Are you guys getting lax about washing their hands?

CDC study indicates men aren't washing their hands as often.

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1733655220070917

Yeah right. Sorry, I don't buy it. I've had the sad misfortune of having to use the facilities in Penn station, and I can tell your there's no way I am touching anything someone else just put their mitts on after doing the deed. Consider this:

A man comes in and uses the latrine, he then grabs the water knob and turns the water on, contaminating the knob, he then pumps the soap dispenser with his other hand, contaminating the soap dispenser. Then he scrubs his hands under the water. Then he turns the water off, re-contaminating his hands. Then he grabs the paper dispenser lever to feed paper towel out, contaminating the paper dispenser lever. The next person to use the latrine and the same sink will cross contaminate himself and the things he handles to wash up. That ain't gonna be me folks.

If the faucet and the soap dispenser and the towel dispenser are those new sensor driven units, where you wave your hand and the water turns on, the soap squirts out, and the towel feeds automatically, then I wash up. Otherwise forget it. Since they don't bother to even address the issue of cross contamination sources due to manual manipulation, then they only tell half the story.

I treat public bathrooms no different than the subway. If you touch any surface with bare skin, you should consider it contaminated and in need of a good cleansing in a controlled environment.

But who will walk out of the latrine with the cleanest hands?

Me, I was taught to not pee on my hands

Me too...

You could get the paper towel dispenser going before you washed up. That way yes you do contaminate by prepping and priming the paper towel dispenser, and you contaminate when you turn on the water and get soap, but once you are done rinsing, grab your preprepared paper towels, dry off, and use the towels to turn off the water and open the door.

Just don't let someone steal your paper towel before you are done.

Or carry some alcohol gel!

I always carry one of these guys in my bag. They come in very handy & double as a firestarter in a pinch.

Oh, I have tried to prep the towel dispenser, and yes, I've had people come up and rip off what I had waiting for me! Oh that infuriates.

And the hand sanitizer is a must in NYC. I can't go to the bagel shop after being on the subway without sanitizing, let alone a public restroom.

Of course, you wonder then, what was the baker doing before he came to serve me? Ugh!!!

I just push all the buttons with my tongue. Ewwwwww.

Seriously though, I carry one of those little bottles of Purell similar to the one mentioned above, and usually have a couple of wetnaps form the local wing joint to be safe. The wetnaps also help when you absolutely have to touch the bathroom door handle. LOL

For everything you never wanted to know about hand washing, and much, much more, read this.

On a side note, alcohol-based cleansers kill "good" microorganisms along with "bad". Washing with soap is considered better all around.

Frank2135

Urine is generally a very clean source of fluid and is generally regarded as sterile when leaving the body. Bacterial infection does not come from your hands being covered in Urine, it only encourages the bacteria, which was on the hands originally.

The League of Gentleman : Dentons Aqua Vita

Warning the following link is not for those of a hygenic disposition. (British Toilet Humour )

"...what was the baker doing before he came to serve me?..."

Think the "Poppy" episode of Seinfeld...

Yeah, I'm glad the CDC wasted scads of money to tell the public what pretty much every man could say.

I liked that CDC wasting money comment! How true!

When I was in school I used to eat at a sushi place at least weekly. It was an all-u-can-eat place, and I promptly stopped when I was in the washroom with the SUSHI chef, who used the urinal and then, without washing his hands, went straight to rolling sushi.

I still like alcohol simply because it doesn't leave a residue on the hands, the way the quaternary ammonium compound hand sanitizers (foaming non-alcohol ones) do. While the residue is protective, I'd prefer to not have the extra exposure. I am not too worried about ridding the normal flora as it is generally difficult to do so with the alcohol, but I am always worried about damaging the skin by drying, and making it more prone to cuts/irritations. So I add a ml of glycerin to 60 mls or so of 70% alcohol and use that as my rub.

How does one use the hand sanitizers without contaminating the bottle?

5 second rule...

If you can pop the top, squirt, and cover your hands in 5 seconds, the bottle will be OK. LOL

I love British Humour!

I think the CDC story is incomplete, and their discounting of disposable gloves in lieu of handwashing is not practical. Here's why:

Washing with ordinary soap removes a great deal of the microbials and filth clinging to the skins surface, but soap is not itself a disinfectant, only a surfactant, unless it is adulterated with some anti-microbial component. The problem with using anti-microbial soap is that it isn't strong enough to be a contact disinfectant, meaning you have to keep it on the skin for an extended period for it to do it's job. Anything strong enough to kill on contact is going to harm the skin. How many people spend more than thirty seconds to a minute at the sink washing their hands? Still, washing would be better than nothing, except for re-contamination as soon as they touch something. If they aren't wearing gloves, then they will inevitably recontaminate themselves.

