Do you think this is unhygienic?

[GinaPagnato]

What do you think about people washing their hands in the kitchen sink after using the bathroom?

 

Don't bother asking why they don't wash in the bathroom sink because that would be too logical. :tongue_smilie:

 

Assume the bathroom has running water, soap, and towels, but the person exits the bathroom without washing hands and proceeds to the kitchen sink to do the washing.

 

Do you find it unhygienic?

 

 

[Above The Rowan]

If all things are functional in the washroom, then yes I'd find it unhygienic to come all the way out of the bathroom and into the kitchen before washing hands. I mean, at least they're washing - so there's that.

[SKL]

I would not care too much, but I'd be interested to know why they don't like doing it in the bathroom.  Perhaps there is a back story.  :P

[MEmama]

I wouldn't care.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

 

Doesn’t bother me.

[ktgrok]

theoretically yes. But in the big scheme of things.meh. 

[katilac]

Unless they are thoroughly washing the sink each time they wash their hands, of course it's unhygienic. For a male, even more so. I'm not super picky about my kitchen sink, I don't care if people wash their hands in it at other times, but after using the bathroom? Think about why you're washing your hands after you use the bathroom, lol. 

 

And if they do a so-so job of washing their hands, they are now drying them on the kitchen towels. Gross. 

[Tap]

I am not super fussy about such things....but if I were.....

 

I would point out that unless they wash the kitchen faucet and soap dispenser off afterward, they potentially left particles behind in a food prep area. Since they touched them with dirty hands to use them. I don't personally worry too much about it because the faucets are also dirty with food particles too and i don't consider soap dispensers or faucets to ever be clean. 

 

When I clean my bathroom and kitchen, I wash the soap dispenser in running water just like the sink, but I don't know if most people do that or not.  

[Rosie_0801]

I'm glad they are washing their hands.

[Zebra]

No, because I do it sometimes.

 

Not if my hands NEED to be washed before I leave the bathroom, but I do it sometimes.   I have different soap in the bathroom than I do the kitchen, and I don't like that soap.   And, it's like 12 steps from my bathroom sink to my kitchen sink.   It's not like I stop in between and do something.

 

Don't ask me why I have soap I hate in the bathroom, that's a long story no one wants to hear  :lol: !

 

FWIW I am super vigilant about washing my hands.  I understand that I am "touching the bathroom doorknob with dirty hands" but when you pee 8 million times a day and then wash your hands and are in your own house, I guess I don't see it as a big deal.

[Petrichor]

I don't get squicked out about dirty things being in the kitchen sink like other people seem to. I wash my hands in my kitchen sink (after being outside and before/after cooking and eating) rinse my mouth or face, etc. 

 

To me, it's a sink. I don't let clean stuff or food touch the actual bottom of the sink, and sink germs don't "jump." Anything that does touch the bottom of my sink gets washed. The sink itself gets washed frequently too. 

 

To me, the gross part of all of that would be that the person presumably opened the door with dirty hands, contaminating other things on his way. 

[freesia]

I never think of the kitchen sink as clean and, in fact, raw meat juice is arguably much more "unclean" than anything from the bathroom (unless the person has cholora or a tummy bug).  I never consider my sink clean and I have to turn on the faucet after dealing with raw meat, so, . ..

 

No, it wouldn't bother me (although how they got the door opened--now that would bother me).

[katilac]

I wash my hands in my kitchen sink (after being outside and before/after cooking and eating) rinse my mouth or face, etc. 

 

 

 

  I don't personally worry too much about it because the faucets are also dirty with food particles too a 

 

But, but, none of those things are potentially poop-related! Or I-pee-standing-up related. 

 

When a nephew of mine was young, he never wanted to wash his hands and his mom would just let him use hand sanitizer. Like, all the time. I told him that did not fly at my house - if your hands touch your junk for any reason whatsoever. you must wash them with soap and running water before touching anything else in the house, lol. It's just . . . no. Wash your hands. In the bathroom. 

[katilac]

  in fact, raw meat juice is arguably much more "unclean" than anything from the bathroom  

 

And yet, so much more acceptable in my kitchen sink, lol. 

