I’m so dirty I should be dead!

Oh gawd....I am hopeless at cleaning. The only thing I am fastidious about is the cassette from my toilet (I live on a boat). I use half a bottle of Disinfectant and rinse it until water is clear when I empty it....

Monica I wish Id written that! I agree complely!

Haven't seen the test but am pretty sure I'd fail it having read some of the comments above. I liked the OP's heading and like her I have absolutely no idea how I am still alive or how our kids made it to adulthood. As my mom used to say, "You have to eat a bit of dirt before you die!" I always assumed she meant that kept your immune system strong. In my house important areas of hygiene are maintained but otherwise life is too short to obsess about such things.

Over cleaning just another addiction.

Due to my being a paragon of virtue, I strenuously avoid it.

Clean enough is good enough, and your own germs are really not the threat that germs from other places are.

Never did any of this in the 60s/70s growing up -- didn't kill me then and won't do now either -- life's far too short -- agree with Monica

Totally in agreement with Monica, and Baggs.

However, as I write I am laid up with nasty gut bug. Couldn't have written it yesterday. I wonder where that came from?

Jallima1108, there does seem to be evidence that some Australians (especially fair skinned people) are now deficient in Vitamin D due to people becoming so much more careful of sun exposure but it does not appear to be related to the increase in allergies. We are all now so careful of children with sunscreen, sun protective clothing at the beach and wide brimmed hats whenever the kids go out in the sun in summer. We all know it is necessary but it has become such a palaver to get a bunch of (often reluctant) kids all wearing their rashies (UV protective swimming gear), all creamed up and hats on just to to play in the sand and splash in the water.

Being of the generation that used to sunbake (such an accurate description!) marinating in baby oil we have certainly changed our habits. These days with changes in the ozone layer the Ozzie sun really, really burns; it is now so much fiercer than any of us oldies remember. I really notice the difference in the European sun, it just seems so gentle in comparison.
Seem to have digressed a bit from cleanliness to allergies to sun screening. ?

How we have ever survived this long I have no idea! I agree with Monica Until such times as we all take ill due to my unsanitary knife block I will carry on as I've always done That is to ignore the latest hygiene scare. I'm now 70 and touch wood have never had anyone in my family come down with food poisoning. As an ex nurse I am a bit OCD when it comes to cleaning anyway but this is a step too far.

I agree with you Monica, better things to do at this stage in our lives!!!!!

I have just brown off from reading this to clean my cutlery drawer. I don’t know how it gets all those crumbs.
I have never worried about my knife block. I wipe it down occasionally.
As many of you have said, nobody has ever got food poisoning in this house.
I ignore Best Before dates and have many items in my cupboards which are still fine.

Good grief - the mind boggles. Consider myself extremely lucky to have survived 71 years in spite of all this fungal grot.

I saw this quiz and wondered too how I’ve managed to stay alive for 78 years when I am such a slut ........

I am a great believer that a bit of dirt does us no harm... It helps build our immune systems. The problem with children and allergies nowadays is because patents over do it with antibacterial stuff. Children's immune systems don't have a chance to strengthen....

The less gadgets the better, spend more time cleaning them than they save,

Luckily I don't have a knife block and I do clean my cutlery tray as bread crumbs fall into it, but generally I am far from spotless.

After my Mother died I lived with my Grandparents from aged 3 to 7 years. They had no bathroom and no hot water and an outside loo. We had a tin bath and I had a bath and hair wash once a week in front of the coal fire in the dining room surrounded by the clothes horses with towels on for privacy and to stop draughts. We were never ill! No colds, coughs or tummy bugs. Perhaps today we are just too clean and do have a chance to build up immunity to germs etc. My grandmother lived till she was 98!

I’m with MOnica and others. Shall we form a Mingers Club?
But one thing does puzzle me - how does my cutlery drawer get so many crumbs in it when it’s under the hob rather than a work surface?

It said to wash your towels after only 3 uses. For me that'd be a day and a half. And we're meant to be conserving water and looking after the environment!

I was brought up in complete squalor and we were never ill . I have improved on my mother’s standards though!

Oh dear, I must be part of the Undead. Really, if people think we spend all our time cleaning, then they have the problem!!

First world problems. Being too clean is bad for the immune system. That's my excuse.

If you are all posting you aint dead keep breathing

Life's too short.

A little bacteria is good for you! It keeps your immune system working hard. Some of the things I have read about keeping things clean are ridiculous.

Agreed!!!!

I find that most of these articles and advice about running homes are written by people who dont live in the real world. I brought up seven kids, studied worked and I did have help twice a week but I certainly didnt follow any such ridiculous guidelines. I did the best that I could with the tools I had available and now my kids run their own homes the same way.