Are you a germaphobe?

[Principessa]

I confess . . . I am a germaphobe.

I don't know when or how this happend, as I can at times be quite disorganized and cluttered. Yet I have been told that you could do surgery in my bathroom or kitchen. Public restrooms can send me into a fit of apoplexy. I have seen some so filthy and rank smelling that I actually lost the urge to urinate. I kid you not.

A list of just some of the new things I wash before I use:
*sheets
*towels and wash cloths
*panties
*swimsuits
*fruits and vegetables
*anything that one would use in the kitchen

My cleaning product of choice is Clorox Clean-Up. What's yours?

 

[dong20]

Public restrooms can send me into a fit of apoplexy. I have seen some so filthy and rank smelling that I actually lost the urge to urinate. I kid you not.

Take a long distance train in India or China, it's not just the urge to unrinate that ebbs away.

A list of just some of the new things I wash before I use:
sheets
No - if from a sealed packet
*towels and wash cloths
No - if from a sealed packet
*panties
No - if from a sealed packet
*swimsuits
No - if from a sealed packet
*fruits and vegetables
Depends how hungry I am!:biggrin1:
Anyway washing many seems superfluous - if you're about to boil or roast them.
*anything that one would use in the kitchen
New cutlery, crockery and glasses will probably get a baptism by dishwasher.

I think one can take germ suppression to ridiculous extremes in a vain quest for a sterile environment, even operating rooms aren't sterile - and even if you could achieve one, it may well work against you. We need bacteria to stay on top of the fight.

It makes me laugh at the bleach & germ killer ads saying "Kills 99%+ of germs". Think about it, if bleach won't kill it - it's got game, and can still make you sick. The remaining 99% of ambient bacteria is probably mostly harmless - the human immune system has got plenty of game too.

 

[dongalong]

LOL, my tired eyes read GERMANOPHOBE! so I thought that you were afraid of Germans.:biggrin1:

Although hygeine is important, too much will lower your body's natural resistance to infections surely?

 

[B_big dirigible]

I designed some machinery - one which made integrated circuits, and some parts for an electron microscope to inspect them - which were to be used in clean rooms. A hospital operating room is about five thousand times "dirtier" than those clean rooms. Compared to them, everything is filthy. I don't let it bother me.

 

[STYLYUNG]

Have you ever followed the route of a woman's purse? From home, to the car floor, to a restaurant floor, to a quick stop on a ladies' room cubical floor, the floors of shops during a shopping trip, to maybe the bus or train station, or an airport waiting room where it might have been "floored" in a series of rest rooms again during the day, then back to the car floor, and finally back to the house where it is probably placed on the dining room table. How about it , gals? Just following a purse is enough to make you a germaphobe! Find a safe parking place for that purse after it comes back into your home!

 

[SpoiledPrincess]

I'm fairly mean to germs but I'm more of a neat freak than anything. If you have a place for everything and everything in its place you can find whatever you want without having to search for it and putting something back when you've used it means my home never gets untidy. My friends love me and fear me because I'm often heard to say 'mmm your cupboards are a mess, let's clean them out' I boss them around but they say without me they'd end up on 'How Clean is Your House.'

Now off you all go and alphabeticise your canned foods.

 

[STYLYUNG]

New Jersey Cutie, many THANKS for starting this thread!!! I said what I have been wanting to say about ladies' purses and handbags for a long time. :smile:

 

[B_big dirigible]

Now off you all go and alphabeticise your canned foods.

One of the libraries at Oxford keeps the books arranged by height.






Just thought I'd toss that tidbit in.

 

[B_cigarbabe]

I'm fairly mean to germs but I'm more of a neat freak than anything. If you have a place for everything and everything in its place you can find whatever you want without having to search for it and putting something back when you've used it means my home never gets untidy. My friends love me and fear me because I'm often heard to say 'mmm your cupboards are a mess, let's clean them out' I boss them around but they say without me they'd end up on 'How Clean is Your House.'

Now off you all go and alphabeticise your canned foods.

Oh PLEASE come to my house! I am begging you! I have three girls come in to clean every two weeks, but, I can't get Mr. Ed to put anything back where it belongs! {including his cock!}:biggrin1: I'll pay your plane fare!
C.B.

 

[Principessa]

STYLYUNG, I'm anal about my purse as well. I have been known to hang it around my neck in a public restroom rather than put it on the floor. Most ladies rooms have hooks inside the stalls for this purpose. My purse usually hangs on the back of a chair or doorknob at home. Never on the table or bed. I also wipe it down with rubbing alcohol a few times a month.

Have you ever followed the route of a woman's purse? From home, to the car floor, to a restaurant floor, to a quick stop on a ladies' room cubical floor, the floors of shops during a shopping trip, to maybe the bus or train station, or an airport waiting room where it might have been "floored" in a series of rest rooms again during the day, then back to the car floor, and finally back to the house where it is probably placed on the dining room table. How about it , gals? Just following a purse is enough to make you a germaphobe! Find a safe parking place for that purse after it comes back into your home!

 

[SassySpy]

oh yes. I must very consciously control my anxiety if I even venture near a fast food restaurant, I cannot use public restrooms except the 'single' kind- I carry anti bacterial wipes and gel everywhere- and like Princess, I am also a neat freak.
visions of OCD behaviours follow me endlessly. :smile:

 

[Gillette]

One of the libraries at Oxford keeps the books arranged by height.