In biology class, we did an experiement, culturing samples taken from various parts of the exposed body surface (what you would touch with your hands during the day). We found out that the face/neck area is a breeding ground of pathogens, especially around the mouth. Guess where it is people touch with their hands on their body the most during a day? If the food service guy isn't using gloves, then it is almost as bad as not washing his hands after using the bathroom. That isn't the worst, though. The rags they use to clean your table with, a lot of them aren't kept in sterilizing solution and sit around getting really nasty.

I am an advocate of the alchohol gels, even more for the bleach-based wipes. I am not concerned with contaminating the container, because once I dispense the gel or wipe, I put the container away, then apply the cleaning agent, so no chance for re-contamination from that source.

I suppose it is all for naught, though. A little observation during my daily commutes in NYC and it was obvious that I am inevitably exposed to anything and everything that could harm me, and there's really nothing practical I can do about most of it. It is a fact of our existence, unless you isolate yourself from the public, you are going to be exposed. It is simply a risk that comes with life.

One thing I go to great lengths to avoid is defecating in a public restroom. I can't think of a greater risk of contamination for a guy. Unless I have no other choice, I do my business at home. If I have to go in public, then I minimize my contact as much as is practical. This from a guy who will sit on a log in the woods and do his business and finish up with leaves or even snow (a couple times) if I have to.

You know, on my way out to the east side of the country during the move, I noticed that as I got further and further away from California, less and less public restrooms had toilet seat covers (a.k.a. ***-gaskets) available. In one state though (Indiana, I believe), I found a travel pack of them along with the travel facial tissue packs. Could this be a potential EDC for some of you? Sure. Ask you doctor if ***-gaskets are right for you.

JCW,

I keep packs of those in travel vest and in our daughters' "go-bag" (formerly known as a diaper bag). When you are on a job in Mexico and your lunch suddenly decides to leave, the last thing you want is direct contact with the portapotty. Same goes when I'm out with my 4-yr old daughter. I don't want her in contact with the bathroom floor let alone the toilet seat...

-Blast

Even if you wash your hands in the toilet, you have to take it as a given that any door handle you touch in the toilet has just recontaminated you. Open cuts etc are a recipe for disaster. So I carry a bottle of alcohol based handwash in my bag and 2-3 medical grade steri-wipes in my on body kit. I take one out and have it ready BEFORE I enter the toilets.

If I'm not happy with the toilets (poorly maintained or I think that druggies are using them) and I have to use them then I use the medical grade disposable gloves I carry instead.

If I have to defecate then the toilet seat gets a steri-wipe or I use my blow-torch lighter on low to sterilise the surface.

blow-torch lighter?!
I guess a side benefit is you get a preheated seat.

Just make sure to wipe it down before you torch it. The smell of simmering poo is not something you want wafting about in a small, sealed room.

I started those handy wipe deals because so many people are slobs and urinate right in the seat, so I wipe it off if I have to sit down.

Would TSA allow travellers to bring along sanitizers?

You can carry liquid sanitizers on your carry-on luggage as long as it is in a 3 oz. or smaller container and fits in your “liquids and gels” baggie. [citation] (scroll down to “liquid sanitizers”)

alot of guys don't stop to wash because they want to get in and out as fast as possible..

Sometimes you have to wash your hands before. And if you are going to stick your hands back in the reason your hands needed to be washed before, there is no reason to wash after.

No. I don't buy that idea. The guys are just plain lazy by habit.

You know, I can't help but say that we're coming close to obsession here. Absolutely, one should wash one's hands after elimination of bodily waste and before eating. Absolutely one should wipe off a public toilet seat with whatever is available before using the commode (and after, if you please!). But nothing is absolutely clean and microbe-free. Shake hands with someone and you've just undone all your careful sanitation. It's a matter of degree, and time spent worrying about it is time wasted IMHO.

Interesting link, thanks. A while ago I decided I liked liquid soap, and that by the time you've got all lathered up with it, and then rinsed it all off again, you've had a pretty good wash. I've also moved to using permanent glass soap dispensers for it, rather than the plastic ones the product comes in, because they are nicer, and hadn't been aware of the issue of germs living on in the soap bottle. It seems to me that the answer here is to wash the bottle carefully before refilling, rather than to go back to plastic.

I was aware of the fingernail issue. Given its importance, I'm surprised how hard it is to find fingernail brushes at all.

As for washing after going to the loo, I think people are often too worried about urine. The article hardly mentions it. Where-as it does make a big deal about poo. That reflects my prior understanding and priorities.

It's nice to find an all-automatic "hands-free" restroom: self-flushing urinal, automatic soap and water dispensing, motion-activated paper towel dispenser — and a door that swings out as one exits. Now here's a self-flushing urinal — itself a tourist attraction – at the Madonna Inn, San Luis Obispo, CA.



This is worth noting: "according to researchers...who tested all kinds of public surfaces...shopping carts were loaded with more saliva, bacteria and even fecal matter than escalators, public telephones, and even public bathrooms." My Safeway provides disinfectant wipes next to the shopping carts.

Or this: "...the average desk has 100 times more bacteria than a kitchen table and 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet...bacteria on an ATM machine would represent a public health threat"