, why would I need to wash my hands when I place it in the recycling bin? It reminds me of my oldest kiddo who finds nothing wrong with eating off a plate, but 5 minutes later when its time to rinse the plate and put it in the dishwasher "GROSS IT HAS FOOD ON IT!!!" and tries not to touch the remnants of food on the plate.
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Wait - my dishcloth has been in hot soapy water while I am washing dishes with it and then rinsed in hot water. It is literally washed every time I use it (and I change every day or so.) Why would I wash my hands after I have used it to wash something else?
Plus my inside trash is under the sink and doesn’t have a lid. My outdoor can sits in the sun and the rain and the cold, and I have a very hard time seeing how it is germier than anything else I touch.
I do wash my hands whenever I come home from the store. I’m way more worried about germs from other people than from my wastebasket.
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I ALWAYS wash my hands after touching or petting an animal.
Do you?
Yes. I had childhood allergies to my dog, I would break out in hives so was always washing my hands, it has translated to my current life with my cat and dog, but mostly around handling their food, or if they feel dirty.
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Fuzzy, none of my 3 kids did anything you mentioned.
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Am I just being a little OCD and germophobic?
Yes
Or are they all gross?
Yes
Seriously, though, I used to be much a much worse germaphobe so I feel like I can relate. If it's my personal trash, it doesn't bother me because I don't touch it with dirty hands in the first place. So the outside is clean. But watching someone handle raw chicken/fish and then touch their can? Gross.
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Your cell phone probably has way more germs than your trashcan. Do you wash your hands after touching your phone?
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Yes I wash my hands but I do not have a lid on mine to not have to do it very often. When I change the bag or if I choose to try to push the trash down a bit then yes I wash them afterwards.
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Yes I realize restaurants (and pretty much everywhere else) are full of pathogens and people not following good hygiene practices and that also grosses me out so I just do what I can to avoid what I can.
"Flora" and "pathogens" were the first two words that came to mind the first time I saw photographs of this grotesque wildman who hasn't bathed in 60 years. I've never seen hands so filthy.
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I think you are freaking yourself out by obsessing over other people's actions. OCD.
We constantly have husband/wife conversation about how grossed out we are every time we see someone do it,
This is what makes me feel it is obsessive for you.
Constantly might be a little hyperbolic. We have conversations about it every time we have a get together with friends/family and witness the behavior we consider gross. Afterwards it's more like "...so did you notice your mom cutting strawberries, then grabbing the trash can and opening it, then proceed to cut strawberries and touch everything in the kitchen with dirty hands? Yeah, me too" or "did you notice our niece go fill that bird feeder (that has bird shit on it) then come in without washing her hands and start rummaging through the chips? Yeah, me too" or "did you notice your BIL touching raw pork, then touching the trash can lid, then touching literally everything else in the kitchen? Then all the other relatives touching the same trash can lid and potentially spreading trichinosis and salmonella around? Yea, me too. Gross, especially because the garbage has a god damn foot pedal so you don't even need to touch it!"
The stuff that I'm scraping into the garbage can just came off of my plate. How does it suddenly get so disgusting when I was just eating it? I scrape into a plastic bag, which only sits in my kitchen for a couple of days. I wash my trash receptable out several times a year just because (rarely is there anything visible to wash off).
In public, yeah, I wash my hands a lot. I wash my hands immediately when I come in from having been in the outside world. I wash after using the bathroom. I wash before cooking. I wash if I've touched anything that feels gross. In my opinion, that is enough.
So yes, I do think you are a bit OCD and over estimating your risk from germs. A bacteria free world also kills the good guys that keep our skin, and our digestive systems in good working order.
Yea the stuff I'm scraping into the garbage just came off my plate, but also there are scraps from breakfast, and last night's dinner, and dinner 3 night's ago, and band aids, and used Q-tips, and a dirty pee diaper, and packaging that contained raw meat, and snot rags.
I commend all of you on not generating any type of gross garbage whatsoever, it's truly impressive.
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However I never see other people wipe their own trash down.
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Did you ever think that perhaps people are wiping the trash can down WHEN THEY DON'T HAVE GUESTS OVER?
The only reason I'm going to do a bunch of cleaning while I have guests over is if it's my parents (who are in a different category of guests) or something happened to make a mess. Even then, depending on what it is, I may just shove it out of sight. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it isn't being done.
No, it's visibly gross during my visit. Not only that but I see people gross their hands up by touching raw meat, or blowing their noses, then touching the trash can. It's definitely dirty after that. Even if it appears cleans and freshly wiped down I just assume it's gross and would rather wash my hands just for peace of mind. Same rule with a toilet.
I ALWAYS wash my hands after touching or petting an animal.
Do you?
Yes. Animals are fucking gross.
OP, you're going to absolutely die inside once your baby is mobile and licking the floor or finger painting with his/her own shit. Now might be a good time to practice mindful meditation and start to unclench a bit.
Oh he already is and is doing all sorts of gross things. I'm fully aware I live in a biological world and I can't avoid all germs, and I know that my son doesn't know any better. He doesn't know you shouldn't lick a shoe, or lick the garbage can, or stick your bare hands into a shitty diaper. But I feel like fully grown adults should know this stuff so I guess it bothers me a lot more when they do it. We also take him to the play ground, which I know is a cesspool and probably has more microbes crawling on it than my toilet does, and there is no way to stop everyone in the family from ingesting them during our time there. Such is life, but I'd still prefer not to intentionally lick everyone's garbage can.
Your cell phone probably has way more germs than your trashcan. Do you wash your hands after touching your phone?
I wipe my phone down on a regular basis.
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Okay, yeah, of my garbage was filthy and my relatives had no understanding of how to handle raw meat, I would wash my hands a thousand times around them and not eat their cooking.
What you describe is not at all typical in my world and I would absolutely be disgusted.
I would also say something.
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Coming in late on this, but I wash my hands a lot. Some might say obsessively. But I've got kids (they're gross) and we had too many rounds of stomach flu one year.
So -
I wash my hands after touching the trash.
I wash my hands after touching any public doorknob.
I don't actually touch public doorknobs if I can avoid it. I use my sweatshirt.
I don't use my hands to get paper towels out at work, I use my elbow.
I don't use my bare hands to open the work fridge or get coffee, unless I will wash after.
(that's a little OCD as I'm the only woman in my building and almost have a private bathroom)
I wash my hands after using the mouse or keyboard in a conference room
I'd be grossed out also.
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I don’t think you will be able to make your relative’s wash their hands as frequently as you think they should, even cases where they blantantly should.
Can you aim at changing public food contamination? Like, the rule in the house is to pour any bulk food into bowl before touching. No reaching into bag. I think this is basic politeness at work with shared food.
That way you are not addressing their hygiene but how they follow rules when they are at YOUR house. Yeah, at their house everything you might eat was touched by unwashed hands.
I know that’s not he advice you were seeking - you seem to only be polling for similar souls. But your niece reaching into YOUR bag of chips at YOUR house definitely bothered me.
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Coming in late on this, but I wash my hands a lot. Some might say obsessively. But I've got kids (they're gross) and we had too many rounds of stomach flu one year.
So -
I wash my hands after touching the trash.
I wash my hands after touching any public doorknob.
I don't actually touch public doorknobs if I can avoid it. I use my sweatshirt.
I don't use my hands to get paper towels out at work, I use my elbow.
I don't use my bare hands to open the work fridge or get coffee, unless I will wash after.
(that's a little OCD as I'm the only woman in my building and almost have a private bathroom)
I wash my hands after using the mouse or keyboard in a conference room
I'd be grossed out also.
If I use a public restroom I put a paper towel over the door knob as I open the door to exit.
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Coming in late on this, but I wash my hands a lot. Some might say obsessively. But I've got kids (they're gross) and we had too many rounds of stomach flu one year.
So -
I wash my hands after touching the trash.
I wash my hands after touching any public doorknob.
I don't actually touch public doorknobs if I can avoid it. I use my sweatshirt.
I don't use my hands to get paper towels out at work, I use my elbow.
I don't use my bare hands to open the work fridge or get coffee, unless I will wash after.
(that's a little OCD as I'm the only woman in my building and almost have a private bathroom)
I wash my hands after using the mouse or keyboard in a conference room
I'd be grossed out also.
If I use a public restroom I put a paper towel over the door knob as I open the door to exit.
Yea. I try not to turn off the faucet or touch the door handle on the way out of a restroom. Having a restroom door open inward is a design flaw.
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No but I was my hands every time I touch a public restroom door... so...
But, then there are the bathrooms with air/heat hand dryers and no towels. I like to have a paper towel to open the door, if the trashcan is not near the door, I throw it were the trash can should be! By the door.
RE: our trash can has a foot pedal, but we only put paper/plastic products, no garbage. We have a plastic quart container with a plastic bag (like you put vegetables in at the grocery store) that we put garbage in, I even made a heavy lid to keep any insects out. It sets on the sink. The bag is tossed at least every other day if not every day. Ya, I'll wash my hands after that. I also wash if I pet a dog or a cat.
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You throw your garbage on the public restroom floor where you think the garbage can ought to be??
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No but I was my hands every time I touch a public restroom door... so...
But, then there are the bathrooms with air/heat hand dryers and no towels.
https://www.usatoday.com/.../hand-dryers...bathroom-bacteria...hands.../511723002/
Apr 12, 2018 - Hand dryers suck in fecal bacteria and blow it all over your hands, study finds ... Study: Restroom hand dryers may be spreading germs.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/.../the-bacterial-horror-of-the-hot-air-hand-dryer-201...
May 17, 2018 - However, petri dishes exposed to hot air from a bathroom hand dryer for 30 seconds grew up to 254 colonies of bacteria (though most had from 18 to 60 colonies of bacteria). ... As well, the researchers found minimal amounts of bacteria on the nozzles of the hand dryers.
I'm leery of hot-air hand dryers.
When toilets are flushed some of the fast-flowing flush water agitates and mixes with the filthy toilet water. Some of this mixture becomes a bacterial aerosol that is sucked into the intake plenum of hot-air hand dryers.
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Everything on Earth is covered in a layer of shit and we're all going to die.
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https://www.usatoday.com/.../hand-dryers...bathroom-bacteria...hands.../511723002/
Apr 12, 2018 - Hand dryers suck in fecal bacteria and blow it all over your hands, study finds ... Study: Restroom hand dryers may be spreading germs.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/.../the-bacterial-horror-of-the-hot-air-hand-dryer-201...
May 17, 2018 - However, petri dishes exposed to hot air from a bathroom hand dryer for 30 seconds grew up to 254 colonies of bacteria (though most had from 18 to 60 colonies of bacteria). ... As well, the researchers found minimal amounts of bacteria on the nozzles of the hand dryers.
Both your links are broken!
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Bacteria are everywhere and they live all over you and you'll never be clean. They've colonized you and you're full of them. There is no escape.
Your immune system does a fantastic job of keeping the bad ones in check. Unless you have a compromised immune system or work in healthcare or the like, there's no real reason to wash your hands after just handling a trash can, public or otherwise. There's no reason to avoid a bathroom door handle. In fact, many are made of self-sterilizing metals like copper or its alloys and are thus far cleaner than your paper towels.
Give your immune system something to do. Don't go drinking sewage or anything, but you don't need to deploy the soap every time you touch a thing.
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This thread reminds me of:
Would you pick up a penny from the floor of a public restroom?
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/would-you-pick-up-a-penny-up-from-the-floor-of-a-public-restroom/
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A good friend of mine came for dinner and before he closed the lid to the ketchup he wiped it with his finger, licking it and repeated it and then closed the lid. I was repulsed. I considered throwing the bottle away but it was huge and newly opened. After he left I scrubbed the top. My garbage can foot pedal no longer worked so retired it after 15 years and bought a new one.
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After touching meat and using a bathroom, or general poop exposure, yes. Garbage cans, no I don't usually find a reason to do much touching. Garbage bags, no I don't bother.
Our outdoor garbage can experiences temperatures from 0-150 across a year, extreme desiccation except during the odd rain, and an intense barrage of ultraviolet radiation pretty much all the time at a moderately high altitude with clean dry air. Unless there is actual shit blocking the UV and retaining moisture, I think the edges of the garbage can which I am most likely to contact probably outperform most drinking water treatment systems when it comes to killing 99.9+% of bacteria. There could be inorganic contaminants I guess.
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A good friend of mine came for dinner and before he closed the lid to the ketchup he wiped it with his finger, licking it and repeated it and then closed the lid. I was repulsed. I considered throwing the bottle away but it was huge and newly opened. After he left I scrubbed the top. My garbage can foot pedal no longer worked so retired it after 15 years and bought a new one.
Those tops are removable. You can put them in the dishwasher sanitary cycle. Ask me how I know.
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Coming in late on this, but I wash my hands a lot. Some might say obsessively. But I've got kids (they're gross) and we had too many rounds of stomach flu one year.
So -
I wash my hands after touching the trash.
I wash my hands after touching any public doorknob.
I don't actually touch public doorknobs if I can avoid it. I use my sweatshirt.
I don't use my hands to get paper towels out at work, I use my elbow.
I don't use my bare hands to open the work fridge or get coffee, unless I will wash after.
(that's a little OCD as I'm the only woman in my building and almost have a private bathroom)
I wash my hands after using the mouse or keyboard in a conference room
I'd be grossed out also.
If I use a public restroom I put a paper towel over the door knob as I open the door to exit.
I do the same thing no point in washing them otherwise thanks to all of the dirty bastards that walk out after doing their business and never wash their hands.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
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Sounds like the solution is to take the lid off of your wastebin. Then no-one has to touch anything unless they're taking out the trash.
We have a winner.
Yes. The winner would be my beagle . . . who can now freely rifle through the trash for fun things to chew. :P
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Absolutely. Without a doubt. YES!!!
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Everything on Earth is covered in a layer of shit and we're all going to die.
+1
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I wash my hands when I'm in the shower or when they are noticeably dirty enough that a quick rub on my jeans won't work. And even then, it's usually only a rinse without soap. I'm very pro germ. Embracing day to day germs, in my mind, is similar to vaccination. But I'm also the guy who would absolutely pick up a penny in a public bathroom or eat something that fell on the floor (not of a public bathroom) or tear off the moldy corner of the bread slice and continue making/eating a sandwich.
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I wash my hands when I'm in the shower or when they are noticeably dirty enough that a quick rub on my jeans won't work. And even then, it's usually only a rinse without soap. I'm very pro germ. Embracing day to day germs, in my mind, is similar to vaccination. But I'm also the guy who would absolutely pick up a penny in a public bathroom or eat something that fell on the floor (not of a public bathroom) or tear off the moldy corner of the bread slice and continue making/eating a sandwich.
Me too, except I don't pick up anything smaller than a nickel.
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Thanks for the tip dragon. The last few posts were pretty disgusting. One reason at a potluck is that I only eat food made by people I know with standards.
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Hi- ID doc here thought you might find the following useful:
https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/when-how-handwashing.html - So I am with you on the handwashing with food prep and when handling fecal material (aka diapers)
Although on a more anecdotal note most serious infections I treat are due to the patient's inability to fend off infection rather than oral exposure eg. Salmonella via raw chicken. Although we do see food poisoning everyone once and awhile S. aureus infections and UTIs from E. coli are by far are largest offenders and have little/nothing to do with hand washing, also just remember it is the bacteria's world we just live in it ;)
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Coming in late on this, but I wash my hands a lot. Some might say obsessively. But I've got kids (they're gross) and we had too many rounds of stomach flu one year.
