Is all this hand washing really necessary?

[harllee]

Well, unless you are going out several times a day, it wouldn't seem that a bunch of extra washing is needed. Above what one would normally do at home.

I am the only person in my household that runs errands (DH higher risk than I am). I try to limit my trips out but it seems there are one or more places I have to go many days--grocery pick up, post office, taking the trash to the dump, doctor appt, dentist appt (have had a lot of dental issues lately), restaurant pick up, gas station, library pick up, seeing my mother outside her CCRC, etc. I had put off all my doctor/dentist appts that I could but now some of them have turned into necessities (for example accessed tooth).

 

[audreyh1]

Wow - you are pretty busy then. We can go for days without leaving the house.

I'm dealing with a few more errands now that DF passed, but I never leave home more than once a day and not every day.

 

[Buckeye]

We buy the giant bottles of SoftSoap from Costco and I have been amazed how non-drying it has been on my hands. I got into the habit of washing my hands immediately after returning home to protect my mother's health when she was alive and living with us. I ask Alexa to set a 20 second timer so I don't have to pay attention to how long I'm washing.

Also, if my cellphone gets touched in or out of the car during an excursion, it gets sanitized once I get home (unless I was wearing gloves outside the car). The case gets soaked in a bleach solution and the screen gets an extended rubdown with a 70% alcohol wipe. Early in the pandemic, I read something saying to picture everything outside your house covered with glitter. Then think about where you would see glitter transferred. Texting the hubby about what type of yogurt he wants while I'm at the grocery store gives me a picture of my cell phone covered in glitter. Doesn't matter if I am wearing gloves because those gloves have touched surfaces in the store and then touched my phone.

I like to wear gloves in the grocery store and remove them after loading my groceries. Keeps me from transferring glitter to the interior of my car.

 

[Chuckanut]

I put my cell phone in a thin sand which bag. The touch stuff still works. When I return home the bag is wiped down and goes into the 4 day wait bin, after I have gingerly removed the phone with freshly cleaned hands.

 

[W2R]

I am the only person in my household that runs errands (DH higher risk than I am). I try to limit my trips out but it seems there are one or more places I have to go many days--grocery pick up, post office, taking the trash to the dump, doctor appt, dentist appt (have had a lot of dental issues lately), restaurant pick up, gas station, library pick up, seeing my mother outside her CCRC, etc. I had put off all my doctor/dentist appts that I could but now some of them have turned into necessities (for example accessed tooth).

Wow! That seems like a LOT of exposure to other people and places outside the home. I can see why you are concerned.

 

[harllee]

Wow! That seems like a LOT of exposure to other people and places outside the home. I can see why you are concerned.

That does seem like a lot when I list it like that. But I only do most things once or twice a week and most all are outside and I and everyone else are masked. I rarely go inside anywhere--I have not been inside a grocery, restaurant or to get a hair cut since March. I did have to go inside the dentist 3 times for the tooth abscess but all precautions are taken. About the worst place to go inside is the Post office (I have a Post Office box but I only go once every other week)--last time the worker was not wearing mask and I complained to the supervisor. Anyway, I will keep washing my hands and use hand cream and vaseline, which seems to help. And of course I always wear a mask and stay at least 6 feet away from others when possible.

 

[Badger]

When out and about and want to protect my hands I don't use gloves. Although I have a box of nitrile gloves I prefer not to use them much since my hands sweat when wearing them. So for things like pumping gas and touching other frequently used surfaces I keep a bunch of plastic grocery bags in the car. Slip one over my hands and I am good to go. They remove easily and go in the trash next to the gas pump without having to touch them. They also break down faster than nitrile gloves. We save the plastic bags and have quite a few to use when cleaning the cat litter boxes too. I also prefer to wash my hands with soap and use hand sanitizer when it isn't possible.



Cheers!

 

[splitwdw]

For those of you that think you are washing your hands too often now that the coronavirus is here, you are wrong. You were supposed to be washing your hands after each trip to the bathroom, before handling/preparing food, before and after eating food, working outside, cleaning equipment, etc. Add all that to the hand washing you should be doing when touching common surfaces outside the home now that we are dealing with the coronavirus. My grandparents and parents use moisturizer for their hands (always did) and I do too. If your hands are very dry, it's Vaseline and gloves or socks over your hands at night. We are not germaphobes the above list is standard handwashing.