[hornblower]

I think it's the bathroom door handle & lightswitch that are the problem. If the door is open & lights are off (or left on anyway or auto timers etc) then the actual use of the kitchen sink doesn't bother me at all. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

No.  I do not think it is unhygienic.  Hands are being washed with soap and water.  Dishes get washed in the dishwasher.  Some dishes are hand washed but I always wash out the sink before hand.  Same for produce.  It seems like a very weird thing to get uptight about, actually. 

[SKL]

Am I the only one who uses only 1 hand for bathroom stuff and the other hand for other stuff in the unlikely event I can't wash my hands before touching anything else?

 

I would assume the doorknob was touched by the clean hand.

 

That of course assumes they close the door when they pee ....

[Tap]

But, but, none of those things are potentially poop-related! Or I-pee-standing-up related. 

 

When a nephew of mine was young, he never wanted to wash his hands and his mom would just let him use hand sanitizer. Like, all the time. I told him that did not fly at my house - if your hands touch your junk for any reason whatsoever. you must wash them with soap and running water before touching anything else in the house, lol. It's just . . . no. Wash your hands. In the bathroom. 

I'm not picking on your post....just pointing a few thing out.  I know some people will say yes to some of these but I know most do not.

 

Do you have people wash their feet when they come out of the bathroom or do they just run around the house walking in the kitchen, putting their feet on rugs, beds, furniture spreading pee everywhere?

 

Do you have laundry baskets marked for clean and dirty clothes, so clean clothes don't get put in the same laundry baskets that dirty clothes were just in? Or do you just use the same ones over and over.  Have you ever cleaned your laundry basket?

 

Do you wash bedding every day incase someone rubbed a nose or scratched a butt check in the night?  Do they get up and immediately wash their hands before touching anything else like a door knob or lightswitch?

 

Do you have separate mops for bathroom and kitchen? Do you sanitize your mop after each use?  Including the handle if you use gloves to clean the toilets and then grab the mop handle?

 

If you put on gloves to clean the bathroom and then spray cleaner, do you wash the cleaner bottle handles?

 

How do you handle the bottoms of pants that touch the bathroom floor when sitting on the toilet? 

 

Do you set a roll of paper towels on the dirty bathroom counter  and then carry that same roll to the kitchen?

 

 

I can go on and on about how we spread germs. I used to work in a group home for autistic men who came out of state mental hospital. They had few good hygiene habits. Lots of picking, rubbing an oozing. When I cleaned at night, that house was Clean!  

 

We do wash hands, but I am not super fussy because I can't seen and end to it, if I let it bother me. And no one is paying me to clean my own house for hours every night once others go to bed. 

Edited March 15, 2018 by Tap

[SKL]

I wash my hands in the kitchen sink after taking out the garbage and doing laundry.  I also use the kitchen sink when I'm cleaning out the fridge.  When I touched my kids' poop boots (aka horse riding boots) I would wash my hands in the kitchen sink.  I mean, I don't lick the sink.  The microscopic stuff that might make a difference is not something I worry about.

 

On the other hand, my friend from India gets squicked out by having a drinking glass in the bathroom.  That doesn't bother me either.

[SKL]

Another controversial practice here:  washing underwear in the same load with wash rags.  Also kitchen towels with bathroom towels.  :P

[sassenach]

It doesn’t bother me at all.

[EKS]

No, I think it is fine.  I don't consider the kitchen sink itself (or the faucet) to be clean, so washing potentially gross hands in it doesn't bother me.

 

That said, I do require my children to wash their hands (and use a clean towel to dry them) in the kitchen before handing food even if they just washed them somewhere else.

 

I have a background in industrial microbiology; frankly, anyone who thinks their kitchen sink is clean is deluding themselves.

Edited March 16, 2018 by EKS

[Pawz4me]

It's not something I prefer to happen in our house but it's also not something that would overly bother me. We have a divided kitchen sink. The left one is for "dirty" stuff -- dirty dishes before they go in the dishwasher, running water over fruits and veggies while washing them, etc. That's the sink anyone in this house would use to wash their hands. I have no illusions that it's sanitary other than very temporarily when I scrub it out before I start cooking. The right side is strictly reserved for washing dishes. Also, no one in this house would dare think about using one of my kitchen towels to dry their hands unless they were in the act of cooking, and even then there's a designated towel for hand drying. Paper towels were made for drying hands when not involved in cooking (or so our house rules say). Those measures keep germs segregated enough for me.