So -
I wash my hands after touching the trash.
I wash my hands after touching any public doorknob.
I don't actually touch public doorknobs if I can avoid it. I use my sweatshirt.
I don't use my hands to get paper towels out at work, I use my elbow.
I don't use my bare hands to open the work fridge or get coffee, unless I will wash after.
(that's a little OCD as I'm the only woman in my building and almost have a private bathroom)
I wash my hands after using the mouse or keyboard in a conference room
I'd be grossed out also.
If I use a public restroom I put a paper towel over the door knob as I open the door to exit.
I do the same thing no point in washing them otherwise thanks to all of the dirty bastards that walk out after doing their business and never wash their hands.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
I know I've posted this story before, but one time I was at a buffalo wild wings with coworkers. I went to bathroom to take a piss, and some guy was having a nasty sounding shit in the stall. He finished up, flushed, and walked straight out of the bathroom without washing. Gross. Then on my way back to my table I passed him, and he was eating wings, wrist deep in sauce and licking his fingers. What a fucking animal.
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You throw your garbage on the public restroom floor where you think the garbage can ought to be??
No, as I said, I throw the paper towel I used to open the door, where the waste can should be, near the door. That's my protest, put the trash can near the door people.
Or, yes, if you want to call my paper towel garbage. I'm fine either way. :-)
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I was with the family waiting at a light near a closed gas station, in the driveway was a food trailer selling some type of hot food. We watched one of the workers walk out behind a trash bin, take a piss, and walk back and start serving food.
Not appealing at all!
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You throw your garbage on the public restroom floor where you think the garbage can ought to be??
No, as I said, I throw the paper towel I used to open the door, where the waste can should be, near the door. That's my protest, put the trash can near the door people.
Or, yes, if you want to call my paper towel garbage. I'm fine either way. :-)
Just to confirm . . . you're throwing used paper towel garbage on the floor of bathrooms that you use (as some kind of protest)? Has your 'protest' has ever been effective?
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You throw your garbage on the public restroom floor where you think the garbage can ought to be??
No, as I said, I throw the paper towel I used to open the door, where the waste can should be, near the door. That's my protest, put the trash can near the door people.
Or, yes, if you want to call my paper towel garbage. I'm fine either way. :-)
Just to confirm . . . you're throwing used paper towel garbage on the floor of bathrooms that you use (as some kind of protest)? Has your 'protest' has ever been effective?
Yeah, it just seems you are making a situation more unpleasant for other customers than actually trying to exact change. If you wanted to, you could talk to the management of the business. If protests are not approached in a constructive manner it’s really more of a tantrum.
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You throw your garbage on the public restroom floor where you think the garbage can ought to be??
No, as I said, I throw the paper towel I used to open the door, where the waste can should be, near the door. That's my protest, put the trash can near the door people.
Or, yes, if you want to call my paper towel garbage. I'm fine either way. :-)
That's really a dick move.
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You throw your garbage on the public restroom floor where you think the garbage can ought to be??
No, as I said, I throw the paper towel I used to open the door, where the waste can should be, near the door. That's my protest, put the trash can near the door people.
Or, yes, if you want to call my paper towel garbage. I'm fine either way. :-)
In case you haven't caught on yet, pretty much everyone is going to see this as you being a dick. In your mind this may be a protest but it has about a 0% chance of making a difference. Really it sounds more like a justification for doing what's easiest for you.
Maybe you could pick the can up and move it if you feel so strongly about it? Just be sure to was your hands after :) Actually, It's probably not that dirty so whatever.
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You throw your garbage on the public restroom floor where you think the garbage can ought to be??
No, as I said, I throw the paper towel I used to open the door, where the waste can should be, near the door. That's my protest, put the trash can near the door people.
Or, yes, if you want to call my paper towel garbage. I'm fine either way. :-)
That's really a dick move.
Yeah as someone who uses the paper towel method* if there’s no trash can I just take it with me and throw it away outside the bathroom. Then I take a shit on the floor. You know, in protest.
*protip if they don’t have paper towels use one of those disposable seat covers. In protest.
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Just throwing this out there...
http://amp.timeinc.net/fortune/2018/06/12/washing-your-hands-too-much-bad
I’ve never quite understood the desire to wash your hands so frequently. I’m sure my frequency would send some to the mental ward. But living on a ranch, feeding and handling livestock, getting kissed by dogs, butchering animals, tracking wildlife by squeezing their poop, gutting and field dressing elk, going to the bathroom outdoors, cooking meals over the campfire, all without any access to water (let alone soap)... seems to have strengthened my family’s immune system.
The garbage can is the least of our worries.
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Hey Frugalnacho,
The answer is yes for me and major YES for my wife. I always washed my hands whenever I touched anything. Door handles outside, I would use a paper towel or napkin (and well you know bathroom specially). Going inside using door handles was ok but after washing my hands using paper towel to exit. And this was before it became customer for establishments to put a garbage can by the door. I assume enough people started throwing their towels on the floor that prompted them to do so. Back to garbage, yes, we wash our hands, and in response to one of the comments here about being a germaphobe ( while the person was preaching about sustainability and plastics) I would say the garbage cans used not be automated and would be manually lifter by the sanitation engineers onto the truck. That entailed their touching and possibly rubbing their hand and other parts of their clothes onto the handles. It would not take a leap into the realm of genius to contemplate the various types of bacteria and viruses and fungi and whatever else that are in play here. So, back to the comments made by the anti-germaphobes, I don't wash my hands when pick up the phone, but my phone is not in touch with the hundreds of other people’s garbage which could include diapers, sanitary used products, NOSE hair, toe nails, rotten meat that might even have further bacteria breeding on it, various vermin that might be contaminated and "hanging out and partying in the garbage dump and taking a ride in the truck too... I can go on. You get the picture. So this would have been the manual loading of the garbage, however now adays it's more mechanical and less chance of contaminants but still that mechanical arm sometimes misses the mark and sanitation engineer will have to intervene manually, along with the fact the garbage bin does touch the main container on the truck. Either way , this is we see it and I'm shocked when I saw you make you point as you did because YEAH, why don't people wash their hand after the touch the garbage cans. I saw my neighbor put the garbage in then immediately rubbed his face. Stay safe.
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Absolutely! But I have learned how to slide out my inside the cabinet trash can with my toes (touching the underside of the sliding rack) so I don't have to touch anything that could be dirty.
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Hi- ID doc here thought you might find the following useful:
https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/when-how-handwashing.html - So I am with you on the handwashing with food prep and when handling fecal material (aka diapers)
Although on a more anecdotal note most serious infections I treat are due to the patient's inability to fend off infection rather than oral exposure eg. Salmonella via raw chicken. Although we do see food poisoning everyone once and awhile S. aureus infections and UTIs from E. coli are by far are largest offenders and have little/nothing to do with hand washing, also just remember it is the bacteria's world we just live in it ;)
I'm with you, Doc. I think we have an amazing immune system that depends on bacteria staying healthy on and around us. Obsessive hand washing is not only probably not necessary, also probably not helpful. Anyone else who feels the need to do that is fine by me. I'd appreciate not being treated as disgusting if I don't keep with your own standards, though.
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We have an open garbage can and recycle can under the sink, so no touching of can require, I thought this was pretty standard practice... but I have heard that people joke it's a Dutch person thing to do? I don't wash my hands after I open the under-under-the-sink cabinet to throw something away. I do wash my hands after taking out the trash.
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We have an open garbage can and recycle can under the sink, so no touching of can require, I thought this was pretty standard practice... but I have heard that people joke it's a Dutch person thing to do? I don't wash my hands after I open the under-under-the-sink cabinet to throw something away. I do wash my hands after taking out the trash.
Same. Open trashcan and I only wash my hands after taking out the trash (i.e. opening the garbage can outside). Oftentimes that's in conjunction with changing a dirty diaper which is the impetus for emptying the trash can in the first place. Definitely washing my hands after that.
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Hey Frugalnacho,
The answer is yes for me and major YES for my wife. I always washed my hands whenever I touched anything. Door handles outside, I would use a paper towel or napkin (and well you know bathroom specially). Going inside using door handles was ok but after washing my hands using paper towel to exit. And this was before it became customer for establishments to put a garbage can by the door. I assume enough people started throwing their towels on the floor that prompted them to do so. Back to garbage, yes, we wash our hands, and in response to one of the comments here about being a germaphobe ( while the person was preaching about sustainability and plastics) I would say the garbage cans used not be automated and would be manually lifter by the sanitation engineers onto the truck. That entailed their touching and possibly rubbing their hand and other parts of their clothes onto the handles. It would not take a leap into the realm of genius to contemplate the various types of bacteria and viruses and fungi and whatever else that are in play here. So, back to the comments made by the anti-germaphobes, I don't wash my hands when pick up the phone, but my phone is not in touch with the hundreds of other people’s garbage which could include diapers, sanitary used products, NOSE hair, toe nails, rotten meat that might even have further bacteria breeding on it, various vermin that might be contaminated and "hanging out and partying in the garbage dump and taking a ride in the truck too... I can go on. You get the picture. So this would have been the manual loading of the garbage, however now adays it's more mechanical and less chance of contaminants but still that mechanical arm sometimes misses the mark and sanitation engineer will have to intervene manually, along with the fact the garbage bin does touch the main container on the truck. Either way , this is we see it and I'm shocked when I saw you make you point as you did because YEAH, why don't people wash their hand after the touch the garbage cans. I saw my neighbor put the garbage in then immediately rubbed his face. Stay safe.
What a random thread to necropost...
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well - it depends on what I am doing and going to do.
I generally wash my hands after everything/changing tasks - but sometimes I stack "dirty" activities and only wash after completing the stack. Especially pet activities
I always wash when entering the kitchen to do anything food or clean dishes related, or before moving laundry from washer to dryer or out of dryer.
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@bobcat - I’m genuinely curious why on earth you decided that this four year old necropost was what you wanted to make your first contribution to the forums…
Edited: fixed autocorrect (necropsy -> necropost)
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@nereo First I had to look up necropsy ( ?means autopsy). Then another fresh prince of "blogsville" used the word necropsy. I had to look that up as well. ( such genius in the village) , as I had no idea there was a word for it. Surley you jest nereo ? Isn't it obvious that I'm not from "blogsville". If i had broken some sacred "blogisher" rule , please accept my apology. I dont' have 12000+ posts to my name. But seriously, I was not even remotely interested in blogging today ( or any day for that matter) nor this site. It was a specific search about a subject that i had been thinking about. Seeing the great "doctor" at the dentists using the same glove as he fully puts his hand into the garbage can to deposit some blood soaked cotton balls, and immediately puts his "doctor" hand back in my mouth. Or seeing the "doctor" at the health clinic do the same thing. And again and again wondering why people are surprise at the high rate of bacterial infections. and death. I'll not bore you further, but it was a specific search and when i saw the thread i was curious.
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@nereo First I had to look up necropsy ( ?means autopsy). Then another fresh prince of "blogsville" used the word necropsy. I had to look that up as well. ( such genius in the village) , as I had no idea there was a word for it. Surley you jest nereo ? Isn't it obvious that I'm not from "blogsville". If i had broken some sacred "blogisher" rule , please accept my apology. I dont' have 12000+ posts to my name. But seriously, I was not even remotely interested in blogging today ( or any day for that matter) nor this site. It was a specific search about a subject that i had been thinking about. Seeing the great "doctor" at the dentists using the same glove as he fully puts his hand into the garbage can to deposit some blood soaked cotton balls, and immediately puts his "doctor" hand back in my mouth. Or seeing the "doctor" at the health clinic do the same thing. And again and again wondering why people are surprise at the high rate of bacterial infections. and death. I'll not bore you further, but it was a specific search and when i saw the thread i was curious.
Necropost means to find an old thread that's been dead for years and then reply to it and bring it back to life.
It's very unusual for a new member to make their first post in the financial community on an old, dead thread from years ago about washing hands.
Necroposting without a good reason is generally frowned upon in forums because it makes it look like the thread is new when it pops up in our feeds, and then people start responding to old posts from years ago without realizing that the thread has been dead for years.
That's why people are commenting on your choice to necropost.
As for nereo's use of the word "necropsy" that was likely an autocorrect from "necropost."
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@nereo First I had to look up necropsy ( ?means autopsy). Then another fresh prince of "blogsville" used the word necropsy. I had to look that up as well. ( such genius in the village) , as I had no idea there was a word for it. Surley you jest nereo ? Isn't it obvious that I'm not from "blogsville". If i had broken some sacred "blogisher" rule , please accept my apology. I dont' have 12000+ posts to my name. But seriously, I was not even remotely interested in blogging today ( or any day for that matter) nor this site. It was a specific search about a subject that i had been thinking about. Seeing the great "doctor" at the dentists using the same glove as he fully puts his hand into the garbage can to deposit some blood soaked cotton balls, and immediately puts his "doctor" hand back in my mouth. Or seeing the "doctor" at the health clinic do the same thing. And again and again wondering why people are surprise at the high rate of bacterial infections. and death. I'll not bore you further, but it was a specific search and when i saw the thread i was curious.
Necropost means to find an old thread that's been dead for years and then reply to it and bring it back to life.
It's very unusual for a new member to make their first post in the financial community on an old, dead thread from years ago about washing hands.
Necroposting without a good reason is generally frowned upon in forums because it makes it look like the thread is new when it pops up in our feeds, and then people start responding to old posts from years ago without realizing that the thread has been dead for years.
That's why people are commenting on your choice to necropost.
As for nereo's use of the word "necropsy" that was likely an autocorrect from "necropost."
Just wanted to say I found it funny they specifically mention they aren't someone with 12,000+ posts to their name, and someone with 12,000 some odd posts responds with an explanation.
Ok I will go back to derailing other threads now, lol.
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Just wanted to say I found it funny they specifically mention they aren't someone with 12,000+ posts to their name, and someone with 12,000 some odd posts responds with an explanation.
Ok I will go back to derailing other threads now, lol.
Probably not a coincidence, I was the first person to call them out for necroposting. Then nereo who has 16K+ posts was the second person. So between the two of us, the descriptor 12000+ makes perfect sense.
So since I was the first to criticize, I felt responsible to explain the criticism.
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@nereo First I had to look up necropsy ( ?means autopsy). Then another fresh prince of "blogsville" used the word necropsy. I had to look that up as well. ( such genius in the village) , as I had no idea there was a word for it. Surley you jest nereo ? Isn't it obvious that I'm not from "blogsville". If i had broken some sacred "blogisher" rule , please accept my apology. I dont' have 12000+ posts to my name. But seriously, I was not even remotely interested in blogging today ( or any day for that matter) nor this site. It was a specific search about a subject that i had been thinking about. Seeing the great "doctor" at the dentists using the same glove as he fully puts his hand into the garbage can to deposit some blood soaked cotton balls, and immediately puts his "doctor" hand back in my mouth. Or seeing the "doctor" at the health clinic do the same thing. And again and again wondering why people are surprise at the high rate of bacterial infections. and death. I'll not bore you further, but it was a specific search and when i saw the thread i was curious.
Metalcat has already provided a very good answer.
I’d just add that this isn’t a blog, but an online forum. That’s why there was that warning message before you posted about reviving a dormant thread and why it’s generally frowned upon.
