Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: chiralSPO on 20/05/2014 16:30:27
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Most people know that they are supposed to wash their hands after going to the bathroom (though some don't actually do it). People have more freedom over the order in which tasks are done in the privacy of their own restrooms, but in public restrooms the order is usually:
enter stall
pull down pants and sit down
evacuate bowels
wipe, wipe, wipe
pull up pants
tuck in shirt
zip fly/buckle belt etc.
leave stall
wash hands
dry hands
go about business...
(as a chemist, I have gotten in the habit of washing my hands before going to the bathroom as well. Even though I wear gloves in the lab, I would hate to transfer any trace contamination from my hands to my nether regions...)
But my point is: what good is washing your hands **after** rubbing them all over your (porous/absorbent) clothes? Obviously, in a public restroom, people are loath to walk from the stall to the sink with their trousers around their knees, but I wonder how much that squeamishness actually contributes to poor sanitary conditions...
comments? suggestions?
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Have a servant perform the task [:)] ...
... [a] servant in the household of an English monarch who was in charge of providing facilities for the monarch's defecation, and assisted in his cleansing or washing thereafter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groom_of_the_Stool#Origin_of_the_Office
Apparently wiping the king's arse got one a knighthood (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groom_of_the_Stool#Grooms_of_the_Stool_under_Henry_VIII).
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The latest versions of public restrooms have a little electronic eye to determine when you put your hands in the sink apparatus, then squirt your hands with soap and water, let you scrub, then follow by blow drying the hands... all within the same sink apparatus.
I've always been too intimidated to look around the corner to see how the same engineers had "improved" the toilets.
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Have a servant perform the task [:)] ...
Ask Abu Hamza, but be it at your own risk, and don't get hooked on it.
To be honest, I doubt my clothing harbours any more nasties than the goods contained within. Since I tend to avoid doing No. 2's in public bogs toilets, I have never given this aspect of (ahem.....) waste disposal much consideration. So it will be something to ponder next time I go for a (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.freesmileys.org%2Fsmileys%2Fsmiley-shocked002.gif&hash=7f6d89e7c30bdd9cc9923f634509ff42) (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php)