Hand washing - before meals?

Hand washing is done by GC after using loo and before meals they are sent to cloakroom to wash, hands are inspected.
I wash before food preparation and after opening post, after reading a magazine or paper and definitely when I have returned from shopping. I too am amazed at the number of women who leave the ladies without washing. My sister was in the ladies at the local hospital when a woman attempted to leave without washing, my sister bellowed HANDS quite right she could have spread infection.

Nanae, you're right. Peck of dirt!

And nfkDumpling "especially if I'd just handled money as those pennies may have come from a dirty old man who hadn't washed his hands after he'd been to the loo" I had much worse than that impressed on me as a child. That dirty old man might have actually swallowed the penny coin, or whatever, and then what did I have in my hand! Very, very yeuuuchk.

I developed a frequent handwashing habit in my first job in a bank. Half a pound of mince arrived along with the day's takings from the butcher, a ton of coal dust coated the coalman's cash and as for the fishmonger [sick]. Such cash, both notes and coin, was then recycled back out to the next customers. I also developed a preference for food from tins or sealed packets. Nowadays, with my unreliable bladder, I always run to the loo before eating, at home or out, and consequently my hands are well washed umpteen times a day.

I think I have that rarest of all creatures - a son, in his twenties, who still ALWAYS washes his hands after going to the loo, before preparing food etc. He actually has had quite a bit of ribbing about it through the years, but I'm pleased to say he's risen above the scoffers. (Interestingly he very, very gets colds etc.)

I can't remember when I last had any illness other than a migraine. I do wash my hands at the requisite time, but I know one woman who won't take a book out of the library in case it has germs on it. I am very much in the 'you have to eat a peck of dirt' camp and I think many people have been brain-washed by detergent manufacturers, etc. to believe that we must rid our homes and selves of every bacterium. Pig farmers now have to introduce good bacteria to piglets, because they are born in such sterile conditions - I know, because I met the manufacturer.

Yes I think that is nothing wrong with a bit of dirt but washing hands does make sense really more to prevent infection I think rather than anything else. Ordinary dirt doesn't do any harm

I worked with a group of people who caught every cold and anything else that was around and I was the only one didn't get sick. I have always been fussy about washing my hands. I also washed my own cup with boiling water and didn't dry it with the tea towel. Quite a few of them were very lax with washing their hands. One of the men said I must have been a carrier.

I always rinse cups etc under hot water, but that because I don't like the taste of washing up liquid and I heard somewhere it was carcinogenic.

I've not got the cleanest of houses - and I don't disinfect everywhere, believing too, that 'we need to eat a peck of muck before we die', but I do wash my hands frequently during the day. If I can't remember where I've last had them, I wash them!

I can remember when I was a child (yes I have a good memory!) my mother made hand washing a game. Everytime I used the loo she would say in a very excited voice that wasn't it great that I could now wash my hands. It was the same before and after eating. However, I was also allowed to play outside making mud pies and getting generally dirty. I think she was of the school that a little bit of dirt doesn't hurt. These days I wash hands almost on automatic pilot (although I no longer make mud pies)

Reading all of the above ,we must be in need of a very good handcream.
Any recommendations please?

I have used them all, from cheap to expensive, but not been satisfied.
Or is the trick to use the cream at least for times a day?

This stuff johanna is brilliant. I got a free sample.

Handcream by Occitaine.

Er.. it costs £18 a tube! I think the words Shea Butter are meaningful, but I always thought Shea was a Baseball Stadium in New York where the Beatles played yonks ago!

www.feelunique.com/p/LOccitane-Shea-Butter-Hand-Cream-150ml

You get what you pay for?

Thanks isthis, will try.
And then drape my hands around one of jeni's Brandy Alexanders.
Which sounded soo delicious!!!!!

Be very careful the glass doesn't slip out of your handcreamed hands as you lift it. Now that would be tragic

Liz Earle's Hand Repair is luxurious and my less pricey favourite is Body Shop's Almond Hand Cream which reminds me of marzipan.

anno my two favourites too!

You'll all stop me biting my nails (or more accurately the skin round my nails and cuticles) next. Filthy, foul habit and I've done it since I was 15. Liberal hand cream does help, but never quite enough!

And that paint-on nasty flavour stuff is totally no use. Please don't suggest it. I just get used to it after a few nibbles!

When my DIL comes home from work, she travels to and fro to the centre of London, she always washes her hands before cuddling her babies. My friend and I carry the little plastic vials of handwash all the time. We always apply before eating out. A LOT of people don't wash their hands after going to the loo. I have noticed this a great deal . Men in particular. If they are still 'adjusting their dress' when leaving the loo, they haven't washed their hands We know who you are!!

Having worked in hospitals where we were all trained in food hygiene (despite the fact that I was a secretary!), I always wash my hands before preparing food, and especially after using the toilet. They use a machine that shows all the bacteria left behind after washing your hands; my hands were perfect except for the area behind my rings. Now remove all rings too when preparing food - a bit OCD but once you know, you know!
Tried getting GC to wash thoroughly, singing one complete verse of "Happy Birthday to you" before rinsing. My DIL complained that it was all taking too much time, so no luck there.
Hate the vogue for displaying food, including bread, on open stands. M & S has delicious bread, but all exposed to everyone leaning over it, and this applies to some salad bars in supermarkets, too. Hate to sound over the top, but won't buy food unless it is protected from customers handling it, sneezing, etc. I realise that we can't guarantee how food handled before it is packed, but hope preparation incorporates better standards of cleanliness.
The advertisements for preparations which destroy 99% of all known germs make me smile - what about that 1% busy multiplying itself?!

I have L'occitaine hand cream but found that Aldi is good for use on a daily basis and is a fraction of the price. If hands have reached the stage where they are very dry Aveeno works well and quickly.

I like aveeno harri. I use it on my legs too.

I do think you are right about money being dirty NfkDumpling, was very careful
each time we went Egypt using hand gel each time we had to handle any money
and never having a gippy tummy we must have been doing some thing right.
I always have to wash my hands when i have been in town shopping for the same reason

My daughter and I swear by l'Occitane hand cream. Although it's expensive it does last for months.
Because of my husbands impaired immune system after chem I am washing a lot more than I used to and we're certainly not catching things. It took a few weeks of arguing ("WHY do I have to?") to get my grandson to wash his hands before eating, but he does it without a murmur now (and had 100% attendance in his first year at school)

Yes wash them all the time and carry handgel if out on public transport. My DD washes her baby son's hands before he eats and since she and her partner use trains and trams all the time they wash their hands a lot to try to avoid virus contamination.
MY partner has mild OCD and washes his hands every five minutes (which is not a good way to go!)
Vegasmags I lived in India when I was young and the hand washing is for a very good reason! many Indians eat with their hands (the right I think) and use their left instead of toilet paper!! they actually think using paper is rather disgusting!

I am a bit of an obsessive handwasher but I also have a skin condition which causes very dry patches on my hands ( my grandson said last week oh grandma you have a lot of hurt on your hands . bless him!). I can't use scented creams and have tried many others but the only one that works for me is Cetreben emollient cream which you can buy from the chemist. It is great for any areas of dry skin.