As for your specific example of dentists and doctors touching garbage cans with their (hopefully) gloved hands before putting them back into/on your body I can say unequivocally that it is NOT best safety practices [disclosure - I work in a lab]. You are not supposed to touch trash cans, or door knobs, or keyboards or just about anything else with gloved hands. If you do you are supposed to replace your gloves with a fresh pair, which is why we can easily go through a 100 pack of gloves in a single week.
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@nereo First I had to look up necropsy ( ?means autopsy). Then another fresh prince of "blogsville" used the word necropsy. I had to look that up as well. ( such genius in the village) , as I had no idea there was a word for it. Surley you jest nereo ? Isn't it obvious that I'm not from "blogsville". If i had broken some sacred "blogisher" rule , please accept my apology. I dont' have 12000+ posts to my name. But seriously, I was not even remotely interested in blogging today ( or any day for that matter) nor this site. It was a specific search about a subject that i had been thinking about. Seeing the great "doctor" at the dentists using the same glove as he fully puts his hand into the garbage can to deposit some blood soaked cotton balls, and immediately puts his "doctor" hand back in my mouth. Or seeing the "doctor" at the health clinic do the same thing. And again and again wondering why people are surprise at the high rate of bacterial infections. and death. I'll not bore you further, but it was a specific search and when i saw the thread i was curious.
Metalcat has already provided a very good answer.
I’d just add that this isn’t a blog, but an online forum. That’s why there was that warning message before you posted about reviving a dormant thread and why it’s generally frowned upon.
As for your specific example of dentists and doctors touching garbage cans with their (hopefully) gloved hands before putting them back into/on your body I can say unequivocally that it is NOT best safety practices [disclosure - I work in a lab]. You are not supposed to touch trash cans, or door knobs, or keyboards or just about anything else with gloved hands. If you do you are supposed to replace your gloves with a fresh pair, which is why we can easily go through a 100 pack of gloves in a single week.
Yep, we didn't even have garbage cans, faucets, or soap/sanitizer dispensers that we could even touch.
If a doctor or dentist does something to contaminate their gloves, they should be reported. That's a massive failure of infection control.
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The best thing you can do if some of your dinner falls on the floor is pick it up and eat it. Our bodies learn how to fight germs by dealing with them.
About 20 years ago I took the garbage out the night before and a critter got in and made a mess. After that I took the can out in the morning, got in my car and left for work. I’m still here.
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This is absolutely a thing for my wife...who over time has now turned me into one of these people also. We got one of those battery powered lids to eliminate any touching of the bin. Just wave your hand over the lid and it opens by itself. No hand touching, no foot pedal, nothing.
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This is absolutely a thing for my wife...who over time has now turned me into one of these people also. We got one of those battery powered lids to eliminate any touching of the bin. Just wave your hand over the lid and it opens by itself. No hand touching, no foot pedal, nothing.
Women are usually cleaner and more germ-averse than men. Re: being cleaner is to their credit. (Guys, if it gets to the point where she buys you a nail brush learn how to use it!) I don’t think being overly germ-averse helps tho.
Funny thing is my wife tells me quite often how gross the ladies room was at restaurant or something. I tell her they’re trying to hard.
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This is absolutely a thing for my wife...who over time has now turned me into one of these people also. We got one of those battery powered lids to eliminate any touching of the bin. Just wave your hand over the lid and it opens by itself. No hand touching, no foot pedal, nothing.
Women are usually cleaner and more germ-averse than men. Re: being cleaner is to their credit. (Guys, if it gets to the point where she buys you a nail brush learn how to use it!) I don’t think being overly germ-averse helps tho.
Funny thing is my wife tells me quite often how gross the ladies room was at restaurant or something. I tell her they’re trying to hard.
Every single hardcore germophobe that I know is male except for one. Mysophobia, the technical term for it, is found pretty evenly split among men and women and is more common among younger people, meaning a lot of people grow out of it.
What is up with the gender generalizations in the forum these past few days??
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I'm a lot more laissez-faire regarding germs than my wife is. Interestingly enough though, she's way less concerned with general tidyness and stuff lying around in messy piles in the house. It's a good combo. She disinfects, and I pick up all the stuff.
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I'm a lot more laissez-faire regarding germs than my wife is. Interestingly enough though, she's way less concerned with general tidyness and stuff lying around in messy piles in the house. It's a good combo. She disinfects, and I pick up all the stuff.
Yeah, we’re like that too. Over the years we’ve come to specialize in our quirks and interests, especially in retirement. She shops for food and households, and does most of the cooking. Different stores for meat, fish, produce…she makes a science out of it and gets good bang for buck. I do dishes and house cleaning, garbage, wash cars, fix things, etc. I do grilling, leftover prep, and soups.
I think I work less than she does. The shopping throws her over the top.
It works…
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I agree. You blogishers with 12,000+ posts need to blog out.
But what do I know, I'm sub-10,000 scum
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I agree. You blogishers with 12,000+ posts need to blog out.
But what do I know, I'm sub-10,000 scum
That’s why you’ve never been invited to the senior mustachian rotating club. It makes the executive washroom look like a peasant’s privy
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I agree. You blogishers with 12,000+ posts need to blog out.
But what do I know, I'm sub-10,000 scum
That’s why you’ve never been invited to the senior mustachian rotating club. It makes the executive washroom look like a peasant’s privy
Didn't we all agree to stop talking publicly about the executive washroom??
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I agree. You blogishers with 12,000+ posts need to blog out.
But what do I know, I'm sub-10,000 scum
That’s why you’ve never been invited to the senior mustachian rotating club. It makes the executive washroom look like a peasant’s privy
Didn't we all agree to stop talking publicly about the executive washroom??
*listens in*
*slowly takes notes about executive washroom*
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I agree. You blogishers with 12,000+ posts need to blog out.
But what do I know, I'm sub-10,000 scum
That’s why you’ve never been invited to the senior mustachian rotating club. It makes the executive washroom look like a peasant’s privy
Toilet so clean you don't even need to wash your hands
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Yes of course!
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I agree. You blogishers with 12,000+ posts need to blog out.
But what do I know, I'm sub-10,000 scum
That’s why you’ve never been invited to the senior mustachian rotating club. It makes the executive washroom look like a peasant’s privy
Toilet so clean you don't even need to wash your hands
You peasants are still washing your own hands? Ugh.
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Hey Frugalnacho,
The answer is yes for me and major YES for my wife. I always washed my hands whenever I touched anything. Door handles outside, I would use a paper towel or napkin (and well you know bathroom specially). Going inside using door handles was ok but after washing my hands using paper towel to exit. And this was before it became customer for establishments to put a garbage can by the door. I assume enough people started throwing their towels on the floor that prompted them to do so. Back to garbage, yes, we wash our hands, and in response to one of the comments here about being a germaphobe ( while the person was preaching about sustainability and plastics) I would say the garbage cans used not be automated and would be manually lifter by the sanitation engineers onto the truck. That entailed their touching and possibly rubbing their hand and other parts of their clothes onto the handles. It would not take a leap into the realm of genius to contemplate the various types of bacteria and viruses and fungi and whatever else that are in play here. So, back to the comments made by the anti-germaphobes, I don't wash my hands when pick up the phone, but my phone is not in touch with the hundreds of other people’s garbage which could include diapers, sanitary used products, NOSE hair, toe nails, rotten meat that might even have further bacteria breeding on it, various vermin that might be contaminated and "hanging out and partying in the garbage dump and taking a ride in the truck too... I can go on. You get the picture. So this would have been the manual loading of the garbage, however now adays it's more mechanical and less chance of contaminants but still that mechanical arm sometimes misses the mark and sanitation engineer will have to intervene manually, along with the fact the garbage bin does touch the main container on the truck. Either way , this is we see it and I'm shocked when I saw you make you point as you did because YEAH, why don't people wash their hand after the touch the garbage cans. I saw my neighbor put the garbage in then immediately rubbed his face. Stay safe.
What a random thread to necropost...
If they hadn't necroposted, I wouldn't have learned that there are anti-bacterial resistant shrimp in Canada.....ewww......
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If they hadn't necroposted, I wouldn't have learned that there are anti-bacterial resistant shrimp in Canada.....ewww......
This is an issue everywhere, not just Canada. The major shrimp producing regions in the world use excessive antibiotics, so virtually all shrimp in the world contain antimicrobial resistant bacteria.
As long as the shrimp are cooked properly, that's fine, but the risk of cross contamination is massive. Which is why I don't bring shrimp into my house anymore and try to avoid restaurants that have shrimp on the menu.
I thought this was commonly known, but I guess not.
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If they hadn't necroposted, I wouldn't have learned that there are anti-bacterial resistant shrimp in Canada.....ewww......
This is an issue everywhere, not just Canada. The major shrimp producing regions in the world use excessive antibiotics, so virtually all shrimp in the world contain antimicrobial resistant bacteria.
As long as the shrimp are cooked properly, that's fine, but the risk of cross contamination is massive. Which is why I don't bring shrimp into my house anymore and try to avoid restaurants that have shrimp on the menu.
I thought this was commonly known, but I guess not.
Nope. I've heard of antibiotic resistance in general on animals because of over treatment but not specific to shrimp as a big problem.
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I'm not bothered by a newbie commenting on an older thread. If your feed shows an old thread revived, you don't actually need to engage in it if it isn't an interesting subject. The threads are archived partially so later readers can learn from them. Is it so wrong for them to comment? Maybe some older subjects are still plenty relevant. I wouldn't say this subject is no longer on our minds; the amount of comments since the necropost attest to this. It isn't the newbie's fault that they discovered this later.
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I'm not bothered by a newbie commenting on an older thread. If your feed shows an old thread revived, you don't actually need to engage in it if it isn't an interesting subject. The threads are archived partially so later readers can learn from them. Is it so wrong for them to comment? Maybe some older subjects are still plenty relevant. I wouldn't say this subject is no longer on our minds; the amount of comments since the necropost attest to this. It isn't the newbie's fault that they discovered this later.
Translation: We peasants can band together and storm the executive washroom!
Huzzzah!
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I'm not bothered by a newbie commenting on an older thread. If your feed shows an old thread revived, you don't actually need to engage in it if it isn't an interesting subject. The threads are archived partially so later readers can learn from them. Is it so wrong for them to comment? Maybe some older subjects are still plenty relevant. I wouldn't say this subject is no longer on our minds; the amount of comments since the necropost attest to this. It isn't the newbie's fault that they discovered this later.
I think we were more confused than anything. And when someone's first post in a financial forum is a necropost from years ago on a non-financial topic??? Yeah, that's going to garner some questions.
However, necroposts are generally discouraged in forums because it's not immediately obvious that they're super old threads. A lot of weird trolls/scammers/bots/etc will bump an old thread and I'll think it's a new one, post a lengthy response to someone in earnest only to have someone point out that the OP hasn't been active for several years and there's no point in replying to them.
It's happened enough times here to be annoying.
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Years have passed. We’ve had a pandemic. Gallons and gallons of hand sanitizer have been used.
I still don’t think that my kitchen trash can is any germier than the stove…
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Years have passed. We’ve had a pandemic. Gallons and gallons of hand sanitizer have been used.
I still don’t think that my kitchen trash can is any germier than the stove…
It's orders of magnitude cleaner than your sink
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When I've had garbage bins with lids I haven't washed my hands after touching them. Now I don't have anything with lids, so it's a moot point. I don't find it gross having an open can because I don't really have anything gross/smelly in there, due to composting. It's basically just some odds and ends non-recyclable packaging, or like a sock with holes in it, that sort of thing, and very little since we try to be low waste. Right now we're producing about one grocery-bag-size of garbage every 1-2 weeks.
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When I've had garbage bins with lids I haven't washed my hands after touching them. Now I don't have anything with lids, so it's a moot point. I don't find it gross having an open can because I don't really have anything gross/smelly in there, due to composting. It's basically just some odds and ends non-recyclable packaging, or like a sock with holes in it, that sort of thing, and very little since we try to be low waste. Right now we're producing about one grocery-bag-size of garbage every 1-2 weeks.
Good point, thanks to composting, our garbage is quite clean, there's just nothing gross in there. It's mostly single use plastic waste that can't be recycled. We just have a kitchen catcher sized garbage and it's emptied maybe once a week or two. It's just almost never actually dirty.
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If your feed shows an old thread revived, you don't actually need to engage in it if it isn't an interesting subject.
False. You wouldn't know because you haven't taken the 1,000 post oath
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If your feed shows an old thread revived, you don't actually need to engage in it if it isn't an interesting subject.
False. You wouldn't know because you haven't taken the 1,000 post oath
Ha! Maybe I’ll learn eventually!
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I have a tiny open kitchen trash container that I line with a flimsy produce plastic bag. Nothing terribly gross or smelly goes in there normally but if there is, I just tie it up and take it to the trash can outside.
There is nothing to touch except when I tie it up. I do wash my hands after dumping the bag outside.
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No, if I don't touch the garbage can, I don't wash. Same with public restrooms in some cases. Sometimes the bathroom is more suspect that any part of me.
I do wash before handling food.
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I didn't get the sense people were "bothered" but the thread revival. But yeah, it's odd for someone's first post on a financial form to be a response to a very old thread that has nothing to do with finances.
Pointing that out seems somewhat natural and doesn't mean the pointers-out think it is wrong or evil or "bothering"--just that they note something odd and choose to remark on it.
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Has nobody commented on the commenter that has now posted twice, 4 years apart, about how they use their toes to handle the trash?
Always. I close the doors with my feet as I come inside after taking out the trash so I don’t get the doorknobs dirty. Even my kids know that you don’t touch the trash can. Our inside can is hidden in a cabinet. I can open the cabinet door with my toes and then grab the sliding mechanism with my toes to bring the trash can out. Keeps my hands clean and since no garbage touches the bottom slider, feet are clean too.
Absolutely! But I have learned how to slide out my inside the cabinet trash can with my toes (touching the underside of the sliding rack) so I don't have to touch anything that could be dirty.
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Has nobody commented on the commenter that has now posted twice, 4 years apart, about how they use their toes to handle the trash?
Always. I close the doors with my feet as I come inside after taking out the trash so I don’t get the doorknobs dirty. Even my kids know that you don’t touch the trash can. Our inside can is hidden in a cabinet. I can open the cabinet door with my toes and then grab the sliding mechanism with my toes to bring the trash can out. Keeps my hands clean and since no garbage touches the bottom slider, feet are clean too.
Absolutely! But I have learned how to slide out my inside the cabinet trash can with my toes (touching the underside of the sliding rack) so I don't have to touch anything that could be dirty.
Seems normal to me. I always pick up socks off the floor with my feet. Not worth bending over for.
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I think I read somewhere that one of the worst sins in life that you can commit is to flush a public toilet with the underside of your shoe... Now I know who wrote that article - they wanted me to slip my shoes off and use my pristine toes. Maybe food prep is next?
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I think I read somewhere that one of the worst sins in life that you can commit is to flush a public toilet with the underside of your shoe... Now I know who wrote that article - they wanted me to slip my shoes off and use my pristine toes. Maybe food prep is next?
I don't get it. If you're worried about the handle of the toilet being disgusting, why not use a small piece of TP between your hand and the lever? No need to get all acrobatic.
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I think I read somewhere that one of the worst sins in life that you can commit is to flush a public toilet with the underside of your shoe... Now I know who wrote that article - they wanted me to slip my shoes off and use my pristine toes. Maybe food prep is next?
I don't get it. If you're worried about the handle of the toilet being disgusting, why not use a small piece of TP between your hand and the lever? No need to get all acrobatic.
