Germ stuff....

Lots of public places, including some hospitals, have switched to brass/copper door handles already.

UK banknotes are already a mass of germs, as well as almost all showing traces of cocaine apparently, so changing to plastic is unlikely to make much difference. MRSA is all over the place; it's when people have just had surgery or have open wounds such as leg ulcers that they become vulnerable to infection. The switch to plastic or laminated notes is probably intended as cost saving because they have a much longer life. They may be more difficult to counterfeit but I don't know.

Tegan I never knew that about brass/coppers handles etc,that was always the first job I had OH do whenever we moved into a new house,replace all the door handles to brass along with the sockets it was obviously for appearances sake as they certainly make a tatty door look quite a bit better.

Will the new bank notes be washable? Money laundering would then be legal.
Talking of germs I am horrified at that new Dettol detergent advert that is plain scaremongering.

I know when I worked at my friends sandwich bar years ago [a job I'd forgotten about till just now] I had to wash my hands whevever I handled any money [which was all the time].

I would be very surprised if the Victorians knew anything about antibiotics. Fleming did not discover penicillin until 1928.
They probably had brass doorhandles because stainless steel or chrome plating had not been discovered.
Many hospitals in America and Australia use silver for its antibiotic properties.

But they did know about germs......

Programme last night (Sarah Beeny thing) one of the participants had a daughter with quadriplegic something, I'm ashamed that I can't remember.

One aspect of it meant that she was very susceptible to bacteria, viruses etc ( what would be a cold to us, might result in pneumonia for her) and SB showed how copper was better at resisting/killing bacteria than stainless steel, hence ideally a copper sink would have been better in this instance than stainless steel.

I think Beeny should be ruler of the world; I wish I could have a mini Beeny sitting on a shelf somewhere so I could ask her advice in just about everything. She is revered in the Tegan household and we often have 'what would Beeny do' discussions.

Found this on Wikipedia.

Copper and its alloys (brasses, bronzes, cupronickel, copper-nickel-zinc, and others) are natural antimicrobial materials. Ancient civilizations exploited the antimicrobial properties of copper long before the concept of microbes became understood in the nineteenth century. In addition to several copper medicinal preparations, it was also observed centuries ago that water contained in copper vessels or transported in copper conveyance systems was of better quality (i.e., no or little visible slime formation) than water contained or transported in other materials.

Y'know, I took my copper bracelet off ages ago thinking that it didn't do much good but I'm going to put it back on [if I can find it, that is]. Then I can take it off and use it as a door knocker when necessary as well.

Is it one with a slit in it? If so you can use it as a hook to pull open the doors on public toilets. Doubly safe.

www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=ultimate-social-network-bacteria-protects-health

Now mothers are being scared into thinking that even laundering does not remove all bacteria. When will people realise that our bodies are smothered in bacteria, nearly all useful to us?
I just take normal hygiene precautions, such as washing my hands before preparing food, and I can't remember when I last had so much as a cold, even though I travel often in tropical countries whose attitudes are very different to those of fearful Britain.
Children who live in a Dettol-soaked environment do not get the chance to build up immunity to 'bad' bacteria - all in the cause of making more profits for manufacturers.

I posted something similar on another thread about that advert. Totally agree its a disgrace and sheer scaremongering.
Or did I just mean to post and changed my mind, or forgot, or wandered away to do something else?

Found it! I did mention it earlier on this page....thought I was losing it....now where did I leave Greatnan?

That's OUR Greatnan not you Greatnan.

I don't worry much about bacteria, just take the usual precautions. A friend always irons the gusset of her pants with a hot iron to prevent infection, anyone else do this?

Infection by what, or whom? I am afraid she sounds a bit unbalanced!

No way. The gusset part of my thong is too narrow to iron safely and I might melt the lacy bits!

I was talking to a friend about problems with moths in my woollies and she said it's one reason why people iron things cause it kills off moth larvae. No good to me cause I don't do ironing so bought some sachets from B&Q instead .

Does anyone iron woollies?? You'd need a very hot iron to kill off larvae, surely? (I don't iron anything any more, but I never did iron woollen items).