OT: public rest rooms hygiene question

In our CNA classes we were taught to get a paper towel & turn on the faucets, throw that towel in the trash, wash our hands & rinse, let the water run & keeping your hands up & USING YOUR ELBOW, operate the towel dispenser (not easy if the dispenser is high & you're short - but...), dry your hands, then get a clean paper towel & turn off the water with it.

I know - it's totally not in line with all the new "be green" advertising. This method does waste water. Another tree is sacrificed for 2 more paper towels. But how much more electricity is being used to keep the auto dispenser supplied with power 24/7? It's a trade off. I find it works well to keep from touching the faucets. Oh - we're also taught never to flush a toilet w/ a bare hand. Always use a bit of toilet paper & just drop it in the bowl as the water swirls!

ps - if you're short & can't reach the dispenser w/ your elbow - get all your necessary pieces of paper toweling before you turn on the water & tuck them under your arm or on the top of your purse. It's likely cleaner there than the counter top!

Hugs n' Stitches - RoseAnn

How about carrying a little bottle of hand sanitizer or a packet of travel wipes in your purse? I don't have to bother with the cooties in public restrooms anymore or have weird people try to make conversation while standing at the sinks.

Problem solved... Becky

Sorry, but my advice is don`t be so neurotic! ;-)

Pat

I am one of those who gets the paper towels before washing my hands - mostly because some peabrain always seems to put the machines high enough on the walls so that the water runs down to my elbows. I DO use the "other" hand to operate the paper towel machine, though. There are cooties everywhere in life. I do what I can to keep from spreading my share, but there really is only so much a person can do. I LOVE the fact that some outhouses/port-a-potties now have hand sanitizer dispensers. Liz from Humbug

Reading this thread has been *such* an eye-opener for me! AFAICT, here in Oz, we don't go to quite such extreme lengths to ensure antisepsis. The usual routine over here would be a reasonably good wash with soap and water, dry on whichever form of towel might be available (if at all) and off to finish the shopping. I've never heard of anyone worrying about this particular problem before!

See, E.coli and other bacteria are everywhere, not just in restrooms. They're on your cat and your dog and your baby and the fruit you just bought from the shop. The way I look at it, continual exposure to 'germs' allows one to develop the necessary immunity to the pathogens that surround one. E.coli and the other 'dirty' bacteria aren't going to kill you if you maintain normal levels of cleanliness and good habits (such as keeping your hands away from your face).

The mental picture of people waltzing around restrooms armed with fistsful of paper towelling to shield themselves against disease is hilarious! When you wash your hands, you don't expect to wash every last vestige of bacterium from yourself: you just remove the concentration that you might expect to exist after having used the lavatory. Then, you go forth to build up the concentration again and the first port of call will be the paper towel dispenser. My personal favourite is the door handle of the ladies' dunny. Heaven knows what's probably lurking on that!

Stop and think for a minute: how do you reckon we managed to survive this long without all succumbing to botulism or some other foul pathogen? Our bodies are *designed* to cope with a certain amount of such contamination from day to day. D'you think Primitive Woman went hawking around the primaeval swamp, looking for a roll of paper towel to protect herself from the leaf-dispenser in her ancient dunny? I don't think so... The more we try to eliminate 'germs' from our homes and handles and paper towelling dispensers, the less effectively our bodies will develop antibodies to fight them.

In the final analysis (Like that? 'Anal-ysis'?), I'd forget all this as a topic of study and just keep on keepin' on. And if you *do* succumb to some foul bout of 'poisoning' and land in bed for a day or two, then be glad that your body is building a more powerful immune system to keep you healthy!

I wouldn't worry too much Audrey. It seems that there are more germs on phones and keyboards than toilet seats - see

For some handy (practical?) hints see

Two thoughts:

1. You should probably worry more about where you put your purse when you're in the restroom. They've done tests on them and they are the REAL cesspools of bacteria, etc.

1. Our obsession with cleanliness and germ eradication may be backfiring on us - the incidence of asthma and other diseases among the middle class has been linked to the fact that our houses are so airtight and we are so clean that children's immune systems don't have a chance to build up and start thinking every little thing that comes along is an "invader" that must be gotten rid of.

So the lessons are: 1. Keep your purse off the floor and 2. A few dustbunnies never killed anyone and may have even let them live longer LOL!

Linda

Steady, Trish - you`re going to send half the world into a nervous breakdown! LOL!

Pat

That reminds me of my mother! She said " We will all eat a peck of dirt in our lifetime, so don't be so fussy!".