Did you not learn anything from the TP discussion last year? How and what one does with TP is NOT for others to dictate. You just sit in the corner with your single square of single ply and ponder things for a bit.
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I think I read somewhere that one of the worst sins in life that you can commit is to flush a public toilet with the underside of your shoe... Now I know who wrote that article - they wanted me to slip my shoes off and use my pristine toes. Maybe food prep is next?
I don't get it. If you're worried about the handle of the toilet being disgusting, why not use a small piece of TP between your hand and the lever? No need to get all acrobatic.
Did you not learn anything from the TP discussion last year? How and what one does with TP is NOT for others to dictate. You just sit in the corner with your single square of single ply and ponder things for a bit.
Anything more than rough single ply is an unmustachian asstravagance.
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I think I read somewhere that one of the worst sins in life that you can commit is to flush a public toilet with the underside of your shoe... Now I know who wrote that article - they wanted me to slip my shoes off and use my pristine toes. Maybe food prep is next?
I don't get it. If you're worried about the handle of the toilet being disgusting, why not use a small piece of TP between your hand and the lever? No need to get all acrobatic.
Did you not learn anything from the TP discussion last year? How and what one does with TP is NOT for others to dictate. You just sit in the corner with your single square of single ply and ponder things for a bit.
Anything more than rough single ply is an unmustachian asstravagance.
Says the poster that has a key to the executive washroom... Blogvillan!
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No but I was my hands every time I touch a public restroom door... so...
But, then there are the bathrooms with air/heat hand dryers and no towels.
https://www.usatoday.com/.../hand-dryers...bathroom-bacteria...hands.../511723002/
Apr 12, 2018 - Hand dryers suck in fecal bacteria and blow it all over your hands, study finds ... Study: Restroom hand dryers may be spreading germs.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/.../the-bacterial-horror-of-the-hot-air-hand-dryer-201...
May 17, 2018 - However, petri dishes exposed to hot air from a bathroom hand dryer for 30 seconds grew up to 254 colonies of bacteria (though most had from 18 to 60 colonies of bacteria). ... As well, the researchers found minimal amounts of bacteria on the nozzles of the hand dryers.
I'm leery of hot-air hand dryers.
When toilets are flushed some of the fast-flowing flush water agitates and mixes with the filthy toilet water. Some of this mixture becomes a bacterial aerosol that is sucked into the intake plenum of hot-air hand dryers.
2018 links were already broken in 2019 according to another post on this thread - but it brings to mind one of the use cases for masks that causes me to keep a mask in my car just in case. Don't want to breathe in random grossness from public bathrooms any more than I want to touch their surfaces after washing my hands.
(And you can add me to the list of people who were confused prior to reading the date. "I thought that poster was retired - why are they mentioning being at work... Oh, wait, check out that year. ")
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I think I read somewhere that one of the worst sins in life that you can commit is to flush a public toilet with the underside of your shoe... Now I know who wrote that article - they wanted me to slip my shoes off and use my pristine toes. Maybe food prep is next?
I don't get it. If you're worried about the handle of the toilet being disgusting, why not use a small piece of TP between your hand and the lever? No need to get all acrobatic.
Did you not learn anything from the TP discussion last year? How and what one does with TP is NOT for others to dictate. You just sit in the corner with your single square of single ply and ponder things for a bit.
Anything more than rough single ply is an unmustachian asstravagance.
Single ply? Why would anyone need more than half-ply?
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I think I read somewhere that one of the worst sins in life that you can commit is to flush a public toilet with the underside of your shoe... Now I know who wrote that article - they wanted me to slip my shoes off and use my pristine toes. Maybe food prep is next?
I don't get it. If you're worried about the handle of the toilet being disgusting, why not use a small piece of TP between your hand and the lever? No need to get all acrobatic.
Did you not learn anything from the TP discussion last year? How and what one does with TP is NOT for others to dictate. You just sit in the corner with your single square of single ply and ponder things for a bit.
Anything more than rough single ply is an unmustachian asstravagance.
Single ply? Why would anyone need more than half-ply?
There are perfectly good leaves out there. Don't worry if the first few are poison ivy. You'll learn quickly enough.
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I think I read somewhere that one of the worst sins in life that you can commit is to flush a public toilet with the underside of your shoe... Now I know who wrote that article - they wanted me to slip my shoes off and use my pristine toes. Maybe food prep is next?
I don't get it. If you're worried about the handle of the toilet being disgusting, why not use a small piece of TP between your hand and the lever? No need to get all acrobatic.
Did you not learn anything from the TP discussion last year? How and what one does with TP is NOT for others to dictate. You just sit in the corner with your single square of single ply and ponder things for a bit.
Anything more than rough single ply is an unmustachian asstravagance.
Single ply? Why would anyone need more than half-ply?
There are perfectly good leaves out there. Don't worry if the first few are poison ivy. You'll learn quickly enough.
Sounds like you're just denying yourself the chance to practice butt stoicism.
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By the way, my latest anti-mustachian purchase is a pusher robot to open the trash for me when my hands are full. So I just tap the cabinet with my foot or knees and it kicks it open enough to dump my trash. Worth the face punch IMO
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We don't use a lid on the trash can, so don't have that problem; less messy and less smelly that way. We wash hands after tying the bag up and taking out to the bin outside.
EDIT: And no we don't stare into the trash can at the trash.. ever:) It sits out of the way of everything.
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EDIT: And no we don't stare into the trash can at the trash.. ever:) It sits out of the way of everything.
When you gaze into the trash, the trash also gazes into you
You are missing some serious opportunity to become one with trash.
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EDIT: And no we don't stare into the trash can at the trash.. ever:) It sits out of the way of everything.
When you gaze into the trash, the trash also gazes into you
You are missing some serious opportunity to become one with trash.
LMAO :)
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I don't have a trash can, that is spendy pants. Also don't use purchased plastic bags, the store provides plastic bags they get used and put in the dumpster daily.
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I know this is an old thread but I literally joined this forum just to reply. I feel your pain, OP. I've experienced the exact same thing and it completely disgusts me. I made it almost 40 years just assuming that not touching trash and then immediately touching yourself or other surfaces or for God's sake your mouth was just common sense, but recently I've moved to a new part of the country and it seems like no one here understands what I thought was basic human knowledge. It's absolutely disgusting and I'm to the point that I don't trust anyone and everyone I see besides my wife I just assume is a walking source of pathogens. What happened? Don't people learn this stuff in school? Lysol needs to bring back those commercials with the animated germs on everything in the kitchen, remember those?
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Our in-house garbage cans are spotlessly clean as they never get dirty. They all have plastic liners. We don't throw out anything messy without wrapping it in a recycled plastic produce bag. The curbside bins are kept clean as well via periodic hosing off.
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I don’t wash my hands after touching the outside of a clean garbage can, but I do wash them after touching a necro post.
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I know this is an old thread but I literally joined this forum just to reply. I feel your pain, OP. I've experienced the exact same thing and it completely disgusts me. I made it almost 40 years just assuming that not touching trash and then immediately touching yourself or other surfaces or for God's sake your mouth was just common sense, but recently I've moved to a new part of the country and it seems like no one here understands what I thought was basic human knowledge. It's absolutely disgusting and I'm to the point that I don't trust anyone and everyone I see besides my wife I just assume is a walking source of pathogens. What happened? Don't people learn this stuff in school? Lysol needs to bring back those commercials with the animated germs on everything in the kitchen, remember those?
Welcome to the forum. It seems you're not the first to find it via this thread lol.
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Our in-house garbage cans are spotlessly clean as they never get dirty. They all have plastic liners. We don't throw out anything messy without wrapping it in a recycled plastic produce bag. The curbside bins are kept clean as well via periodic hosing off.
Do they really never get dirty or does your SO clean them without you realizing?
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I don’t wash my hands after touching the outside of a clean garbage can, but I do wash them after touching a necro post.
To me, "clean garbage can" is an oxymoron, like saying "cold fire" or "dry ocean" unless the can is brand new and never been used. Germs move, and cross contamination is also a thing.
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Our in-house garbage cans are spotlessly clean as they never get dirty. They all have plastic liners. We don't throw out anything messy without wrapping it in a recycled plastic produce bag. The curbside bins are kept clean as well via periodic hosing off.
That seems like a great strategy to keep your own cans somewhat sanitary, but to the OP's point how would guests know that? I'm just trying to understand if I'm crazy, or if at some point people either forgot basic sanitation or decided it wasn't important. When I was a kid, I remember seeing commercials all the time talking about killing germs, and also in school and at home I was taught to wash my hands after handling garbage and using the toilet. Did they stop teaching that at some point, or am I misremembering? But if I'm misremembering, then how the heck did I end up knowing this lost knowledge?
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I don’t wash my hands after touching the outside of a clean garbage can, but I do wash them after touching a necro post.
To me, "clean garbage can" is an oxymoron, like saying "cold fire" or "dry ocean" unless the can is brand new and never been used. Germs move, and cross contamination is also a thing.
What are you putting in your garbage that's so dirty though??
Do you not compost?
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Our in-house garbage cans are spotlessly clean as they never get dirty. They all have plastic liners. We don't throw out anything messy without wrapping it in a recycled plastic produce bag. The curbside bins are kept clean as well via periodic hosing off.
Do they really never get dirty or does your SO clean them without you realizing?
Clean and sanitary are two different things. Something can be visibly clean (free of dirt) and still be crawling with germs. I think that's what a lot of people seem to either not understand or not care about these days.
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I don’t wash my hands after touching the outside of a clean garbage can, but I do wash them after touching a necro post.
To me, "clean garbage can" is an oxymoron, like saying "cold fire" or "dry ocean" unless the can is brand new and never been used. Germs move, and cross contamination is also a thing.
What are you putting in your garbage that's so dirty though??
Do you not compost?
I don't compost, and I (sadly) don't have a garbage disposal in my sink, so pretty much whatever. We don't waste a lot of food, but there's enough in there to get some decomposition going. Salmonella, e.coli, etc would be my biggest concern. But having said that, maybe there's not anything dangerous about it, just feels nasty to me. Trying to understand why it doesn't to some people, that's all. Also I don't mean to sound judgmental, just very shocked in a way.
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I don’t wash my hands after touching the outside of a clean garbage can, but I do wash them after touching a necro post.
To me, "clean garbage can" is an oxymoron, like saying "cold fire" or "dry ocean" unless the can is brand new and never been used. Germs move, and cross contamination is also a thing.
What are you putting in your garbage that's so dirty though??
Do you not compost?
I don't compost, and I (sadly) don't have a garbage disposal in my sink, so pretty much whatever. We don't waste a lot of food, but there's enough in there to get some decomposition going. Salmonella, e.coli, etc would be my biggest concern. But having said that, maybe there's not anything dangerous about it, just feels nasty to me. Trying to understand why it doesn't to some people, that's all. Also I don't mean to sound judgmental, just very shocked in a way.
It's just not that hard to not get stuff on the outside of the garbage bin, IMO.
I compost, so the only food waste that even goes into my kitchen garbage is the occasional Styrofoam meat packaging, and that gets folded carefully and then tucked into the bin. The outside of the bin never comes into contact with anything dirty.
The average doorknob, kitchen sink, and cell phone is dirtier than the handle on the lid of my garbage bin, which is the only part I touch.
I've been a chef, managed a research animal facility, been a healthcare professional, and have written several infection control policies and I feel fine touching the outside of my garbage bin without washing my hands.
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I mean who knows, maybe I'm the crazy one, but most of my garbage cans are clean and have liners, so all that gets dirty is the liner and not the can. My kitchen trash can has a foot pedal and is stainless steel, so it gets cleaned if there are ever any marks on it, but it's not visibly dirty. None of our trash is all the gross at the end of the day. Other than cleaning my hands after I remove the trash liners to take them out to the bins, and after I handle our outside bins (which also aren't that dirty, but they are outside which is infinitely dirtier than our inside bins), I don't see the need to wash my hands even more than I already do.
So much for making a 'throwaway' joke on this thread (ba-dum tish, I'm here all night...).
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No, why would I? Unless you’re throwing out human waste or something. My trash can also has a foot pedal and has for years, but I’m pretty sure even if it didn’t I wouldn’t give it a second thought.
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The house I grew up in had a device called a "trash compactor" under the kitchen counter. It rolled open with a foot pedal so that was hygienic at least. Our family would drop just about anything in there even scraping wet messes off dinner plates into the bin. When it was full, we would twist a key and a 1x2 foot ram would mash it, top down, into an oozing mess not dissimilar to what our hapless heroes and heroine found themselves in in "Star Wars". This device and method allowed us to not only make a colossal casserole out of all the food but also keep the "thing" growing for weeks or months at a time before it was full to the point of no longer being "mashable" and someone would lug it to the can in the garage. The mess on the bottom side of the mashing press was beyond disgusting. But it was in the name of Progress and Kitchen Convenience!
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The house I grew up in had a device called a "trash compactor" under the kitchen counter. It rolled open with a foot pedal so that was hygienic at least. Our family would drop just about anything in there even scraping wet messes off dinner plates into the bin. When it was full, we would twist a key and a 1x2 foot ram would mash it, top down, into an oozing mess not dissimilar to what our hapless heroes and heroine found themselves in in "Star Wars". This device and method allowed us to not only make a colossal casserole out of all the food but also keep the "thing" growing for weeks or months at a time before it was full to the point of no longer being "mashable" and someone would lug it to the can in the garage. The mess on the bottom side of the mashing press was beyond disgusting. But it was in the name of Progress and Kitchen Convenience!
Horrifying...
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I don’t wash my hands after touching the outside of a clean garbage can, but I do wash them after touching a necro post.
To me, "clean garbage can" is an oxymoron, like saying "cold fire" or "dry ocean" unless the can is brand new and never been used. Germs move, and cross contamination is also a thing.
What are you putting in your garbage that's so dirty though??
Do you not compost?
I don't compost, and I (sadly) don't have a garbage disposal in my sink, so pretty much whatever. We don't waste a lot of food, but there's enough in there to get some decomposition going. Salmonella, e.coli, etc would be my biggest concern. But having said that, maybe there's not anything dangerous about it, just feels nasty to me. Trying to understand why it doesn't to some people, that's all. Also I don't mean to sound judgmental, just very shocked in a way.
It's just not that hard to not get stuff on the outside of the garbage bin, IMO.
I compost, so the only food waste that even goes into my kitchen garbage is the occasional Styrofoam meat packaging, and that gets folded carefully and then tucked into the bin. The outside of the bin never comes into contact with anything dirty.
The average doorknob, kitchen sink, and cell phone is dirtier than the handle on the lid of my garbage bin, which is the only part I touch.
I've been a chef, managed a research animal facility, been a healthcare professional, and have written several infection control policies and I feel fine touching the outside of my garbage bin without washing my hands.
I've got no doubts that your garbage bin isn't spotless, aka visually clean. And from what you've said I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that it's also sanitary (considering your resume I'm assuming you understand the difference) but my question is this: if you went to someone else's house, or if you had to touch a garbage bin in public, would you wash/sanitize your hands then?
The visible dirt isn't my concern, it's the invisible germs that we're fighting here. Also, considering your resume, can you answer a legitimate question I've had for a while now? Germs are living creatures, can't they move? If so, how far can they travel over a given amount of time? Not knowing the answer to this question has caused me to treat not only my garbage bins and toilets, but the general vicinity around them, as a biohazardous area. I routinely spray these areas down with Lysol, but rarely if ever touch them, so my bins are the opposite of yours. Visually dirty, but sanitized.