 

[CaptTom]

Grind axes on some other topic like DMV fees or taxation.

Good one. I'll be plagiarizing that.

 

[harllee]

When out and about and want to protect my hands I don't use gloves. Although I have a box of nitrile gloves I prefer not to use them much since my hands sweat when wearing them. So for things like pumping gas and touching other frequently used surfaces I keep a bunch of plastic grocery bags in the car. Slip one over my hands and I am good to go. They remove easily and go in the trash next to the gas pump without having to touch them. They also break down faster than nitrile gloves. We save the plastic bags and have quite a few to use when cleaning the cat litter boxes too. I also prefer to wash my hands with soap and use hand sanitizer when it isn't possible.



Cheers!

I haven't thought about using the plastic grocery bags. I have a bunch of those. I wonder how good they are in protecting hands from the virus?

 

[Buckeye]

I put my cell phone in a thin sand which bag. The touch stuff still works. When I return home the bag is wiped down and goes into the 4 day wait bin, after I have gingerly removed the phone with freshly cleaned hands.

I have a waterproof pouch (for the beach or poolside) but it causes my screen to go black when making phone calls because it thinks my cheek is near the phone. I don't know how to defeat this 'feature.' Sometimes I need to make a selection of even just hang up if I got hubby's voicemail but I only have a black screen. I'll try the sandwich bag since I don't need to be waterproof.

 

[2cheap2eat]

Side comment, it’s so frustrating to see people, including employees at a business, wearing mask covering just their mouth but not their nose. Defeats the whole point!! I’m sure it’s mandatory for them to wear masks, but doing it half hearted is pointless.

I’ll tend to call the business to make them aware. Even at Sams Club, most employees were not covering their noses while wearing a mask.

 

[marion10]

My sister, who is a nurse, recommended Glove in a Bottle, which is a silicone protectant. I use that in the morning and it really helps. I also use very mild soap, goats milk or olive oil soap. This has helped a lot.

 

[Badger]

Side comment, it’s so frustrating to see people, including employees at a business, wearing mask covering just their mouth but not their nose. Defeats the whole point!! I’m sure it’s mandatory for them to wear masks, but doing it half hearted is pointless.

I’ll tend to call the business to make them aware. Even at Sams Club, most employees were not covering their noses while wearing a mask.

+1 Let me see, what was that phrase again? Oh yes. You can't fix stupid!


Cheers!

 

[JoeWras]

You think that's frustrating? How about an employee who takes off a mask to sneeze? Happened to me while giving blood.

I'm taking a break from giving blood. I first need to have a talk with their management. The employees were really good about it a few months ago, but lately have gotten lax.

All the hand washing in the world won't stop the droplets from a sneeze. I was wearing an N95 and glad for it. Face shield is next if I ever go back.

 

[Bongleur]

Light cloth gardening or work gloves. Only the palm side (& tips of fingers when you remove them ) gets contaminated. Put them palm up on the hood of your car, get your 80% isopropyl alcohol spray out of your car, hold them away from the paint job & spray until damp. Place palms together on the floor behind the driver's seat.

I used to use the plastic bags the newspaper comes in as a disposable glove, but I don't know if the newspaper guy has snotty fingers when he folds & bags the paper.

 

[CaptTom]

... I first need to have a talk with their management...

This is something we should all do. Not only to complain, but to compliment those stores and organizations which take hygiene, and things like mask wearing, seriously.

Businesses, especially, are under a lot of pressure from a small group of angry, politically-motivated malcontents who complain loudly whenever they're asked to take simple precautions.

Our best defense is to keep reminding these businesses that most of us appreciate their efforts, however imperfect, in the face of this hostility.

I know of one restaurant which has had four hosts/hostesses quit because management was afraid to back them up when a customer made a scene about having to wear a mask until seated, per state law.

The owners and managers of these businesses need to hear the other side of the story. If the only customers being heard are the ones shouting about their "rights" and otherwise trying to force their opinions on everyone, then the efforts of the majority, who want to beat this virus, are in vain.

On the other hand, if the majority of customers thank them, in a calm and respectful tone, for standing firm against that foolishness, then owners and managers may not fear losing the occasional loud-mouth customer.

 

[audreyh1]

You think that's frustrating? How about an employee who takes off a mask to sneeze? Happened to me while giving blood.

