Hand washing - before meals?

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 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

I think you're right nanaej in that some advertisements seem to imply that the average house should not just be cleaned, but disinfected! The young mum disinfecting the high chair particularly cracks me up when I remember how the kids used often to share their goodies with the dogs, on a lick for lick basis! Children do need a certain amount of exposure to develop their immune systems but as for myself, I'm a little more cautious now about personal hygiene in that knowledge that your immune system doesn't work as well as you get older.

I do appreciate the need for basic hygiene but I do worry that if we over do it bacteria becomes more resistant and stronger!

what happened to 'eat a peck of dirt before you die' or have i misinterpreted that all my life!

When on holiday in India earlier in the year, I was impressed by the provision of proper hand washing facilities in even the humblest eatery, and the way that diners would use them enthusiastically before eating - men rolling up their shirt sleeves and washing thoroughly with great gusto. This was a habit that I emulated whilst there and I think contributed to my maintenance of good health whilst on holiday. At home, I have always washed my hands before eating in my own house, but I now make a point of washing properly before eating in a restaurant or cafe. I also use a foam hand cleanser which is both anti bacterial and anti viral.

Euuuuww - I shall be watching our postman carefully from now on! I remember my nan telling me I should always wash my hands before touching food, 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 thought if I ate chips from the market in my fingers I would D I E!

Agree with Marelli here.
Wash hands all the time.
Even after I have opened the mail.
I don't know whether the postman has just been poking his nose before he stuffed my post in my letter box?
YUK.

I know him and would not put it past him.

And people that own pets should wash their hands ALL the time.

When we were little it was always wash your hands before you eat. Now it's wash your hands after going to the loo. I prefer the former since it covers all eventualities between the loo and eating - which may be some time.

Oh dear Marelli that's me!! perhaps I will just start wearing gloves! Do you think
a) we are more susceptible to germs/bacteria

b) germs/bacteria are more aggressive & less resistant

c) we are more or less health aware than our parents' generation

I do not remember copious hand washing as a child..were people generally healthier or not? I genuinely do not know so if anyone ( any public health professionals out there??) does have some answers i'd love to know.

I always wash my hands before eating, preparing food and after having come back into the house from using public transport etc! When you think of the coughs and sneezes that splatter over handrails on buses or the hands that touch door handles in shops....! I carry hand sanitiser in my bag and use it before eating in cafes. I'm surprised at the number of people I see just sitting down to their food without cleaning their hands at all.

Also meant to say that a key part of what all nurseries, childminders and reception classes must teach is good hygiene habits (&the reasons for them) of hand washing after using the toilet and also before food. Doesn't come with a guarantee though!

My little 4 year old grandson puts his grandad to shame, he REFUSES to leave the bathroom after going to the toilet, unless he`s washed his hands, doesn`t have to be told.

I'm not obsessive either, but I do carry hand wipes now, and sometimes remember to use them.

Hmm! I shower in the morning before dressing, hand wash after visits to the loo, before food prep (unless it is just sticking a pre-prepared in the microwave)and after handling raw meat/fish. Know how to soap wash & dry hands carefully in 30 secs..due to being teacher in classes when the nurse comes in to demonstrate to the 5 yr olds.
But I do not automatically wash hands if having a meal out, even if I have travelled by public transport. Took a small bottle of hand gel on holiday but never used it..perhaps I should as I have come back with rotten cough!

Wow! You are an amazingly UNtypical UK sample. To quote from the BBC article:

"The British are particularly bad (at washing our hands) .... Many of us also lie and claim we have washed our hands when we haven't, especially after going to the toilet.

In a recent UK-wide study, 99% of people interviewed at motorway service stations toilets claimed they had washed their hands after going to the toilet. Electronic recording devices revealed only 32% of men and 64% of women actually did."

I sloosh my hands under tap (apparently almost entirely no use!) after peeing. After a poo, I always wash my hands with soap and water and a careful hand-dry. I read an NHS poster a while back about how to wash your hands so now I do interlace my fingers, rub my hands back to back, wash round the base of my thumbs etc etc. But I do do a shortened version, 30 seconds max. I wash my hands before preparing food. So maybe two slooshes and two/three proper washes a day.

Plus after gardening or DIY. An extra once, maybe twice a week.

Otherwise - never!

What do all you über-Lady-Macbeth self-confessed frequent hand washers make of the rest of the UK population, perhaps correctly called the Great Unwashed?? I'm surprised you ever leave the house! Or get out of the car. Public transport I guess is eeeeeuch! Oh dear.

My hands look about 10 years older than the rest of me - thanks to obsessive hand washing! If I'm preparing food for anyone other than myself and DH, I have to remove nail varnish, if I'm wearing it and then scrub up. I couldn't possibly touch meat, fish or poultry without first washing my hands. When I get home, I wash my hands. Arriving in a restaurant, I go straight to the washroom and then use tissue in my hand to open the door. I also have hand gel in my bag at all times. I've noticed that not one of my 7 grandchildren is told to wash their hands before meals..except by me of course. Fussy Granny!

I'm an obsessive hand washer. In fact I'm so sad I also carry hand gel in my handbag or pocket in case I can't find anywhere to wash my hands.

Our children have to wash their hands when they're here but they don't have to when they're at their mother's so it's never become a habit with them.

I don't always wash my hands before I sit down to a meal (unless I have been to the loo) but I always wash my hands before preparing food and after preparing meat, especially chicken (OMG! I typed children and had to delete it!!) which I am paranoid about and go into disinfecting overdrive. My grandson, 6, has been brainwashed to wash his hands before every meal - I don't know how long that will last but make hay while the sun shines!

Hand washing does decrease the number of colds you get.
If you have been dealing with a tummy upset or handling raw meat - yes you need a blooming good hand wash.
I was reading something else today about an expert in household germs who said microbiologists are either really paranoid (as in the BBC article) or not at all - on the basis that there are billions of bacteria around us all the time, only a tiny minority are harmful and we have been living alongside them for an awful long time.

Compared with me, Lady Macbeth is a total wimp. I was horrified to learn that people in the UK wash their hands on average four times day. How often do they pee (or more), prepare food, eat, change nappies, etc.? Of course all children should be taught to wash their hands before sitting up at the table. It isn't rocket surgery!

Wouldn't allow me to post asterisks!