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I don’t wash my hands after touching the outside of a clean garbage can, but I do wash them after touching a necro post.
To me, "clean garbage can" is an oxymoron, like saying "cold fire" or "dry ocean" unless the can is brand new and never been used. Germs move, and cross contamination is also a thing.
What are you putting in your garbage that's so dirty though??
Do you not compost?
I don't compost, and I (sadly) don't have a garbage disposal in my sink, so pretty much whatever. We don't waste a lot of food, but there's enough in there to get some decomposition going. Salmonella, e.coli, etc would be my biggest concern. But having said that, maybe there's not anything dangerous about it, just feels nasty to me. Trying to understand why it doesn't to some people, that's all. Also I don't mean to sound judgmental, just very shocked in a way.
It's just not that hard to not get stuff on the outside of the garbage bin, IMO.
I compost, so the only food waste that even goes into my kitchen garbage is the occasional Styrofoam meat packaging, and that gets folded carefully and then tucked into the bin. The outside of the bin never comes into contact with anything dirty.
The average doorknob, kitchen sink, and cell phone is dirtier than the handle on the lid of my garbage bin, which is the only part I touch.
I've been a chef, managed a research animal facility, been a healthcare professional, and have written several infection control policies and I feel fine touching the outside of my garbage bin without washing my hands.
I've got no doubts that your garbage bin isn't spotless, aka visually clean. And from what you've said I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that it's also sanitary (considering your resume I'm assuming you understand the difference) but my question is this: if you went to someone else's house, or if you had to touch a garbage bin in public, would you wash/sanitize your hands then?
The visible dirt isn't my concern, it's the invisible germs that we're fighting here. Also, considering your resume, can you answer a legitimate question I've had for a while now? Germs are living creatures, can't they move? If so, how far can they travel over a given amount of time? Not knowing the answer to this question has caused me to treat not only my garbage bins and toilets, but the general vicinity around them, as a biohazardous area. I routinely spray these areas down with Lysol, but rarely if ever touch them, so my bins are the opposite of yours. Visually dirty, but sanitized.
Yes, I'm extremely aware that pathogens are invisible, but they can't actually travel very far, so unless they come into contact with the outside of the clean bin, they're not going to crawl out of the inside of the bin liner and then make their way to the outside of the can.
As for whether I would touch a stranger's bin on the outside, it would depend on what their kitchen habits are like. If they have a good understanding of cross contamination and infection control measures like I do, which almost every person I'm friends with does, I wouldn't worry about it.
As I've said multiple times in this thread, people's sinks are generally much, much more germy than the outside of their garbage bins. So unless you wash your hands every time you touch a sink, a doorknob, or someone else's phone, then worrying about the outside of a visibly clean bin is a bit silly.
Now, it I saw someone handle raw meat and without washing watched them lift the lid of their garbage with their contaminated hand, then yeah, I would both avoid touching their garbage AND thoroughly wash my hands if I had to.
But I'm at a much bigger risk of exposure from eating their cooking than from touching their garbage. So again, if you are willing to eat what someone else cooks, then you're putting faith in their infection control knowledge anyway.
FTR, here are the top culprits for contamination in kitchens and garbage bins I don't think even make the list, so you might want to either mellow out a bit about garbage bins or get way more paranoid about kitchens.
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/where-germs-lurk-in-your-kitchen
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I don’t wash my hands after touching the outside of a clean garbage can, but I do wash them after touching a necro post.
To me, "clean garbage can" is an oxymoron, like saying "cold fire" or "dry ocean" unless the can is brand new and never been used. Germs move, and cross contamination is also a thing.
What are you putting in your garbage that's so dirty though??
Do you not compost?
I don't compost, and I (sadly) don't have a garbage disposal in my sink, so pretty much whatever. We don't waste a lot of food, but there's enough in there to get some decomposition going. Salmonella, e.coli, etc would be my biggest concern. But having said that, maybe there's not anything dangerous about it, just feels nasty to me. Trying to understand why it doesn't to some people, that's all. Also I don't mean to sound judgmental, just very shocked in a way.
It's just not that hard to not get stuff on the outside of the garbage bin, IMO.
I compost, so the only food waste that even goes into my kitchen garbage is the occasional Styrofoam meat packaging, and that gets folded carefully and then tucked into the bin. The outside of the bin never comes into contact with anything dirty.
The average doorknob, kitchen sink, and cell phone is dirtier than the handle on the lid of my garbage bin, which is the only part I touch.
I've been a chef, managed a research animal facility, been a healthcare professional, and have written several infection control policies and I feel fine touching the outside of my garbage bin without washing my hands.
I've got no doubts that your garbage bin isn't spotless, aka visually clean. And from what you've said I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that it's also sanitary (considering your resume I'm assuming you understand the difference) but my question is this: if you went to someone else's house, or if you had to touch a garbage bin in public, would you wash/sanitize your hands then?
The visible dirt isn't my concern, it's the invisible germs that we're fighting here. Also, considering your resume, can you answer a legitimate question I've had for a while now? Germs are living creatures, can't they move? If so, how far can they travel over a given amount of time? Not knowing the answer to this question has caused me to treat not only my garbage bins and toilets, but the general vicinity around them, as a biohazardous area. I routinely spray these areas down with Lysol, but rarely if ever touch them, so my bins are the opposite of yours. Visually dirty, but sanitized.
Yes, I'm extremely aware that pathogens are invisible, but they can't actually travel very far, so unless they come into contact with the outside of the clean bin, they're not going to crawl out of the inside of the bin liner and then make their way to the outside of the can.
As for whether I would touch a stranger's bin on the outside, it would depend on what their kitchen habits are like. If they have a good understanding of cross contamination and infection control measures like I do, which almost every person I'm friends with does, I wouldn't worry about it.
As I've said multiple times in this thread, people's sinks are generally much, much more germy than the outside of their garbage bins. So unless you wash your hands every time you touch a sink, a doorknob, or someone else's phone, then worrying about the outside of a visibly clean bin is a bit silly.
Now, it I saw someone handle raw meat and without washing watched them lift the lid of their garbage with their contaminated hand, then yeah, I would both avoid touching their garbage AND thoroughly wash my hands if I had to.
But I'm at a much bigger risk of exposure from eating their cooking than from touching their garbage. So again, if you are willing to eat what someone else cooks, then you're putting faith in their infection control knowledge anyway.
FTR, here are the top culprits for contamination in kitchens and garbage bins I don't think even make the list, so you might want to either mellow out a bit about garbage bins or get way more paranoid about kitchens.
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/where-germs-lurk-in-your-kitchen
Thanks for that information about germs not being able to crawl out of the trash can, that's kept me up nights before so I appreciate that. One less thing to worry about!
In addition to our trash bins, we routinely Lysol our faucets, doorknobs, refrigerator handles, really every handle, and we wash our dishes and utensils in our dishwasher using the sanitize option. We also wash our hands often with antibacterial soap (of course, if it doesn't kill germs can you even call it soap?) and use hand sanitizer often between washes. We don't use tablets and I Lysol or hand sanitize my phone often.
The only things on that list that I'm concerned about are towels and fruits/veg. My wife has some kitchen towels hanging on the oven handle. They're mainly for decoration but I've seen her dry her hands on them before. I don't, I almost always use a fresh paper towel. I'll have to talk to her about that.
Regarding fruits and vegetables, do you know any good ways to sanitize them before eating? Is antibacterial hand soap safe to use for this?
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Regarding fruits and vegetables, do you know any good ways to sanitize them before eating? Is antibacterial hand soap safe to use for this?
I'm not convinced that it's a good idea to try to ultra-sanitize everything in your life*.
Your skin is covered with millions of bacteria and fungus all the time. Your gut health is heavily dependent upon the bacteria that have colonized it. While it's not a great idea to try to get infected with pathogens, your body isn't an island unto itself and it depends on bacteria and germs. With fruits and vegetables, rinsing with water and scrubbing visible dirt is likely sufficient*.
*Unless of course you have some sort of immune weakness/deficiency.
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Regarding fruits and vegetables, do you know any good ways to sanitize them before eating? Is antibacterial hand soap safe to use for this?
I'm not convinced that it's a good idea to try to ultra-sanitize everything in your life*.
Your skin is covered with millions of bacteria and fungus all the time. Your gut health is heavily dependent upon the bacteria that have colonized it. While it's not a great idea to try to get infected with pathogens, your body isn't an island unto itself and it depends on bacteria and germs. With fruits and vegetables, rinsing with water and scrubbing visible dirt is likely sufficient*.
*Unless of course you have some sort of immune weakness/deficiency.
Appreciate the advice, but I feel better staying as sanitary as I possibly can. I know there are millions of micro-organisms on me all the time, and that honestly makes my skin crawl so I try to keep that number as low as possible. Gut microbiome is different, I know those little guys are important so I take supplements to help with that.
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Regarding fruits and vegetables, do you know any good ways to sanitize them before eating? Is antibacterial hand soap safe to use for this?
I'm not convinced that it's a good idea to try to ultra-sanitize everything in your life*.
Your skin is covered with millions of bacteria and fungus all the time. Your gut health is heavily dependent upon the bacteria that have colonized it. While it's not a great idea to try to get infected with pathogens, your body isn't an island unto itself and it depends on bacteria and germs. With fruits and vegetables, rinsing with water and scrubbing visible dirt is likely sufficient*.
*Unless of course you have some sort of immune weakness/deficiency.
Same here. I am not ultra anal about germs and don't try to sanitize myself religiously. I use basic best practices.
And that's as someone who is chronically immunocompromised thanks to meds. Meanwhile, since I started working from home, I've only been sick once because of a flight I took. Otherwise, I used to get sick 6 times a year and now I rarely get sick, and I wash/sanitize my hands much, much less than I used to when I worked in a clinic.
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Regarding fruits and vegetables, do you know any good ways to sanitize them before eating? Is antibacterial hand soap safe to use for this?
I'm not convinced that it's a good idea to try to ultra-sanitize everything in your life*.
Your skin is covered with millions of bacteria and fungus all the time. Your gut health is heavily dependent upon the bacteria that have colonized it. While it's not a great idea to try to get infected with pathogens, your body isn't an island unto itself and it depends on bacteria and germs. With fruits and vegetables, rinsing with water and scrubbing visible dirt is likely sufficient*.
*Unless of course you have some sort of immune weakness/deficiency.
Appreciate the advice, but I feel better staying as sanitary as I possibly can. I know there are millions of micro-organisms on me all the time, and that honestly makes my skin crawl so I try to keep that number as low as possible. Gut microbiome is different, I know those little guys are important so I take supplements to help with that.
This and the fact that the idea of pathogens climbing out of your garbage has literally made you lose sleep makes me think you might benefit from some therapy on this topic.
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Regarding fruits and vegetables, do you know any good ways to sanitize them before eating? Is antibacterial hand soap safe to use for this?
I'm not convinced that it's a good idea to try to ultra-sanitize everything in your life*.
Your skin is covered with millions of bacteria and fungus all the time. Your gut health is heavily dependent upon the bacteria that have colonized it. While it's not a great idea to try to get infected with pathogens, your body isn't an island unto itself and it depends on bacteria and germs. With fruits and vegetables, rinsing with water and scrubbing visible dirt is likely sufficient*.
*Unless of course you have some sort of immune weakness/deficiency.
Same here. I am not ultra anal about germs and don't try to sanitize myself religiously. I use basic best practices.
And that's as someone who is chronically immunocompromised thanks to meds. Meanwhile, since I started working from home, I've only been sick once because of a flight I took. Otherwise, I used to get sick 6 times a year and now I rarely get sick, and I wash/sanitize my hands much, much less than I used to when I worked in a clinic.
I'm in the gym doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu five nights a week. It's a rare night that I don't have someone else's sweat drop into my mouth and eyeballs. Hard to imagine a less hygienic sport . . . and honestly, I don't tend to get colds more often than when I was solo cycling all the time. This has made me really question how much benefit someone really gets from over the top cleaning of stuff.
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Regarding fruits and vegetables, do you know any good ways to sanitize them before eating? Is antibacterial hand soap safe to use for this?
I'm not convinced that it's a good idea to try to ultra-sanitize everything in your life*.
Your skin is covered with millions of bacteria and fungus all the time. Your gut health is heavily dependent upon the bacteria that have colonized it. While it's not a great idea to try to get infected with pathogens, your body isn't an island unto itself and it depends on bacteria and germs. With fruits and vegetables, rinsing with water and scrubbing visible dirt is likely sufficient*.
*Unless of course you have some sort of immune weakness/deficiency.
Same here. I am not ultra anal about germs and don't try to sanitize myself religiously. I use basic best practices.
And that's as someone who is chronically immunocompromised thanks to meds. Meanwhile, since I started working from home, I've only been sick once because of a flight I took. Otherwise, I used to get sick 6 times a year and now I rarely get sick, and I wash/sanitize my hands much, much less than I used to when I worked in a clinic.
I'm in the gym doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu five nights a week. It's a rare night that I don't have someone else's sweat drop into my mouth and eyeballs. Hard to imagine a less hygienic sport . . . and honestly, I don't tend to get colds more often than when I was solo cycling all the time. This has made me really question how much benefit someone really gets from over the top cleaning of stuff.
Selection bias though, people who are feeling sick don't typically show up for combat sports. Also, I don't know if your gym does this, but my ex did mariak arts and people typically showed up to classes freshly showered before manhandling each other.
And someone who doesn't typically get sick nor getting sick isn't really evidence of much. I shared about my illness rate because I very easily get sick. So something that lowers my rate of infections is a notable thing. To go from 6+ repository infections consistently a year to 1 or none just from remote work while significantly reducing hand washing and infection control measures is pretty wild.
Hygiene does help control spread of infection, there's no question, but most people have a really, really poor understanding of infection control and food safety, so it's a bit moot.
For most folks though, just washing your hands multiple times a day and understanding the basics of food safety is a pretty good standard.
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The visible dirt isn't my concern, it's the invisible germs that we're fighting here. Also, considering your resume, can you answer a legitimate question I've had for a while now? Germs are living creatures, can't they move? If so, how far can they travel over a given amount of time? Not knowing the answer to this question has caused me to treat not only my garbage bins and toilets, but the general vicinity around them, as a biohazardous area. I routinely spray these areas down with Lysol, but rarely if ever touch them, so my bins are the opposite of yours. Visually dirty, but sanitized.
I won't bore anyone with my background too much, but I've worked in both biological and radiological labs, and also hazardous materials sampling in the field, so I know a bit about professional level hygiene, sanitary, and decon practices. Including doing confirmation sampling to test hygiene and decon practices. I know what works and what the points of failure are.
You are wrong. Visually dirty is dirty. Your garbage cans are definitely not sanitized. Germs, that is bacteria, yeast, and viruses but mostly bacteria, are everywhere around us at all times. They travel via air, water, and by surface contact. Sure, when you spray that dirty garbage can with Lysol you may kill most of the bacteria on the surface of that gunk. But as soon as it evaporates that gunk becomes a bacteria farm.
Because bacteria are everywhere, it is nearly impossible to have sanitized conditions, even using best practices in the lab. At home or in the field, sanitary is best you can hope for. I guarantee that if I could observe for you three minutes working in your kitchen I could identify 10 times you cross contaminated something.