Edited March 15, 2018 by Pawz4me

[Ausmumof3]

People in my house wash their hands in the kitchen sink. I have nearly trained the younger people out of it.

 

What I particularly dislike is one certain family member always flicks their hands in the sink to dry them which splashed dirty water on any clean dishes sitting in the drainer and on the window... grrr!

[Farrar]

Our downstairs bathroom is what used to be a pantry. There is a sink in there, but it's a step away from the kitchen sink, so I actually do this all the time if I'm already in the kitchen and getting ready to do something else in there.

 

So, um, no, I don't think it's unhygienic. It's fine.

[Ausmumof3]

Another controversial practice here: washing underwear in the same load with wash rags. Also kitchen towels with bathroom towels. :P

I can never figure out what to do with dishcloths and tea towels! Keeping them long enough to have a load seems stinky and unhygienic and throwing them in with something else seems unhygienic!

[SKL]

Having kids is extremely unhygienic, so I figure that ship has already sailed.  :P

[regentrude]

What I particularly dislike is one certain family member always flicks their hands in the sink to dry them which splashed dirty water on any clean dishes sitting in the drainer and on the window... grrr!

 

I don't follow. If the person washed their hands, the water they are flicking off is clean. As clean as the water you rinsed the dishes with, since you had to touch the dishes with your hands to put them into the drainer.

[Arcadia]

We have only one bathroom so it would make sense for someone to wash their hands in the kitchen sink if another person is needing the bathroom. Also my husband and I grew up with homes where there is no sink in the bathroom.

 

For my childhood home the bathroom sink is in between the standing shower room door and the water closet (toilet) door. So someone can bath for as long as he/she likes and everyone else in the house would still have access to the water closet. The bathroom sink is in the laundry drying area where people typically air dry their clothes on bamboo poles.

 

For my husband’s childhood home, the water closet and standing shower are together but the bathroom sink is in the kitchen area, next to the bathroom door. In fact the bathroom sink is directly opposite the kitchen sink. So someone could be brushing their teeth while my MIL is washing up the pots and pans. They have two bathrooms though so someone hogging one bathroom would still leave the other bathroom’s toilet free to use.

[Ausmumof3]

I don't follow. If the person washed their hands, the water they are flicking off is clean. As clean as the water you rinsed the dishes with, since you had to touch the dishes with your hands to put them into the drainer.

You would think so right? But given the splatter marks on the window maybe not!

 

But maybe it's actually the dust on the window getting collected by the water drops who knows? I'm not much of a housekeeper...

[Seeking Squirrels]

Technically it probably is assuming the person had to open a door, turn off a light, and then turn on the water in the kitchen before washing hands. This can always be done with a different hand than the contaminated one, though. (or in the case of my kids, the door was never shut and the light won't be turned off either way.) But really, hands are getting washed so I'd call that a win. I never consider the kitchen sink to be sanitary to begin with. If I were going to do anything in the sink that I needed it to be sanitary for I'd clean it first anyway. 

Edited March 16, 2018 by Whovian10

[SparklyUnicorn]

Doesn't bother me.

 

 

[whitestavern]

i have no problem with it.

[stephanier.1765]

I always wonder if I should go to the bathroom to wash my hands after scooping the litter boxes but the kitchen sink is the closest after I've scooped them all. So sometimes I go to the bathroom and sometimes I don't. On the days I don't, I use a paper towel to dry my hands which doesn't make sense since my hands are clean but it feels better in my brain. 

 

As a side note: in the kitchen I keep a towel for drying hands and another for drying dishes

[Bluegoat]

Honestly, I think there are a ton of germs of all kinds all over most people's houses.  It's best not to think too much about it.  

[freesia]

Honestly, I think there are a ton of germs of all kinds all over most people's houses. It's best not to think too much about it.

Seriously. And suddenly I amthinking way too much about it! So I think I will stop reading this thread. Lol

[Critterfixer]

I would assume that 1) Somebody ran out the last of the soap and doesn't want to get a new bottle from the stocking cabinet, or 2) Somebody used the towel, tossed it in the laundry and doesn't want to go get a new one from the stocking cabinet. :glare:

Those are usually responsible for kitchen sink use in this context. It wouldn't bother me except for the fact that it's usually one of those two reasons.

