Handwashing vs Sanitizer? Which do you prefer?

[CPT Trips]

How frequently do the menues get sanitized? The outside of bread baskets? The handles of utensils on the buffet?

 

[dkjretired]

21 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

I much prefer hand washing. I hate the feel of hand sanitizer. 

Of course, I wonder what would happen if you told one of the "sprayers" that have to get everyone that you are allergic, do they just let you go?

 

I have done just that since some sanitizers I break out on the hands. Was never a problem.

[SimplyMarvie]

1 hour ago, navybankerteacher said:

Of course, when you reach into your bag to get that lotion after washing, you pick up whatever had been on your hands the last time you used the bag.  It kind of undermines the point of washing your hands before meals.

 

No offense, but this seems over the top to me. Even if I was worried about this -- and it's dinner, not open-heart surgery! -- I'm still going to touch the towels, the door handle, my chair, a napkin, probably a buffet tray and utensils or a menu, definitely the salt shaker and whatever else my hands brush against (pants leg, other people, my kids in trying to keep them from eating nothing but pastries...) between the bathroom and my meal. If you're really looking for absolutely sterile hands, you'd have to wash or sanitize in situ right before you ate. I am not that hardcore/immunocompromised. 

[K32682]

I typically walk by hand sanitizer stations without noticing them so I'm in the handwashing camp.  My handwashing however is probably not sufficiently frequent or fastidious to meet the standard of those preoccupied with such matters.  60 seconds to wash my hands? Not likely.  But they are my hands and the person I'm mostly likely to infect will be me. So far it's not been a problem. 

[c-boy]

22 hours ago, LoriPhil said:

Princess has hand washing stations at entrance to buffet on several ships we have cruised, which are coupled with sanitizers monitored by ship staff atbuffet entrance.  We use both typically, in a shirts&suspenders effort. 

^  this 

[chipmaster]

Given a choice never will avoid the use of sanitizers, always wash before going to the dining room.   Have at the buffet met insistent employee and accepted the gift of toix chemicals.

 

You know your skin is a living breathing organ and the stuff you put on can diffuse thru it.  Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease.   I'm the last person to be a germ and chemical phobe but prefer good old water and soap over a gel chemistry cocktail designed to kill stuff, put all over my living body 😁

 

But as to handwashing, I guess the best practice is the exhaustive wash you see between the fingers, careful scrub around the nails, almost never do it unless a day in the yard, but every once in awhile see it in the restroom, always wanted to ask about those fastidious clean people.   Sometimes a little germs is good for the gut and your immune system, what doesn't kill ya makes you stronger, eat a little street food too, helps!

Edited September 23, 2019 by chipmaster

[lenquixote66]

4 hours ago, ducklite said:

Take a look at the science.  Purell does nothing against most viruses.  My husband is an EMT.  They carry a different sanitizer than the public can buy.  It is used on scene after flooding the contaminated area with water as a stop gap until they can get to a facility where they can properly wash their hands and any other surface that came into contact with blood or other bodily fluids.  It is not considered a substitute for hand washing.

 

 

I know that but doctors very rarely wash their hands in between patients.If I go to a doctor will will touch my eyes I will tell them that they must wash their hands first.I have given up doctors who try and tell me that Purcell orbits equivalent is just as good as soap and water.

[navybankerteacher]

3 hours ago, SimplyMarvie said:

 

No offense, but this seems over the top to me. Even if I was worried about this -- and it's dinner, not open-heart surgery! -- I'm still going to touch the towels, the door handle, my chair, a napkin, probably a buffet tray and utensils or a menu, definitely the salt shaker and whatever else my hands brush against (pants leg, other people, my kids in trying to keep them from eating nothing but pastries...) between the bathroom and my meal. If you're really looking for absolutely sterile hands, you'd have to wash or sanitize in situ right before you ate. I am not that hardcore/immunocompromised. 

Touching the door handle - presumably leaving the bathroom - is not seen as a good idea. Of course no one is looking for sterile hands    - but there is no point in gratuitously undoing handwashing.

[DarrenM]

On 9/22/2019 at 11:27 AM, Essiesmom said:

MSC Seaside has handwashing stations when entering and leaving the buffet areas.  Especially handy after eating a messy sandwich, no need to hunt out the restroom to wash.  I believe they have them on Celebrity Edge, too.  EM

Yep Edge has them in the buffet. A great idea, and then hand sanitiser on way into restaurant.

[ducklite]

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I know that but doctors very rarely wash their hands in between patients.If I go to a doctor will will touch my eyes I will tell them that they must wash their hands first.I have given up doctors who try and tell me that Purcell orbits equivalent is just as good as soap and water.

 

Again, you need new doctors.  Mine wash after entering the room every, single time.  My PCP, my opthamologist, my dermatologist, all of them.  