The good news is that we don't need sanitized conditions at home. Sanitary is good enough and it is easy to get to sanitary by using simple best practices. First rule is that is that if it looks dirty, it is dirty. Second, wash your hands with soap and water before and after you do anything in the kitchen. Wash all your utensils and cutting boards with soap after you use them, and rinse. If the kitchen towel is dry and looks clean, it is fine to use on your hands and anything else.
Anti-bacterial soap does two things better than regular soap: Jack and shit. Regular soap works by physically removing dirt. The dirt is where the bacteria is. Remember, if it looks dirty, it is dirty. There is a mountain of evidence that shows anti-bacterial soap is no better at removing bacteria than regular soap. Even in bio labs we didn't use anti-bacterial soap. It is a marketing scam.
And think about it for a second. If fruits and vegetables needed to be washed with anti-bacterial soap prior to eating, we'd all be dead. Our ancestors wouldn't have made it down from the trees. Fruits and vegetables need to be washed to remove dirt and pesticides. They have their own anti-bacterial properties and as long as they look good and smell good, they are fine to eat. You nose has evolved over millions of year for this exact reason. Why not use it?
Definitely wash your visually dirty garbage cans though. That's gross.
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Absolutely — always. Garbage cans can carry a lot of germs and bacteria, so I make it a habit to wash my hands right after touching them. It's a simple way to stay clean and avoid spreading anything, especially before eating or cooking.
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Regarding fruits and vegetables, do you know any good ways to sanitize them before eating? Is antibacterial hand soap safe to use for this?
I'm not convinced that it's a good idea to try to ultra-sanitize everything in your life*.
Your skin is covered with millions of bacteria and fungus all the time. Your gut health is heavily dependent upon the bacteria that have colonized it. While it's not a great idea to try to get infected with pathogens, your body isn't an island unto itself and it depends on bacteria and germs. With fruits and vegetables, rinsing with water and scrubbing visible dirt is likely sufficient*.
*Unless of course you have some sort of immune weakness/deficiency.
Appreciate the advice, but I feel better staying as sanitary as I possibly can. I know there are millions of micro-organisms on me all the time, and that honestly makes my skin crawl so I try to keep that number as low as possible. Gut microbiome is different, I know those little guys are important so I take supplements to help with that.
This and the fact that the idea of pathogens climbing out of your garbage has literally made you lose sleep makes me think you might benefit from some therapy on this topic.
Appreciate your concern but I may have exaggerated about actually losing sleep. I would probably lose sleep if I wasn't able to sanitize myself tho, but I don't trust shrinks so I'm talking to you fine folks instead! Thanks for all your replies, this is helpful. Still gonna keep washing my hands after touching trash cans tho.
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The visible dirt isn't my concern, it's the invisible germs that we're fighting here. Also, considering your resume, can you answer a legitimate question I've had for a while now? Germs are living creatures, can't they move? If so, how far can they travel over a given amount of time? Not knowing the answer to this question has caused me to treat not only my garbage bins and toilets, but the general vicinity around them, as a biohazardous area. I routinely spray these areas down with Lysol, but rarely if ever touch them, so my bins are the opposite of yours. Visually dirty, but sanitized.
I won't bore anyone with my background too much, but I've worked in both biological and radiological labs, and also hazardous materials sampling in the field, so I know a bit about professional level hygiene, sanitary, and decon practices. Including doing confirmation sampling to test hygiene and decon practices. I know what works and what the points of failure are.
You are wrong. Visually dirty is dirty. Your garbage cans are definitely not sanitized. Germs, that is bacteria, yeast, and viruses but mostly bacteria, are everywhere around us at all times. They travel via air, water, and by surface contact. Sure, when you spray that dirty garbage can with Lysol you may kill most of the bacteria on the surface of that gunk. But as soon as it evaporates that gunk becomes a bacteria farm.
Because bacteria are everywhere, it is nearly impossible to have sanitized conditions, even using best practices in the lab. At home or in the field, sanitary is best you can hope for. I guarantee that if I could observe for you three minutes working in your kitchen I could identify 10 times you cross contaminated something.
The good news is that we don't need sanitized conditions at home. Sanitary is good enough and it is easy to get to sanitary by using simple best practices. First rule is that is that if it looks dirty, it is dirty. Second, wash your hands with soap and water before and after you do anything in the kitchen. Wash all your utensils and cutting boards with soap after you use them, and rinse. If the kitchen towel is dry and looks clean, it is fine to use on your hands and anything else.
Anti-bacterial soap does two things better than regular soap: Jack and shit. Regular soap works by physically removing dirt. The dirt is where the bacteria is. Remember, if it looks dirty, it is dirty. There is a mountain of evidence that shows anti-bacterial soap is no better at removing bacteria than regular soap. Even in bio labs we didn't use anti-bacterial soap. It is a marketing scam.
And think about it for a second. If fruits and vegetables needed to be washed with anti-bacterial soap prior to eating, we'd all be dead. Our ancestors wouldn't have made it down from the trees. Fruits and vegetables need to be washed to remove dirt and pesticides. They have their own anti-bacterial properties and as long as they look good and smell good, they are fine to eat. You nose has evolved over millions of year for this exact reason. Why not use it?
Definitely wash your visually dirty garbage cans though. That's gross.
I'm REALLY festidious about cross contamination, so I would accept your challenge. Regarding my dirty bins, there's not chunks or drips on them, more like streaks and water spots from all the Lysol that I spray on them. There is a bit of dirt on the floor around them because I don't normally sweep right up against the can because I don't want to contaminate the broom, but knowing that the germs can't get out of the can I might start doing that now. Hell, I might even wipe the thing down with some stainless steel cleaner!
Regarding antibacterial soap, I've read some of those studies but I also am a bit of a tinfoil hat wearer so I have to wonder what is their motivation for wanting to prove that antibacterial soap doesn't help. Could it be that we are more profitable to big pharma if we're always just a little sick rather than fully healthy? I very rarely get sick btw, for what it's worth.
Also I remember when I was growing up just about ALL soap was antibacterial, both liquid hand soap and bar soap (this would have been in the 90's) and now it's like you gotta look for it. With bar soap specifically, I pretty clearly remember there being face soap (like Dove) that wasn't antibacterial, but pretty much all the bar soap meant for your body was antibacterial. Does anyone else remember that?
Now Dial's the only one I can find in stores, and there are a couple foreign brands available on Amazon. I like Dettol the best, that's what I've been using ever since they raised the price of Asepso. Even if it's not doing anything, it makes me feel better and that's worth it just for peace of mind.
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Absolutely — always. Garbage cans can carry a lot of germs and bacteria, so I make it a habit to wash my hands right after touching them. It's a simple way to stay clean and avoid spreading anything, especially before eating or cooking.
My people! Question for you, do you notice people where you live generally share your standards of hygiene, or are you one of the only people you know who do this? I'm trying to figure out if this is a regional thing, or maybe just a "times have changed" kinda thing. I moved here (Florida) a little over 4 years ago and I'm like the only person who seems to be aware of germs here. Where I left from (Texas) it seemed like people were a bit cleaner and more germ conscious, but also that was 4 years ago.
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Wow, blast from the past. Since I last responded to this thread, I did spend an unmustachian amount of money on a garbage opener device so I can press my garbage gently with my knee while I have my hands full of raw meat trimmings, then I use my automatic soap dispenser and automatic faucet to wash my hands. So at least the garbage handle, soap dispenser, and faucet handle aren't slimy with salmonella.
Unfortunately, I still have to clean the aforementioned items because they get visibly dirty. How, you ask? VISITORS. UNSANITARY VISITORS
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I always wash my hands after touching the garbage bin.
This may seem excessive to some, but since we are talking about cleanliness and hygiene I also dislike using public restrooms and try to avoid them. Of course, I have to use them sometimes and when I get home I shower and put on clean clothes.
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I don't know if this thread is a joke, but it has been very entertaining, I did not see it the first time round. To answer the question, no I don't wash my hands after throwing something in the trash. But my trashcan has a foot pedal so I don't touch it. But if I did touch it I probably would wash my hands, but I also wouldn't get a trash can that I had to touch to open (all of mine have pedals). I keep things clean and am an avid hand washer but not obsessively so. But I've hung out with a lot of hygiene "questionables". These are people you can actively smell, dumpster dive, and who eat things off the floor. I don't know how they can do any of that, but to each their own. They are great to camp with as the BO is far less offensive, but I prefer not to be in enclosed spaces with them and I wouldn't want them to cook me dinner.
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I always wash my hands after touching the garbage bin.
This may seem excessive to some, but since we are talking about cleanliness and hygiene I also dislike using public restrooms and try to avoid them. Of course, I have to use them sometimes and when I get home I shower and put on clean clothes.
I've been at a number of events lately, including yesterday, where I had to use a portapotty. Revolting in every possible way but particularly sight and smell. And often no handwashing option. Utter horror.
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Regarding fruits and vegetables, do you know any good ways to sanitize them before eating? Is antibacterial hand soap safe to use for this?
I'm not convinced that it's a good idea to try to ultra-sanitize everything in your life*.
Your skin is covered with millions of bacteria and fungus all the time. Your gut health is heavily dependent upon the bacteria that have colonized it. While it's not a great idea to try to get infected with pathogens, your body isn't an island unto itself and it depends on bacteria and germs. With fruits and vegetables, rinsing with water and scrubbing visible dirt is likely sufficient*.
*Unless of course you have some sort of immune weakness/deficiency.
Appreciate the advice, but I feel better staying as sanitary as I possibly can. I know there are millions of micro-organisms on me all the time, and that honestly makes my skin crawl so I try to keep that number as low as possible. Gut microbiome is different, I know those little guys are important so I take supplements to help with that.
This and the fact that the idea of pathogens climbing out of your garbage has literally made you lose sleep makes me think you might benefit from some therapy on this topic.
Appreciate your concern but I may have exaggerated about actually losing sleep. I would probably lose sleep if I wasn't able to sanitize myself tho, but I don't trust shrinks so I'm talking to you fine folks instead! Thanks for all your replies, this is helpful. Still gonna keep washing my hands after touching trash cans tho.
Me, literally a therapist...so yeah...
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Anti-bacterial soap does two things better than regular soap: Jack and shit. Regular soap works by physically removing dirt. The dirt is where the bacteria is. Remember, if it looks dirty, it is dirty. There is a mountain of evidence that shows anti-bacterial soap is no better at removing bacteria than regular soap. Even in bio labs we didn't use anti-bacterial soap. It is a marketing scam.
I'd argue anti-bacterial soap is worse than a marketing scam. It is a straight up inferior product to regular soap.
Earlier I mentioned that I do BJJ - effectively hot, sweaty wrestling with lots of skin to skin contact. Skin problems (ringworm, impetigo, staph, etc.) are common in wrestling, so hygiene before/after practice is important. Most of it is just basic crap - you don't step from an area where outdoor shoes are used and onto the mats. You always shower immediately after practice. You always wash anything that was used in practice immediately after practice and never use stuff twice. But at some point in the past I had decided that since skin infections were a problem I should start using anti-bacterial soap every time I showered off - little germs being the issue, right?
During the six month period that I was using anti-bacterial soap I had regular and repeated skin infections. Your skin wants/needs bacteria growing on it all the time. It's a whole eco-system going on there that actually protects you. Anti-bacterial soap seems to strip this ecosystem away and damage your skin somehow, leaving you at higher risk of colonization/infection by the bad stuff. I went back to using regular soap and occasionally moisturizing my skin and the skin infections largely went away.
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I always wash my hands after touching the garbage bin.
This may seem excessive to some, but since we are talking about cleanliness and hygiene I also dislike using public restrooms and try to avoid them. Of course, I have to use them sometimes and when I get home I shower and put on clean clothes.
I've been at a number of events lately, including yesterday, where I had to use a portapotty. Revolting in every possible way but particularly sight and smell. And often no handwashing option. Utter horror.
Ew, but ya to exist and participate in life we sometimes have to adapt and go with the flow and breathe through it, at least that's what I do.
I have a heightened sense of smell, for better or worse, which is probably where all of these issues arose for me. In my family, it is a running joke that I can smell the Christmas tree, cooking, rotten food, smoke, you name it, from a mile away. :)
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I always wash my hands after touching the garbage bin.
This may seem excessive to some, but since we are talking about cleanliness and hygiene I also dislike using public restrooms and try to avoid them. Of course, I have to use them sometimes and when I get home I shower and put on clean clothes.
I've been at a number of events lately, including yesterday, where I had to use a portapotty. Revolting in every possible way but particularly sight and smell. And often no handwashing option. Utter horror.
Ew, but ya to exist and participate in life we sometimes have to adapt and go with the flow and breathe through it, at least that's what I do.
I have a heightened sense of smell, for better or worse, which is probably where all of these issues arose for me. In my family, it is a running joke that I can smell the Christmas tree, cooking, rotten food, smoke, you name it, from a mile away. :)
I used to have this until I got covid from taking a flight. Now I have a more normal sense of smell and it's glorious.
I was once in my clinic about 200 feet from the entrance and in the middle of writing my notes I looked at my assistant and said "an old man just walked in" because I could distinctly detect that old man smell.
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Why are ya all touching your garbage cans? Is that... hmmm a thing???
I very rarely touch my garbage can outside of tying the bag before throwing the garbage out... I will wash my hands after that. This is a habit. I do the same after I tie the bag from the garbage can in the washroom (for OBVIOUS reasons).
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What I don't get are the garbage cans that never get dirty. Does nothing ever leak? Do they not hold onto smells sometimes even when they look clean? Are these the same people with magic laundry baskets?
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Why are ya all touching your garbage cans? Is that... hmmm a thing???
I very rarely touch my garbage can outside of tying the bag before throwing the garbage out... I will wash my hands after that. This is a habit. I do the same after I tie the bag from the garbage can in the washroom (for OBVIOUS reasons).
I have a very small bin in my kitchen with a lid that I have to lift off, but my recycling has foot pedals.
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What I don't get are the garbage cans that never get dirty. Does nothing ever leak? Do they not hold onto smells sometimes even when they look clean? Are these the same people with magic laundry baskets?
I compost, so there's rarely anything gross in my garbage.
I have started cooking meat for the first time in almost a decade, so I do now have raw meat food packaging sometimes in the kitchen garbage, but I take it out immediately because I have a garbage chute.
Nothing gross stays in my home.
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I always wash my hands after touching the garbage bin.
This may seem excessive to some, but since we are talking about cleanliness and hygiene I also dislike using public restrooms and try to avoid them. Of course, I have to use them sometimes and when I get home I shower and put on clean clothes.
I've been at a number of events lately, including yesterday, where I had to use a portapotty. Revolting in every possible way but particularly sight and smell. And often no handwashing option. Utter horror.
Ew, but ya to exist and participate in life we sometimes have to adapt and go with the flow and breathe through it, at least that's what I do.
I have a heightened sense of smell, for better or worse, which is probably where all of these issues arose for me. In my family, it is a running joke that I can smell the Christmas tree, cooking, rotten food, smoke, you name it, from a mile away. :)
I used to have this until I got covid from taking a flight. Now I have a more normal sense of smell and it's glorious.
I was once in my clinic about 200 feet from the entrance and in the middle of writing my notes I looked at my assistant and said "an old man just walked in" because I could distinctly detect that old man smell.
Yes!! That's me! In working with teens I sometimes have to shallow breathe and actively fight my gag response due to unwashed hair, bodies, clothes, backpacks smelling of smoke and cat urine, etc.