I'm taking a break from giving blood. I first need to have a talk with their management. The employees were really good about it a few months ago, but lately have gotten lax.

All the hand washing in the world won't stop the droplets from a sneeze. I was wearing an N95 and glad for it. Face shield is next if I ever go back.

Don’t blame you!

Was in mask required Walmart. We waited distantly on a young couple with their masks pulled down. We finally realized that they were smelling air fresheners! LOL!

Lowes yesterday was another “please” wear masks place. And most were. But there were a lot of folks who didn’t have their noses covered, including some employees. We kept plenty of distance from them.

We are currently in a small mostly rural county with a small population and one major small city. And thank goodness Walmart is super strict, because everywhere else people are making the most of their “rural isolation” situation by neither social distancing nor wearing masks indoors or near others outside. They don’t think they have to protect themselves or others. I just hope they don’t get hit hard, because they are making themselves vulnerable, IMO.

 

[Chuckanut]

This is something we should all do. Not only to complain, but to compliment those stores and organizations which take hygiene, and things like mask wearing, seriously.

Businesses, especially, are under a lot of pressure from a small group of angry, politically-motivated malcontents who complain loudly whenever they're asked to take simple precautions.

Twitter and other forms of social media have given the loud mouths a much bigger platform than they normally will have. One local TV station has these Twitter polls on controversial ideas in our area, "Let's look at our Twitter poll on whether or not trash day should be moved from Thursday afternoon to early Sunday morning". Of course, the poll has no statistical justification at all. They don't even know if the people answering the poll live in the city!

I try to make a point of letting the employees know I appreciate the mask rules and the enforcement of them. Lately, I have not been that good about it. It's time to step up the game.

 

[tmm99]

You think that's frustrating? How about an employee who takes off a mask to sneeze? Happened to me while giving blood.

I'm taking a break from giving blood. I first need to have a talk with their management. The employees were really good about it a few months ago, but lately have gotten lax.

All the hand washing in the world won't stop the droplets from a sneeze. I was wearing an N95 and glad for it. Face shield is next if I ever go back.

That's horrifying!! Your story is much worse than mine, but I've delt with two workers in grocery stores pulling down their masks to talk/shout. Well, one of them was a Costco worker but he put his mask back up mid-stream (maybe he realized what he was doing...?) I was glad I had my N95 and goggles on. I thought of writing to the cashier at the first store, but I haven't yet.

 

[papaof2]

My better half has always kept a hand lotion dispenser near the kitchen sink because her hands were in water multiple times a day. I'm now a regular user of that hand lotion (Lubriderm) because it helps.

For most people, the traditional advertising image of "squirt lotion in your palm and rub together" isn't that useful as the most drying seems to be on the knuckles and the outside edge of the hands. Instead, small squirt of lotion on the KNUCKLES of your off hand and rub knuckles against knuckles and then the edges of your hands across the knuckles. The driest places get lotion and your fingertips and palms aren't too greasy to touch things - no fingerprints on a clean glass.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

I have been washing my hands so much they are rough and raw. Just today I did a grocery pick up and went to the post office (employee there not wearing a mask--grr) and took trash to the dump. I counted and I have washed my hands 10 times today already, singing the ABCs each time.
...

The whole epidemic is actually a way of improving literacy in this country; we have too many people who don't really know the alphabet and now they're singing it!

 

[harllee]

The whole epidemic is actually a way of improving literacy in this country; we have too many people who don't really know the alphabet and now they're singing it!

Sometimes I sing Happy Birthday while washing my hands for a little variety.

 

[sgstaley]

I never hear anyone talk about all of the currency that most of us touch every day. Does anyone sanitize their coins and paper money or just put it in a purse or wallet. Does anyone sanitize their purse / wallet, isolate their money until they can get it home to properly disinfect . . . not touch any form of any currency?

 

[harllee]

I never hear anyone talk about all of the currency that most of us touch every day. Does anyone sanitize their coins and paper money or just put it in a purse or wallet. Does anyone sanitize their purse / wallet, isolate their money until they can get it home to properly disinfect . . . not touch any form of any currency?

I have not touched any currency since March. I only use credit cards. I consider all coins and paper money to be dirty. In the very beginning China destroyed much of its paper currency and issued new paper money because testing showed the existing paper money was contaminated with the Covid.