here's a hygiene puzzle

Mrs_Arcanum

Antibacterial gel = room for the bacteria to breed.

Won't have this stuff in the house & my two are never ill (colds etc). Any viruses round here are soon seen off with a healthy immune system.

gregg1

I am not obsessive about cleanliness - just normal but what does get my back up is when shop assistants lick their fingers when they are trying to open bags to put your stuff in - now thats revolting.

mjm3346

caz2703 wrote: »

What gets me is the new electronic soap dispensers that are being advertised on TV. They're saying that it's more hygenic as you don't need to touch the dispenser to get the soap out.

Now correct me if I'm wrong but even if you have to pump a dispenser to get the soap out, don't you wash your hands and get them clean anyway? Talk about solving a problem that doesn't exist!

You are washing your hands not the top of the dispenser so if your hands are covered in germs you are leaving a breeding spot for them in the house and if your hands are covered in oil/dirt etc that will transfer to the top of the dispenser leaving it dirty - both problems are solved by using an automatic dispenser (or giving the regular one an occasional clean).

artbaron

In answer to the OP, possibly because only a minority of bacteria are harmfully and many are 'good', or even essential. I'm not sure it would be a good idea to eradicate every last micron of bacteria from the body. Certainly, in terms of gut bacteria, if these were totally removed you'd die very quickly, perhaps it's the same for bacteria overall.

caz2703

mjm3346 wrote: »

both problems are solved by using an automatic dispenser (or giving the regular one an occasional clean).

I think most sensible people would do as I do and clean the top of the pump if it's dirty. Why spend money on an automatic dispenser and no doubt expensive one use refills when some common sense applies?

Just had a look on t'internet for prices and here goes (Tesco mysupermarket prices):

£6.50 - Dettol No Touch Hand Wash System - Includes dispenser, hand wash refill and 4 x AA batteries.
£2.96 - 250ml refill

OR

75p - 250ml Carex Bacteria Protect Anti-bac handwash

Hmmmm which one would you buy?

aurongrande_2

artbaron wrote: »

In answer to the OP, possibly because only a minority of bacteria are harmfully and many are 'good', or even essential. I'm not sure it would be a good idea to eradicate every last micron of bacteria from the body. Certainly, in terms of gut bacteria, if these were totally removed you'd die very quickly, perhaps it's the same for bacteria overall.

dang, I completely forgot about that. My head's not been screwed on right lately thanks to my medical condition.

McKneff

Once when i was at a hospital, I was in a part reception office, you could see someone working on someones mouth, they came out of the room, took a telephone call, looked at some files, looked up a number in the telephone book, made another telephone call and then went back to her patient, all with the same gloves on, I really was horrified.

mulled_wine

shjo558 wrote: »

We have a water dispenser at work which has a little spout and folk are forever putting their empty water bottles over the spout to refill it. Then I will come along, fill a glass with water and their residual saliva that had been transferred from bottle top to spout, ends up in my glass ifsywm.

I always open toilet doors with a paper towel to protect my hands and then apply anti bacteria gel.

I kept making this point at work. Was told how silly and paranoid I was. Then we had some peeps from HSE in for something to do with the aircon and they said the selfsame thing.

Next thing we have a email out saying not to do this. Aargh!

ailuro2

We had anti bacterial stuff when DD was a little baby. Then once she was past the stage of sterilising her stuff we stopped it. She has been off school ill only a couple of times, she is rarely ill, has only ever thrown up twice that I can remember ( she's 12 now)

I think there's a lot to be said for breastfeeding babies to give them a bit of immunity then not going overboard with cleaning all the time - yes I admit if I'm handling raw meat I'm very pernickity, but most of the time we don't go overboard. I definitely don't go around spraying Dettox on all the doorhandles on a regular basis - though I do give them a clean if one of us is under the weather.;)

Jennikay

I view hand washing after using the toilet as more of a reminder to wash my hands a few times a day than actually because I've been. So I'm not too bothered about touching a door handle afterwards

Wouldn't an antibacterial shower gel sting your sensitive places? :eek: Not to mention your skin would probably get quite dry!