Lucky you that your sense of smell normalized. My long term take away from Covid has been brain fog. :)
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Just to continue this "where are the bacteria" discussion, the two most common condensation nuclei for rain drops are dust particles and bacteria. And a lot of those bacteria are plant pathogens. Nice for them, when it rains they are delivered straight to their victims.
My office mate was a microbiologist. She said that except for special situations like medical rooms and surfaces, soap and water was better than "antibacterial" cleaners. Soap is a surfactant, so a good scrub and a really good rins gets things clean without any bacteria developing resistance to a bactericide.
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I don’t remember exactly what I answered the first time, but my kitchen trash doesn’t get anything too gross in it. We fill up maybe one bag/week. And the big garbage can in the garage doesn’t seem any grosser than anything else in the garage.
I still wash my hands whenever I come into the house, and before I cook and other basic times, but I don’t think that I touch the garbage can very often. It is not a reason for concern in my routine. Lol
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I compost, so there's rarely anything gross in my garbage.
That’s just sidestepping the question. Do you wash your hands after you touch your compost bin?
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I compost, so there's rarely anything gross in my garbage.
That’s just sidestepping the question. Do you wash your hands after you touch your compost bin?
Often yes, because I'm handling food when I touch the compost bin. But the compost bin is also tiny and gets emptied when I'm done working with food. So it's really not comparable.
I would absolutely wash my hands after touching the large compost bins in the building, as well as the garbage chutes, and the recycling bins, but they're communal and filthy.
But I also wash my hands whenever I come back into my home from touching things in communal spaces, so again, moot point.
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I compost, so there's rarely anything gross in my garbage.
That’s just sidestepping the question. Do you wash your hands after you touch your compost bin?
Why would you? Are you elbows deep in there, aerating the compost by hand?
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Anti-bacterial soap does two things better than regular soap: Jack and shit. Regular soap works by physically removing dirt. The dirt is where the bacteria is. Remember, if it looks dirty, it is dirty. There is a mountain of evidence that shows anti-bacterial soap is no better at removing bacteria than regular soap. Even in bio labs we didn't use anti-bacterial soap. It is a marketing scam.
I'd argue anti-bacterial soap is worse than a marketing scam. It is a straight up inferior product to regular soap.
Earlier I mentioned that I do BJJ - effectively hot, sweaty wrestling with lots of skin to skin contact. Skin problems (ringworm, impetigo, staph, etc.) are common in wrestling, so hygiene before/after practice is important. Most of it is just basic crap - you don't step from an area where outdoor shoes are used and onto the mats. You always shower immediately after practice. You always wash anything that was used in practice immediately after practice and never use stuff twice. But at some point in the past I had decided that since skin infections were a problem I should start using anti-bacterial soap every time I showered off - little germs being the issue, right?
During the six month period that I was using anti-bacterial soap I had regular and repeated skin infections. Your skin wants/needs bacteria growing on it all the time. It's a whole eco-system going on there that actually protects you. Anti-bacterial soap seems to strip this ecosystem away and damage your skin somehow, leaving you at higher risk of colonization/infection by the bad stuff. I went back to using regular soap and occasionally moisturizing my skin and the skin infections largely went away.
Interesting, thanks for sharing your experience! I suffer from occasional dry skin, especially on my legs, but besides that my skin is pretty great. I've been bathing with antibacterial soap since birth basically, so I'm not sure what effect stopping would have on me and I'm not keen to find out, but this is good info for those who might be considering picking up that habit. To each his own, but for me it's peace of mind.
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Anti-bacterial soap does two things better than regular soap: Jack and shit. Regular soap works by physically removing dirt. The dirt is where the bacteria is. Remember, if it looks dirty, it is dirty. There is a mountain of evidence that shows anti-bacterial soap is no better at removing bacteria than regular soap. Even in bio labs we didn't use anti-bacterial soap. It is a marketing scam.
I'd argue anti-bacterial soap is worse than a marketing scam. It is a straight up inferior product to regular soap.
Earlier I mentioned that I do BJJ - effectively hot, sweaty wrestling with lots of skin to skin contact. Skin problems (ringworm, impetigo, staph, etc.) are common in wrestling, so hygiene before/after practice is important. Most of it is just basic crap - you don't step from an area where outdoor shoes are used and onto the mats. You always shower immediately after practice. You always wash anything that was used in practice immediately after practice and never use stuff twice. But at some point in the past I had decided that since skin infections were a problem I should start using anti-bacterial soap every time I showered off - little germs being the issue, right?
During the six month period that I was using anti-bacterial soap I had regular and repeated skin infections. Your skin wants/needs bacteria growing on it all the time. It's a whole eco-system going on there that actually protects you. Anti-bacterial soap seems to strip this ecosystem away and damage your skin somehow, leaving you at higher risk of colonization/infection by the bad stuff. I went back to using regular soap and occasionally moisturizing my skin and the skin infections largely went away.
Interesting, thanks for sharing your experience! I suffer from occasional dry skin, especially on my legs, but besides that my skin is pretty great. I've been bathing with antibacterial soap since birth basically, so I'm not sure what effect stopping would have on me and I'm not keen to find out, but this is good info for those who might be considering picking up that habit. To each his own, but for me it's peace of mind.
There's no evidence that antibacterial soap works better than regular soap for protecting from disease and infection (https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/skip-antibacterial-soap-use-plain-soap-and-water (https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/skip-antibacterial-soap-use-plain-soap-and-water), https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27585555/ (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27585555/)). There is some evidence that the additives in antibacterial soaps make you less healthy though - they include endocrine disruptors and are more likely to cause irritation to the skin (https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-problem-with-antibacterial-soap-4125914 (https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-problem-with-antibacterial-soap-4125914)). Antibacterial soaps also appear to contribute to antibiotic resistance in germs (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK73515/ (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK73515/)).
Honestly, in your position I'd drop the antibacterial soap for a couple months and see how things go. Worst case you can always go back to it, best case you'll find out that your skin is (much) healthier without.
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Anti-bacterial soap does two things better than regular soap: Jack and shit. Regular soap works by physically removing dirt. The dirt is where the bacteria is. Remember, if it looks dirty, it is dirty. There is a mountain of evidence that shows anti-bacterial soap is no better at removing bacteria than regular soap. Even in bio labs we didn't use anti-bacterial soap. It is a marketing scam.
I'd argue anti-bacterial soap is worse than a marketing scam. It is a straight up inferior product to regular soap.
Earlier I mentioned that I do BJJ - effectively hot, sweaty wrestling with lots of skin to skin contact. Skin problems (ringworm, impetigo, staph, etc.) are common in wrestling, so hygiene before/after practice is important. Most of it is just basic crap - you don't step from an area where outdoor shoes are used and onto the mats. You always shower immediately after practice. You always wash anything that was used in practice immediately after practice and never use stuff twice. But at some point in the past I had decided that since skin infections were a problem I should start using anti-bacterial soap every time I showered off - little germs being the issue, right?
During the six month period that I was using anti-bacterial soap I had regular and repeated skin infections. Your skin wants/needs bacteria growing on it all the time. It's a whole eco-system going on there that actually protects you. Anti-bacterial soap seems to strip this ecosystem away and damage your skin somehow, leaving you at higher risk of colonization/infection by the bad stuff. I went back to using regular soap and occasionally moisturizing my skin and the skin infections largely went away.
Interesting, thanks for sharing your experience! I suffer from occasional dry skin, especially on my legs, but besides that my skin is pretty great. I've been bathing with antibacterial soap since birth basically, so I'm not sure what effect stopping would have on me and I'm not keen to find out, but this is good info for those who might be considering picking up that habit. To each his own, but for me it's peace of mind.
There's no evidence that antibacterial soap works better than regular soap for protecting from disease and infection (https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/skip-antibacterial-soap-use-plain-soap-and-water (https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/skip-antibacterial-soap-use-plain-soap-and-water), https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27585555/ (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27585555/)). There is some evidence that the additives in antibacterial soaps make you less healthy though - they include endocrine disruptors and are more likely to cause irritation to the skin (https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-problem-with-antibacterial-soap-4125914 (https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-problem-with-antibacterial-soap-4125914)). Antibacterial soaps also appear to contribute to antibiotic resistance in germs (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK73515/ (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK73515/)).
Honestly, in your position I'd drop the antibacterial soap for a couple months and see how things go. Worst case you can always go back to it, best case you'll find out that your skin is (much) healthier without.
Putting my tinfoil hat back on here... are those studies by the same people who recommended experimental mRNA injections to treat a virus with a 99% survival rate? The same injections that are now causing young, otherwise healthy people to randomly stop being alive? I think I'll stick with what I know, but thanks for sharing!
Remember, a patient cured is a customer lost. It's much more profitable for big pharma and the medical industrial complex to keep us all just sick enough to require constant treatment, but not sick enough to stop us from being able to work in the rat race so we can afford their treatments and medicines.
Killing germs seems like the most obvious way to stop their spread, no? I don't need a study to tell me that. Also, there are endocrine disruptors everywhere, even in food. Soy comes to mind. So I'm not gonna let anyone fear monger me into not being as sanitary as I can.
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Anti-bacterial soap does two things better than regular soap: Jack and shit. Regular soap works by physically removing dirt. The dirt is where the bacteria is. Remember, if it looks dirty, it is dirty. There is a mountain of evidence that shows anti-bacterial soap is no better at removing bacteria than regular soap. Even in bio labs we didn't use anti-bacterial soap. It is a marketing scam.
I'd argue anti-bacterial soap is worse than a marketing scam. It is a straight up inferior product to regular soap.
Earlier I mentioned that I do BJJ - effectively hot, sweaty wrestling with lots of skin to skin contact. Skin problems (ringworm, impetigo, staph, etc.) are common in wrestling, so hygiene before/after practice is important. Most of it is just basic crap - you don't step from an area where outdoor shoes are used and onto the mats. You always shower immediately after practice. You always wash anything that was used in practice immediately after practice and never use stuff twice. But at some point in the past I had decided that since skin infections were a problem I should start using anti-bacterial soap every time I showered off - little germs being the issue, right?
During the six month period that I was using anti-bacterial soap I had regular and repeated skin infections. Your skin wants/needs bacteria growing on it all the time. It's a whole eco-system going on there that actually protects you. Anti-bacterial soap seems to strip this ecosystem away and damage your skin somehow, leaving you at higher risk of colonization/infection by the bad stuff. I went back to using regular soap and occasionally moisturizing my skin and the skin infections largely went away.
Interesting, thanks for sharing your experience! I suffer from occasional dry skin, especially on my legs, but besides that my skin is pretty great. I've been bathing with antibacterial soap since birth basically, so I'm not sure what effect stopping would have on me and I'm not keen to find out, but this is good info for those who might be considering picking up that habit. To each his own, but for me it's peace of mind.
There's no evidence that antibacterial soap works better than regular soap for protecting from disease and infection (https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/skip-antibacterial-soap-use-plain-soap-and-water (https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/skip-antibacterial-soap-use-plain-soap-and-water), https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27585555/ (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27585555/)). There is some evidence that the additives in antibacterial soaps make you less healthy though - they include endocrine disruptors and are more likely to cause irritation to the skin (https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-problem-with-antibacterial-soap-4125914 (https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-problem-with-antibacterial-soap-4125914)). Antibacterial soaps also appear to contribute to antibiotic resistance in germs (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK73515/ (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK73515/)).
Honestly, in your position I'd drop the antibacterial soap for a couple months and see how things go. Worst case you can always go back to it, best case you'll find out that your skin is (much) healthier without.
Putting my tinfoil hat back on here... are those studies by the same people who recommended experimental mRNA injections to treat a virus with a 99% survival rate? The same injections that are now causing young, otherwise healthy people to randomly stop being alive? I think I'll stick with what I know, but thanks for sharing!
Remember, a patient cured is a customer lost. It's much more profitable for big pharma and the medical industrial complex to keep us all just sick enough to require constant treatment, but not sick enough to stop us from being able to work in the rat race so we can afford their treatments and medicines.
Killing germs seems like the most obvious way to stop their spread, no? I don't need a study to tell me that. Also, there are endocrine disruptors everywhere, even in food. Soy comes to mind. So I'm not gonna let anyone fear monger me into not being as sanitary as I can.
Well at least you prefaced your response with having put a tinfoil hat on. Ultimately, science is a battle between sources of truth, and you aren't providing a whole lotta reputable sources (aka links) in order to refute the debater, so there's nothing to say that your self admitted conspiracy theory laden response has any merit. I'll go with the NIH referenced report until you give me a substantial reason to be skeptical. Sorry if I missed something but I didn't read your post in its entirety since it started off so painfully.
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Anti-bacterial soap does two things better than regular soap: Jack and shit. Regular soap works by physically removing dirt. The dirt is where the bacteria is. Remember, if it looks dirty, it is dirty. There is a mountain of evidence that shows anti-bacterial soap is no better at removing bacteria than regular soap. Even in bio labs we didn't use anti-bacterial soap. It is a marketing scam.
I'd argue anti-bacterial soap is worse than a marketing scam. It is a straight up inferior product to regular soap.
Earlier I mentioned that I do BJJ - effectively hot, sweaty wrestling with lots of skin to skin contact. Skin problems (ringworm, impetigo, staph, etc.) are common in wrestling, so hygiene before/after practice is important. Most of it is just basic crap - you don't step from an area where outdoor shoes are used and onto the mats. You always shower immediately after practice. You always wash anything that was used in practice immediately after practice and never use stuff twice. But at some point in the past I had decided that since skin infections were a problem I should start using anti-bacterial soap every time I showered off - little germs being the issue, right?
During the six month period that I was using anti-bacterial soap I had regular and repeated skin infections. Your skin wants/needs bacteria growing on it all the time. It's a whole eco-system going on there that actually protects you. Anti-bacterial soap seems to strip this ecosystem away and damage your skin somehow, leaving you at higher risk of colonization/infection by the bad stuff. I went back to using regular soap and occasionally moisturizing my skin and the skin infections largely went away.
Interesting, thanks for sharing your experience! I suffer from occasional dry skin, especially on my legs, but besides that my skin is pretty great. I've been bathing with antibacterial soap since birth basically, so I'm not sure what effect stopping would have on me and I'm not keen to find out, but this is good info for those who might be considering picking up that habit. To each his own, but for me it's peace of mind.
There's no evidence that antibacterial soap works better than regular soap for protecting from disease and infection (https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/skip-antibacterial-soap-use-plain-soap-and-water (https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/skip-antibacterial-soap-use-plain-soap-and-water), https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27585555/ (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27585555/)). There is some evidence that the additives in antibacterial soaps make you less healthy though - they include endocrine disruptors and are more likely to cause irritation to the skin (https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-problem-with-antibacterial-soap-4125914 (https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-problem-with-antibacterial-soap-4125914)). Antibacterial soaps also appear to contribute to antibiotic resistance in germs (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK73515/ (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK73515/)).
Honestly, in your position I'd drop the antibacterial soap for a couple months and see how things go. Worst case you can always go back to it, best case you'll find out that your skin is (much) healthier without.
Putting my tinfoil hat back on here... are those studies by the same people who recommended experimental mRNA injections to treat a virus with a 99% survival rate? The same injections that are now causing young, otherwise healthy people to randomly stop being alive? I think I'll stick with what I know, but thanks for sharing!