How very sensible.

 

[B_big dirigible]

How very sensible.

And visually attractive.

 

[Ethyl]

New Jersey Cutie, many THANKS for starting this thread!!! I said what I have been wanting to say about ladies' purses and handbags for a long time. :smile:

I'm fairly neat at home. I like things clean and somewhat free of clutter, but my purse is a black hole. Once a month I dump out the contents, sort them, and attempt to reduce the number and volume I put back in. :redface:

 

[B_Think_Kink]

I confess . . . I am a germaphobe.

I don't know when or how this happend, as I can at times be quite disorganized and cluttered. Yet I have been told that you could do surgery in my bathroom or kitchen. Public restrooms can send me into a fit of apoplexy. I have seen some so filthy and rank smelling that I actually lost the urge to urinate. I kid you not.

A list of just some of the new things I wash before I use:
*sheets
*towels and wash cloths
*panties
*swimsuits
*fruits and vegetables
*anything that one would use in the kitchen

My cleaning product of choice is Clorox Clean-Up. What's yours?

Sorry.... but anyone who doesn't do that before eating or wearing it should look into the reality of germs... you're no different than most people.

 

[snoozan]

Interestingly, it's been theorized that the rise in the incidence of allergies, especially anaphylactic ones, in recent years is because we are too clean. We keep our babies in environments that are too sterile and when they are exposed to certain foreign agents (tree nuts are a big one), their immune system overreacts because they haven't been exposed to enough things to cause an immune response (i.e. germs). I don't think this research has been anywhere near proven, but I haven't read anything yet that conclusively disproves it.

At any rate, I am not a huge germphobe, and don't get sick any more than anyone else does. I do wash my hands relatively often, and I love antibacterial wipes for surfaces like my son's high chair, but I consider that pretty mild in the germophobe category.

However, I have noticed that since my husband started taking public transportation wev'e all been sicker, so I make him wash his hands well when he gets home. Washing your hands is the most effective way to stop infection, so that's the one thing I'm pretty anal about.

 

[agnslz]

I don't know if I'm a germaphobe, but, like Snoozan, I do wash my hands often. In fact, constantly. I wash them so much that they are dry. I've been accused a few times by my family and friends of either having OCD or being afraid of germs. I'm also one of those people that doesn't shake hands, when I meet someone I politely wave and say hello only.

 

[DC_DEEP]

I'm not a germophobe, but some of this stuff is just common sense.

Any food-contact items (utensils, dishes, pot & pans, all that stuff) and fresh produce I always wash before using. I'm not so worried about germs on these items, but more worried about oils and preservatives and warehouse dirt on the durable goods... and the fruits & veggies, you don't know how well it was cleaned before it was marketed, and who may have handled it.

Anything made of fabric gets washed before use in my house. Even if it's wrapped, they use a lot of chemicals before packaging, and I don't like those against my skin. Sizing, brightening agents, and preservatives are the most common, and that's what you smell when you open a brand-new package of underwear or bed sheets.

I do try to keep my kitchen and bathrooms very clean. Those rooms deserve special attention. I refer to it as "cleaning all the water-contact areas," and use bleach in some areas.

 

[westsidedude]

Yea I dont really like germ myself either. my parents used to clear up wit clorox alot and i do too. and there are alot of germs out there so its smart too

 

[dong20]

Interestingly, it's been theorized that the rise in the incidence of allergies, especially anaphylactic ones, in recent years is because we are too clean. We keep our babies in environments that are too sterile and when they are exposed to certain foreign agents (tree nuts are a big one), their immune system overreacts because they haven't been exposed to enough things to cause an immune response (i.e. germs). I don't think this research has been anywhere near proven, but I haven't read anything yet that conclusively disproves it.

This is not my field but it seems entirely sensible to me and something I've long believed. The range between seeking a sterile environment (futile) and allowing bacteria to grow out of control (irresponsible) is pretty wide.

It's probably only at the latter extreme that problems are most likely to arise. - water borne disease in countries with poor sanitation for example, especially for children with immune systems that are more easily compromised.

At any rate, I am not a huge germphobe, and don't get sick any more than anyone else does. I do wash my hands relatively often, and I love antibacterial wipes for surfaces like my son's high chair, but I consider that pretty mild in the germophobe category.

Same here, personally I'm a little skeptical of the trend toward 'anti-bacterials' from washing powder to wipes etc. I'm unconvinced they're strong enough to fully effective and thus likely, with over use (as with the overuse of antibitics) to breed resistance in the very bugs they seek to kill, potentially leaving them alive and thus more dangerous. A side effect of that could be increased resistance to medication should an infection arise, whereas had they been left alone they may have been dealt with easily by our immune systems. It's just a thought.

However, I have noticed that since my husband started taking public transportation wev'e all been sicker, so I make him wash his hands well when he gets home. Washing your hands is the most effective way to stop infection, so that's the one thing I'm pretty anal about.

I use the Tube most days and while I've not noticed any change (one cold in the last 3 yrs for example) I can imagine, looking at the folk around me sniffling and coughing that it's a common problem. Handrails etc are surely a bug heaven.