[ducklite]

1 hour ago, navybankerteacher said:

Touching the door handle - presumably leaving the bathroom - is not seen as a good idea. Of course no one is looking for sterile hands    - but there is no point in gratuitously undoing handwashing.

I use the paper towel to open the door.

 

We had dinner at a restaurant the other day and loved that the ladies room was set with a series of walls so there was no need to touch a door after washing hands.

[ducklite]

6 hours ago, CPT Trips said:

How frequently do the menues get sanitized? The outside of bread baskets? The handles of utensils on the buffet?

 

The line we prefer prints new menus each day specifically for that day.  🙂 

[lenquixote66]

26 minutes ago, ducklite said:

 

Again, you need new doctors.  Mine wash after entering the room every, single time.  My PCP, my opthamologist, my dermatologist, all of them.  

It is not that easy to find new doctors.My PCP retired February due to illness at age 49 .Every doctor recommended to me has been over 70.

[ducklite]

33 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

It is not that easy to find new doctors.My PCP retired February due to illness at age 49 .Every doctor recommended to me has been over 70.

I have a hard time believing that on LINY you can't find a doctor.  I'd go into the City if I had to.  In fact I travel every other year to Philly to see a specialist there.  You do what you need to do to find quality healthcare.  

[lenquixote66]

1 hour ago, ducklite said:

I have a hard time believing that on LINY you can't find a doctor.  I'd go into the City if I had to.  In fact I travel every other year to Philly to see a specialist there.  You do what you need to do to find quality healthcare.  

I am disabled and cannot travel by train or drive.I last drove in 2003.

[ducklite]

18 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I am disabled and cannot travel by train or drive.I last drove in 2003.

That's unfortunate, however with roughly 12,000 licensed physicians on Long island, it's inconceivable that you can't find one that washes their hands with soap and water before examining you.

[2wheelin]

22 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I am disabled and cannot travel by train or drive.I last drove in 2003.

If you don’t believe a medical expert, why believe a bunch of random people on a cruise board? I don’t think sanitizers are the best either but at my famous medical institution, hands are washed frequently, just not always in view of the pt. Sanitizers are then used in the room to appease the pt. Ask your dr to wash their hands if it is important to you.

 

To al the other germophobes on here, it is the people scrubbing away who have the most problems with illness. Wash your hands after using the bathroom—to protect others and move on. People catch all sorts of things these days because they don’t allow themselves to develop any immunity. 

[lenquixote66]

13 minutes ago, ducklite said:

That's unfortunate, however with roughly 12,000 licensed physicians on Long island, it's inconceivable that you can't find one that washes their hands with soap and water before examining you.

I am sure that I could conceivably find one .In fact somebody who read what I posted here and has my e-mail address recommended her doctor to me and I will be calling tomorrow for an appointment.

[CPT Trips]

7 hours ago, ducklite said:

The line we prefer prints new menus each day specifically for that day.  🙂 

 

Do they just hand you the menu on print stock or do they put the menu into a hard cover holder that gets reused?

 

[ducklite]

8 hours ago, CPT Trips said:

 

Do they just hand you the menu on print stock or do they put the menu into a hard cover holder that gets reused?

 

 

I saved a couple of the menus, and I'd definitely remember if I had taken them out of the holders.  (which I wouldn't have done...)

 

That aside, I could have a foggy memory about it, but knowing myself, I don't think so.

[Herfnerd]

I do both as I  handwash but also admit I don't always do it properly (at least per the CDC and Mayo Clinic) - soaping for a minimum of 20 seconds.   And I'm not the only one judging by how I've seen people washing their hands - some just rinse with water for a couple of seconds! 

[SRF]

On 9/22/2019 at 12:26 PM, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

If I have to pick a side, handwashing, without a doubt. 

 

It worked for hundreds of years, and we got by mostly fine. 

 

Actually not for hundreds of years.

 

Even though the mid to late 1800s, there was no knowledge of germs.  Even doctors did not wash their hands between surgeries.

[SRF]

16 hours ago, 2wheelin said:

To al the other germophobes on here, it is the people scrubbing away who have the most problems with illness. Wash your hands after using the bathroom—to protect others and move on. People catch all sorts of things these days because they don’t allow themselves to develop any immunity. 

 

This is a HUGE thing missed by many people.

 

Also, there have been some studies published that link adult onset allergies and asthma to being TOO clean in early life.

 

You have to be exposed to things to keep your immune system exercised.

[c-boy]

now hold on here, what about humans with compromised immune systems ?

[ducklite]

1 hour ago, SRF said:

 

This is a HUGE thing missed by many people.

 

Also, there have been some studies published that link adult onset allergies and asthma to being TOO clean in early life.

 

You have to be exposed to things to keep your immune system exercised.

 

We played in the dirt as children.  But we were always scrubbed down thoroughly with soap and water before eating.  They are two different data points, and the latter is not related to adult onset allergies or asthma.