Remember, a patient cured is a customer lost. It's much more profitable for big pharma and the medical industrial complex to keep us all just sick enough to require constant treatment, but not sick enough to stop us from being able to work in the rat race so we can afford their treatments and medicines.
Killing germs seems like the most obvious way to stop their spread, no? I don't need a study to tell me that. Also, there are endocrine disruptors everywhere, even in food. Soy comes to mind. So I'm not gonna let anyone fear monger me into not being as sanitary as I can.
Based on this, I'm going to double down on my recommendation of therapy. I hope that at some point in your life you encounter a therapist who makes you feel understood and who you can trust.
I can't comment further because while I have a lot of really specific and supportive things to say, I'm limited as to how I can reply to people who present with needing help online.
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FWIW, I shared many concerns related to rolling out the covid-19 vaccines as quickly as was done. My wife and I both received the Astra-Zeneca vaccine . . . and for multiple weeks afterwards she had migraine headaches, which our doctor believed was directly related to the shot. So I sympathize with concern in this area and have spent significant time reading through studies and trying to get a handle on the available scientific consensus.
Some people died after getting covid shots. This was a remarkably small occurrence though. With Pfizer-BioNTech for 276,000,000 doses delivered there were 3,848 deaths recorded afterwards. Studies tell us that it's likely that many of these recorded deaths were actually coincidental (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8511593/ (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8511593/)).
Unfortunately, there have been an astonishing number of misleading claims made online and by public figures like RFK about covid deaths related to vaccination:
- https://www.reuters.com/article/fact-check/covid-19-vaccines-not-linked-to-8200-increase-in-child-deaths-in-past-year-as-idUSL1N31K0ZE/ (https://www.reuters.com/article/fact-check/covid-19-vaccines-not-linked-to-8200-increase-in-child-deaths-in-past-year-as-idUSL1N31K0ZE/)
- https://www.factcheck.org/2025/05/rfk-jr-misleads-about-safety-of-covid-19-vaccine-in-children/ (https://www.factcheck.org/2025/05/rfk-jr-misleads-about-safety-of-covid-19-vaccine-in-children/)
- https://www.factcheck.org/2023/04/scicheck-no-evidence-excess-deaths-linked-to-vaccines-contrary-to-claims-online/ (https://www.factcheck.org/2023/04/scicheck-no-evidence-excess-deaths-linked-to-vaccines-contrary-to-claims-online/)
- https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/study-does-not-say-covid-vaccines-may-have-fuelled-excess-deaths-2024-06-13/ (https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/study-does-not-say-covid-vaccines-may-have-fuelled-excess-deaths-2024-06-13/)
- https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.33XF3CN (https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.33XF3CN)
- https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2022/12/23/fact-check-false-claim-covid-19-vaccines-caused-1-1-million-deaths/10929679002/ (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2022/12/23/fact-check-false-claim-covid-19-vaccines-caused-1-1-million-deaths/10929679002/)
- https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/feb/09/instagram-posts/experts-say-mrna-covid-19-vaccines-have-saved-mill/ (https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/feb/09/instagram-posts/experts-say-mrna-covid-19-vaccines-have-saved-mill/)
etc.
The available evidence we have regarding vaccination for covid, at least for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines is that they're quite safe, and that risk of dying after taking them is much less than your chances of dying or having long term complications from catching covid.
That said, this has nothing to do with antibacterial soap. Killing germs is an obvious way to stop spread of disease. But the evidence we have shows that killing germs on your skin isn't necessary - removing germs tends to work better. Soap and water remove germs as well or better than using anti-bacterial soap . . . and doesn't carry with it all the negative impacts of the anti-bacterial stuff.
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Anti-bacterial soap does two things better than regular soap: Jack and shit. Regular soap works by physically removing dirt. The dirt is where the bacteria is. Remember, if it looks dirty, it is dirty. There is a mountain of evidence that shows anti-bacterial soap is no better at removing bacteria than regular soap. Even in bio labs we didn't use anti-bacterial soap. It is a marketing scam.
I'd argue anti-bacterial soap is worse than a marketing scam. It is a straight up inferior product to regular soap.
Earlier I mentioned that I do BJJ - effectively hot, sweaty wrestling with lots of skin to skin contact. Skin problems (ringworm, impetigo, staph, etc.) are common in wrestling, so hygiene before/after practice is important. Most of it is just basic crap - you don't step from an area where outdoor shoes are used and onto the mats. You always shower immediately after practice. You always wash anything that was used in practice immediately after practice and never use stuff twice. But at some point in the past I had decided that since skin infections were a problem I should start using anti-bacterial soap every time I showered off - little germs being the issue, right?
During the six month period that I was using anti-bacterial soap I had regular and repeated skin infections. Your skin wants/needs bacteria growing on it all the time. It's a whole eco-system going on there that actually protects you. Anti-bacterial soap seems to strip this ecosystem away and damage your skin somehow, leaving you at higher risk of colonization/infection by the bad stuff. I went back to using regular soap and occasionally moisturizing my skin and the skin infections largely went away.
Interesting, thanks for sharing your experience! I suffer from occasional dry skin, especially on my legs, but besides that my skin is pretty great. I've been bathing with antibacterial soap since birth basically, so I'm not sure what effect stopping would have on me and I'm not keen to find out, but this is good info for those who might be considering picking up that habit. To each his own, but for me it's peace of mind.
There's no evidence that antibacterial soap works better than regular soap for protecting from disease and infection (https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/skip-antibacterial-soap-use-plain-soap-and-water (https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/skip-antibacterial-soap-use-plain-soap-and-water), https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27585555/ (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27585555/)). There is some evidence that the additives in antibacterial soaps make you less healthy though - they include endocrine disruptors and are more likely to cause irritation to the skin (https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-problem-with-antibacterial-soap-4125914 (https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-problem-with-antibacterial-soap-4125914)). Antibacterial soaps also appear to contribute to antibiotic resistance in germs (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK73515/ (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK73515/)).
Honestly, in your position I'd drop the antibacterial soap for a couple months and see how things go. Worst case you can always go back to it, best case you'll find out that your skin is (much) healthier without.
Putting my tinfoil hat back on here... are those studies by the same people who recommended experimental mRNA injections to treat a virus with a 99% survival rate? The same injections that are now causing young, otherwise healthy people to randomly stop being alive? I think I'll stick with what I know, but thanks for sharing!
Remember, a patient cured is a customer lost. It's much more profitable for big pharma and the medical industrial complex to keep us all just sick enough to require constant treatment, but not sick enough to stop us from being able to work in the rat race so we can afford their treatments and medicines.
Killing germs seems like the most obvious way to stop their spread, no? I don't need a study to tell me that. Also, there are endocrine disruptors everywhere, even in food. Soy comes to mind. So I'm not gonna let anyone fear monger me into not being as sanitary as I can.
Are you familiar at all with antibiotic resistance, and how it happens? Yeah, just killing as many "germs" as possible is actually bad and even kind dangerous for everyone. But that take also requires you to value the health and safety of your neighbors, community, etc., not just your own.
If you could get the prescription, would just just take a broad-spectrum antibiotic every day for the rest of your life? After all, that would be quite effective--far more so than handwashing--at killing germs. If germ death is the "obvious way" to prevent spread, this should sound like a solid course of action, right? And of course, wearing a mask--do you do that all the time if you want to be "as sanitary as you can"?
When someone washes their hands have touching what is likely a very clean surface but disparages a vaccine that has scientifically been shown to be high reward and very, very low risk for serious issues, there's some cognitive dissonance there.
At first ,I thought this trash can thing was just a quirk like those all of us have in some form. But it is becoming more and more clear that it goes beyond that. But it's also pretty clear you aren't open to thoughts on this or other opinions on the matters at hand[wash]. So happy handwashing!
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I compost, so there's rarely anything gross in my garbage.
That’s just sidestepping the question. Do you wash your hands after you touch your compost bin?
Why would you? Are you elbows deep in there, aerating the compost by hand?
Depends how hungry and anaerobic I’m feeling
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I don’t necessarily wash *after* touching all sorts of things.
But I do wash my hands before eating.
A friend who is the Lead Abatement Nurse for our county tells me that most lead poisoning is from not washing your hands before putting food in your mouth. She says “you have to assume it’s in all the dirt because it never breaks down into anything else and it never goes away.”
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Killing germs seems like the most obvious way to stop their spread, no? I don't need a study to tell me that. Also, there are endocrine disruptors everywhere, even in food. Soy comes to mind. So I'm not gonna let anyone fear monger me into not being as sanitary as I can.
There is an astonishing amount of evidence going back to the 1800s that high levels of sanitation actually contribute to disease, especially allergies and autoimmune disorders like MS. It is theorized your immune system, just like other bodily systems, functions best when it is occasionally stressed, but not stressed too much. No one understands where exactly the lines between too little, just right, and too much are drawn, but it is clear that too little exposure to pathogens, just like too much, is bad for your health.
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Killing germs seems like the most obvious way to stop their spread, no? I don't need a study to tell me that. Also, there are endocrine disruptors everywhere, even in food. Soy comes to mind. So I'm not gonna let anyone fear monger me into not being as sanitary as I can.
There is an astonishing amount of evidence going back to the 1800s that high levels of sanitation actually contribute to disease, especially allergies and autoimmune disorders like MS. It is theorized your immune system, just like other bodily systems, functions best when it is occasionally stressed, but not stressed too much. No one understands where exactly the lines between too little, just right, and too much are drawn, but it is clear that too little exposure to pathogens, just like too much, is bad for your health.
It reminds me a bit of raising kids. Someone might say, "the best way to keep them safe is to shelter them from pretty much everything". And yes, that is the best way to make sure nothing horrible happens to them tomorrow or next week. But Keeping them looked up and in a bubble and not exposed to any other humans is not actually what is best or healthiest for them long-term. Because being exposed to life's various parts and challenges is inherently good for them and their long-term prospects.
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I didn't come here to debate, just to express my solidarity with the OP and see how many people were left like us. I think I've got my answer. Thank you all for your replies, and best of luck to you!
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I didn't come here to debate, just to express my solidarity with the OP and see how many people were left like us. I think I've got my answer. Thank you all for your replies, and best of luck to you!
OP posted this thread in 2019 and hasn't been active on the forums since 2024
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I didn't come here to debate, just to express my solidarity with the OP and see how many people were left like us. I think I've got my answer. Thank you all for your replies, and best of luck to you!
OP posted this thread in 2019 and hasn't been active on the forums since 2024
If only anti-vaxxers gave us as much warning about what we were getting into as vaccines do. :p
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I didn't come here to debate, just to express my solidarity with the OP and see how many people were left like us. I think I've got my answer. Thank you all for your replies, and best of luck to you!
OP posted this thread in 2019 and hasn't been active on the forums since 2024
If only anti-vaxxers gave us as much warning about what we were getting into as vaccines do. :p
???
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I didn't come here to debate, just to express my solidarity with the OP and see how many people were left like us. I think I've got my answer. Thank you all for your replies, and best of luck to you!
You posted 14 times in an off-topic thread on a financial message board, which you joined for the sole purpose of chiming in on a 6-year-old thread. But you didn't come here for debate and want to support the OP, who hasn't been around for a year. Even the phrase "how many people are left like us" is pretty loaded.
M'kay. Best of luck to you, too.
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What I thought was ironic about the Covid vaccine debate is that the blood clot risks were reason to pull several of them. And yet millions of women are at higher risk of blood clots from the birth control pill, and they take that for years, not a shot every so often. And begin pregnant is even higher risk. And delivering the baby is even higher risk again.
One thing Covid taught me is how often I was touching my face.
And back to garbage cans, I wash after touching all sorts of things. In the kitchen, washing after handling meat (especially chicken) is much more important. And being careful about cross-contamination. I also avoid touching things in public if I can avoid them - I will open doors by pushing the automatic opener button with my arm, for example. I love public restrooms where the soap and water are delivered by motion sensors instead of me having to touch a tap. And the toilet flushes automatically! Wonders of modern sanitation technology.
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What I thought was ironic about the Covid vaccine debate is that the blood clot risks were reason to pull several of them. And yet millions of women are at higher risk of blood clots from the birth control pill, and they take that for years, not a shot every so often. And begin pregnant is even higher risk. And delivering the baby is even higher risk again.
For what it's worth, I'm un(Covid)vaccinated and also not a big fan of long-term hormonal birth control from a health standpoint. I used it from 17-21 before I was able to find a doctor willing to do my tubal, and would have used it less if I could have - and I had MUCH less side effects than a lot of women.
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Killing germs seems like the most obvious way to stop their spread, no? I don't need a study to tell me that. Also, there are endocrine disruptors everywhere, even in food. Soy comes to mind. So I'm not gonna let anyone fear monger me into not being as sanitary as I can.
There is an astonishing amount of evidence going back to the 1800s that high levels of sanitation actually contribute to disease, especially allergies and autoimmune disorders like MS. It is theorized your immune system, just like other bodily systems, functions best when it is occasionally stressed, but not stressed too much. No one understands where exactly the lines between too little, just right, and too much are drawn, but it is clear that too little exposure to pathogens, just like too much, is bad for your health.
There is an astonishing amount of evidence that high levels of sanitation actually make things not sticky when you touch
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Killing germs seems like the most obvious way to stop their spread, no? I don't need a study to tell me that. Also, there are endocrine disruptors everywhere, even in food. Soy comes to mind. So I'm not gonna let anyone fear monger me into not being as sanitary as I can.
There is an astonishing amount of evidence going back to the 1800s that high levels of sanitation actually contribute to disease, especially allergies and autoimmune disorders like MS. It is theorized your immune system, just like other bodily systems, functions best when it is occasionally stressed, but not stressed too much. No one understands where exactly the lines between too little, just right, and too much are drawn, but it is clear that too little exposure to pathogens, just like too much, is bad for your health.
There is an astonishing amount of evidence that high levels of sanitation actually make things not sticky when you touch
IDK, the wipes we used in the clinic often left things feeling pretty sticky.
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There is an astonishing amount of evidence that high levels of sanitation actually make things not sticky when you touch
Hey, I'm the "get it visibly clean" guy. Not the "I don't sweep so I don't contaminate the broom" guy.
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What I thought was ironic about the Covid vaccine debate is that the blood clot risks were reason to pull several of them. And yet millions of women are at higher risk of blood clots from the birth control pill, and they take that for years, not a shot every so often. And begin pregnant is even higher risk. And delivering the baby is even higher risk again.
For what it's worth, I'm un(Covid)vaccinated and also not a big fan of long-term hormonal birth control from a health standpoint. I used it from 17-21 before I was able to find a doctor willing to do my tubal, and would have used it less if I could have - and I had MUCH less side effects than a lot of women.
Tubal ligation is great for those who are planning to never have children. Or are finished with having children.
For those who want children, but not now, other methods have to be used. The woman and her doctor need to figure out what is best for her body and situation. In many cases it is the pill.
The point I was trying to make, and clearly failed to, is that in general women and society are willing to accept more health risks to not get pregnant compared to social acceptance of health risks in other situations.
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I didn't come here to debate, just to express my solidarity with the OP and see how many people were left like us. I think I've got my answer. Thank you all for your replies, and best of luck to you!
OP posted this thread in 2019 and hasn't been active on the forums since 2024
If only anti-vaxxers gave us as much warning about what we were getting into as vaccines do. :p
???
@Villanelle made my point more eloquently than I did. I thought we were just having a conversation similar to the "Will I die if I eat this" ones.