That was back during WW2, and I think people tended to be a lot healthier then; I didn't hear of kids with allergies , other than hayfever; very few asthmatics.... Whether such kids existed, I don't know, but I have no recall of anyone with major problems when I was growing up; in fact I don't remember very many when I spent my seven years working in hospitals, getting my med tech training. Of course there were other nasty things, such as TB, polio etc, which are no longer such major problems.

Gillian

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions, and a couple of laughs, too. I don't think I'm being "neurotic" when someone who has just wiped their you-know-what (I know, she used toilet paper) uses the same hand to push the paper towel machine handle that I'm about to touch. I touch the faucets, and the stall latches, and the flush lever, and the door handle, all with my bare hands, I don't use the antiseptic wipes now provided at grocery stores to wipe off the handle of the shopping cart. But, once again, she just used her hand to wipe herself in the bathroom. Reminds me of the time I was checking out at the grocery store, and the cashier sneezed into her hands. You could

*see* what came out of her nose! I asked her to wash her hands before continuing on with me. I was not going to take money from her, or touch her hands with all of that on them! And I didn't say "eeeeuuuuwwww" that time either!

Audrey

And if she washed her hands first, she'd be touching the faucet with that hand, not to mention the door handle/latch of the stall, etc. It's not just the paper towel holder and you could drive yourself nuts worrying about it. Besides, if she cares enough to get her towels first, she probably used the other hand to wipe herself.

Elizabeth

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions, and a couple of laughs, too. I don't think I'm being "neurotic" when someone who has just wiped their you-know-what (I know, she used toilet paper) uses the same hand to push the paper towel machine handle that I'm about to touch. I touch the faucets, and the stall latches, and the flush lever, and the door handle, all with my bare hands, I don't use the antiseptic wipes now provided at grocery stores to wipe off the handle of the shopping cart. But, once again, she just used her hand to wipe herself in the bathroom. Reminds me of the time I was checking out at the grocery store, and the cashier sneezed into her hands. You could

*see* what came out of her nose! I asked her to wash her hands before continuing on with me. I was not going to take money from her, or touch her hands with all of that on them! And I didn't say "eeeeuuuuwwww" that time either!

Audrey

IMHO it's more important to wipe the handle of the shopping cart then make a fuss about the bathroom. In the bathroom you have the option to wash your hands before you touch anything, and then wash them again afterward. In the grocery you have no idea who, or more importantly, what touched the cart handle.

Then you could also do what I do when I'm confronted with those annoying heat hand dryers that never seem to work for me because they're too high. I usually wind up shaking off any excess water and unless I'm dressed up in fancy clothing, which is rare, I just wipe my hands on my pants leg. I mostly wear denim and it doesn't make a mess.

Maybe not the neatest way, but it works for me.

Lucille

LOL - I do that too, but I doubt that that`s any more hygienic, if as much. What with your/my dog, sitting on seats that have been sat on by heaven knows who or what - you could easily drive yourself nuts or into O.C.D!!!

Pat

I hope my pants are more hygienic then a handle in a public place that's touched by a lot of people. They're laundered before I put them on and I'm generally not touched by anyone other then Puff and he's nearly always in my house and sharing my germs. I can't always swear for him when he's out doing his thing and I'm looking the other way, but he has to be on a leash at all times so it's easy to keep one eye on him. :^)))

VBEG

There are benefits to being tall (which I'd like you to remind me of next time I'm cussing about my inability to find slacks that don't look like high-waters.

You'll be surprised to hear that even though I'm very short--under 5'--I still have trouble with slacks and long sleeves. I have very long arms and legs and petites stop at my ankles and sleeves above my wrists.

That was one of the reasons my mother became an excellent seamstress; just so she could get me clothes that actually fit my skinny body and long arms and legs.

L

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Two words: Eddie Bauer. Everything they carry is available in tall through their catalog. Casual wear, jeans and pants dressy enough with a blazer to go to the (law) office I work in. I swear by them!

Linda

How I wish, but that doesn't work for me. The crotch is way too long and the jackets come down to my knees. I need the length to be only in the sleeves and inseam.

Everyone laughs because they think being petite and thin solves all the problems but it doesn't. This year I'm lucky and can wear capri length and short sleeves here in FL. When fashion goes back to long pants, I will have to search for good fitting ones. Fortunately, Geoffrey Beene makes a well fitting length in a size 2 and I buy most of my pants there. Another plus for most of their things is that I don't have to hem them and they fit nicely.

Lucille

Liz Claiborne, often available at TJMaxx, Marshalls, Value City, or whatever other "name brands for less" store you have. I love her "Elisabeth" line because it's one of the few that doesn't assume that heavy people have short arms and legs. In fact, I've been known to find her pants too long which is always such a hoot.

Elizabeth