[AmandaVT]

I grew up in a house that has no sink in the downstairs bathroom, so it doesn't seem weird to me at all to walk out of the bathroom and wash your hands in the kitchen. 

[kitten18]

But, but, none of those things are potentially poop-related! Or I-pee-standing-up related.

 

When a nephew of mine was young, he never wanted to wash his hands and his mom would just let him use hand sanitizer. Like, all the time. I told him that did not fly at my house - if your hands touch your junk for any reason whatsoever. you must wash them with soap and running water before touching anything else in the house, lol. It's just . . . no. Wash your hands. In the bathroom.

There is quite literally poop residue everywhere.

 

I can’t figure out what is so bad about a man touching his penis and then washing his hands.

[City Mouse]

That would only bother me if the person had urinated on his or her hand and walked through the house with urine dripping on the floor.

[alisoncooks]

Probably unhygienic, but pretty low on the list of things I worry about.

 

And by low, I mean: not at all.

[Petrichor]

I can never figure out what to do with dishcloths and tea towels! Keeping them long enough to have a load seems stinky and unhygienic and throwing them in with something else seems unhygienic!

 

Why would it be unhygienic to throw them in with something else? They all get clean by the end of the load, don't they?

[luuknam]

Why would it be unhygienic to throw them in with something else? They all get clean by the end of the load, don't they?

 

 

I think it depends on the setting... for the delicates cycle with cold water only, I'd be icked out. That said, practically everything I wash goes on sanitize, so, unless things are crazy dirty, I don't see a problem putting it all together (and when they are crazy dirty, I usually use one of two approaches: 1) prerinse them in the bathtub to get the mud or w/e out, or 2) throw them in the trash). 

 

ETA: as to the bathroom/kitchen... I will sometimes use the kitchen sink if someone else is brushing their teeth or w/e. That said, that means I don't touch any doorknobs or w/e, I turn on the faucet with my clean hand and/or back of my hand, and I tend to either walk back to the bathroom to dry my hands there, or dry them on my clothes. 

 

ETA2: and I agree... I wouldn't imagine my kitchen sink being clean regardless.  :lol:

 

ETA3: sanitize cycle = extra hot. 

Edited March 16, 2018 by luuknam

[solascriptura]

It probably wouldn't bother me too much, but it is unhygienic. They had to touch the door knob to exit the bathroom so now the knob will have additional germs on it.  

[hornblower]

Why would it be unhygienic to throw them in with something else? They all get clean by the end of the load, don't they?

 

 

some studies indicate that unless you wash on hot &/or use bleach, all you do is distribute all the bacteria on all the things in the washing machine 

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4672060/

[hornblower]

https://www.rd.com/home/cleaning-organizing/clean-laundry-bacteria/

 

 

[PeppermintPattie]

Yes! It would bother me. But I do both - I wash in the bathroom, and then if I'm doing something in the kitchen, I wash again, since I've just touched the towel, door knob, and light switch.

 

It never occurred to me that someone watching might think I'm waiting to wash until I get to the kitchen.   :eek:

[luuknam]

https://www.rd.com/home/cleaning-organizing/clean-laundry-bacteria/

 

 

Seriously though, how many people wash underwear etc on cold? Sanitize (i.e. extra hot), and then the hottest dryer setting, all the way. Using bleach on an empty load in the washer multiple times a week just because some germs could be left there seems kind of extreme.

[KungFuPanda]

I'm not picking on your post....just pointing a few thing out. I know some people will say yes to some of these but I know most do not.

 

Do you have people wash their feet when they come out of the bathroom or do they just run around the house walking in the kitchen, putting their feet on rugs, beds, furniture spreading pee wash

 

How do you handle the bottoms of pants that touch the bathroom floor when sitting on the toilet?

 

 

What is up with your bathroom floors? I don’t get either of these. Why would the floors be covered in urine? Are you in the middle of potty training? I don’t think this is a concern for most people.

[hornblower]

What is up with your bathroom floors? I don’t get either of these. Why would the floors be covered in urine? Are you in the middle of potty training? I don’t think this is a concern for most people.

unless the menfolk are urinating sitting down & closing the lid before flushing, there is urine on the floor and walls 

 

https://www.hometalk.com/3473358/bathrooms-why-routinely-disinfect-the-walls?expand_all_questions=1