So, I'll start off saying I have a lot of obsessive compulsive tendencies. One of them is cleanliness, and that is what brings me to my advice.

At my work our bathrooms have the automated flushes. I love it, and yet sometimes I hate it. I hate it when it flushes and I get water splashed on my ass. Now I have gotten really good at hearing the flush coming and I jump off the seat....clean the water splash off the seat and sit back down. However this is quite annoying. So, now I have developed a new high effective tactic. I enter the stall and before I sit down I put toilet paper over the sensor, and when I leave I just move the paper in the toilet. No more getting my ass splashed!!!!

you realize your keyboard is more probably more toxic than the toilette water right?:P

But I have to say, your post is very... educational

lol

I actually did a science project in 7th grade following along those lines. I went to different fast food restaurants and took samples of the toilet water and ice from the ice machine. The ice is considerably nastier than the toilet water, in all 5 restaurants. And most restaurants don't clean their ice machines like ever but the toilet gets cleaned a few times a day.

As far as my key board I sanitize it often, especially after someone else touched it.

This guy probably spends a good 5 minutes washing his hands and then he uses his hand to open the bathroom door to leave. My "best" advise is to save some of that toilet paper and use it over the handle of the door so when you leave you are not grabbing the handle that so many people grabbed who did not wash their hands.


Think of it- some J-off wipes his buttox and smears crap on his hand and then doesn't wash. Then he opens the door to leave. All the time, while you are cleaning your hand, just to grab that same doorknob. Makes me sick that bathrooms (public) have door handles on the inside. They should be just push to open (then i use my foot).

@papa smurf: I actually did a hs science fair project like that looking for heavy metal resistant bacteria (and the presence of a gene that is a predictor for antibiotic resistance).

The worst place for bacteria is plant soil followed by a kitchen table. Bathroom door handles were actually not that high up.
As far as "decontaminating" your hands with purel or whatever, consider that there is a ton of bacteria in the air as well as normally on your body. Your hands will become "contaminated" again within 30 seconds. All for the price of putting something rather toxic into your bloodstream which is probably worse for you than most, if not all, of those germs you killed. Read up on the effects of rubbing alchohol on you if you swallow it. This is what you are putting into your blood when you wipe your hands.

As far as toilette water/sink water goes, it's treated with chlorine in most places and hence not a lot grows in it (this is a good thing).

People have no real concept of risk in general, nor what is "contaminated and bad for you" and what isn't.

I had this conversation with someone:

me: "why do you refrigerate eggs?"
them: "to stop them from going bad"
me: "you do realize that chickens hatch their eggs without the aid of refrigeration"
them: "but that's different because the mother hen is looking after the egg"
me: "...."

well you don't have to refrigerate them if you plan on eating them that week, but if they're going to sit for a couple months you should probably refrigerate them


most processes work slower at colder temperatures!

Deerhunter, actually there is no door to the bathroom. I work in a warehouse, so only a wall to block view from the sinks, and the sinks are out in the open, plus we have foot operated faucets! I do use paper to open the stall door. And I know the water is clean, but still hate the splash.

Martin you reminded me of my aunt. I was around 12-13ish and my aunt was complaining to my mom about how her son was always getting sick.

me "it your fault"
aunt "what????"
me "you clean your kitchen table with wash cloth, then use the same wash cloth to clean his face"
aunt "oh"

Well she stopped doing it that way, and my cousin wasn't getting sick as much, lol.

wait, you guys actually fluff in public bathrooms?

whenever i go near a public bathroom (to piss only) i use my foot to open close the stall door as well as the door to get out.

the worst is port-o-potties. i die inside when i have to use those.

interesting fact as well..... eggs covered in lard will keep for a VERY long time. Before the fridge it was how they were kept.

Also...DO NOT use the blowers to dry your hands. Met a guy who was installing new ones and he told me how they NEVER get cleaned and blow bacteria all over the place. Better to go with wet hands. It is what he does and I as well if there is no paper towels.

if nobody gets the blower wet, it shouldn't blow any bacteria... plus it should evapourate quickly; that doesn't make sense to me really...

except for freezing which somehow works faster at colder temperatures..

Eggs just don't taste as fresh if you keep them that long anyway:P

i will and have gone anywhere i can think of before even contemplating porta potties

poop

The ice machine is relatively harmless. What's harmful is where they put the ice afterward. Many restaurants (particularly those without self-service ice machines) store the ice in a container below the soda machine. They never clean them out because the restaurants are never closed. The few days they are closed (Christmas, New Years, etc) no one wants to go in to melt the ice and then clean out the inside of the ice spot.

Of course in the hospitality industry one of the worst things to touch is the tv remote in a hotel. It's never cleaned and it's almost always used.

Oh ew... I was fine with most things in this thread until that...

it isn't the wet, it is the vent intake that never gets cleaned, so the bacteria in the air is sucked into it and then blown back on your previously clean hands. Some of the newer ones have a better design, but take a look at how they work next time. Pretty gross.

oh and MissyV ....the hotel thing gets worse...much worse...*shudder*