What You Should Know About Handbags

[Happy ks]

Just make sure the paper towels are dry and not the ones you just dried your hands on. Wet or damp paper towels are a pathway for germs, not a barrier. At the same time, there are just as many airborne germs, and I never see anyone wearing a mask...... Except in our OR and for medical procedures not done in the OR.

 

I've mentioned before, we have hand washing inservice at our work, so I know all about how the little germis can travel and grow. I turn on the faucet, wash my hands with soapy water, use my left hand on the towel dispenser, turn the faucet off with the towel, use the towel on the dispenser for a bit of fresh towel to open the bathroom door. More public restrooms are starting to "get it" and place the trash can outside or right next to the bathroom door. If the trash can isn't in the vicinity of the door, It goes into my pocket until I find one.

 

At home I always put the lid down before flushing.

 

Most homes the kitchen sink is dirtier than the bathroom toilet can be because they disinfect the toilet more routinely. People use the sink all day to wash fruit, rinse off raw meat, etc... Many people use sponges or the same cleaning cloth over and over and merely spread germs around, nothing is really clean. Sponges are the worst, they stay moist for so long it's a haven for germs to thrive. Some of the cleanest looking kitchens are actually the dirtiest ones because of sponges or re-used towels.

 

So, some think it is obsessive to clean with disinfectant, I think it is vital for your families health. It's not difficult, just routine to clean the counter top after food prep, spray disinfectant and allow it to sit for a few minutes to kill germs and wipe it off with a fresh towel or paper towels. I spray our kitchen sink with a bleach solution several times a day after each meal, it's just a part of doing the dishes for me.

 

When we're cruising, I just go back to the cabin to use the restroom, it's not that far away, ever. I've cruised for an entire week and never saw the inside of the ships public restroom.

[GORDONCHICK]

I've mentioned before, we have hand washing inservice at our work, so I know all about how the little germis can travel and grow. I turn on the faucet, wash my hands with soapy water, use my left hand on the towel dispenser, turn the faucet off with the towel, use the towel on the dispenser for a bit of fresh towel to open the bathroom door. More public restrooms are starting to "get it" and place the trash can outside or right next to the bathroom door. If the trash can isn't in the vicinity of the door, It goes into my pocket until I find one.

 

 

My comments weren't meant for anyone specifically (merely piggy-backed to yours), but for anyone who thought a damp paper towel was better than direct contact. Working for a health system, we are very cognizant of direct and indirect exposure, droplet and airborne pathogens.

[alphakitty]

Here's a handy way to keep those purses off the floor. :)

 

http://www.pursejewelry.com/shoppursehangers.html

[Jane110]

 

I've never put my handbag on the floor simply because I have what I consider to be nice handbags and I don't want them on the floor. I have a nifty little purse hook that I can use to hold my handbag off the floor and off the seat at a restaurant. I have a fear of hanging it on the back of my chair, not from germs, but from thieves.

 

I do put it on the floor of my car, but in the back where hardly anyone ever sits. At work I store it in a cupboard, at home it hangs on a hook. When I use the facilities in a restaurant, I leave it at the table with my husband, taking along only my lipstick in my pocket or lacking a pocket I stick it in my bra while doing my thing.

 

I can't even put my purse down on the seat of public transportation, you have no idea who has been sitting there before you. Just this week we were on a Trolley tour in San Diego, across from us was an elderly couple. The husband asked about restroom facilities and the driver directed him at the next stop. I watched them disembark and he had sadly already wet his pants. I felt terrible for him and even worse for the next person who sat on the seat :o

 

I'm one of those people who think every surface of a public bathroom is crawling with germs. Because the toilets don't have lids (germs spray out when flushing) and because it is used by the public and many members of the public are total slobs. I won't touch the handles of the sink or the doorknobs, I use paper towels for those things.

 

A little bit of attention and care is fine and will not lower your resistance to germs, it will more than likely protect you. It's only when you carry it too far, over-using antibacterial soap and other antibacterial products that you kill off your good bacteria, leaving yourself a target for the very thing you are trying to avoid.

 

One other area that totally grosses me out is counter tops used by the public. So many times I watch mommies plop their diaper clad kids onto the counter at banks, stores, offices....ick!

 

 

Totally agree with every point.

 

I've never put my handbag on the floor of a public place. It's gross.

I now have those purse hooks and keep on in every handbag. Before I had them, if there was no place for my bag, I kept it on my lap. NEVER on the floor!

[SalPal47]

Thank you for putting it so clearly--I have emailed your info to all of my girl friends-

[CAC104]

I originally posted this info because it just was something that I never really thought about....I am not a germ phobic...We have all kinds of germs and bacteria around us all the time, and if we are exposed to stuff, we build up immunities. My kids grew up with dogs and a cat, and I let them eat dirt without freaking out, but I always sterilized my bathrooms and kitchen the best I could. I put my sponge in the dishwasher every night with the dishes and I use white dish rags which I wash with bleach. I just never thought about dropping my purse down on the counter tops when I came in. Usually I walk from the garage into the family room and then into the kitchen and unload what I am carrying...Now, I am really watching where I put my purse down:;)

[Cruzfan34]

I put my sponge in the dishwasher every night with the dishes

 

 

Did you know that you can put your WET sponges in the microwave for a few seconds to kill germs? Personally, I'd rather toss it.:rolleyes:

[Liquid Shiva]

How do you people make children?

 

Sex must be so dirty for you :p

[JolieMadam]

We were recently in a very upscale restaurant in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and the waiter brought a purse tree to the table for us to use. What a great idea! I wonder how many servers trip over women's purses that are sitting on the floor. Wouldn't it be nice if more places utilized this type of thing.

 

About the purse on the floor thing in the restrooms...if there is no hook for it, I will grab a few of those toilet seat liners and place my bag on those and then on the floor.

[travel girl23]

I bought a purse hook that attaches to the table when we eat out. I never put my purse on the floor. I found it for about $5 at one of those catalog places like Lillian Vernon or Walter Drake, don't remember which one. Well worth the money. Travelgirl

[BlueHerons]

Good god! I would never put my handbag on the floor and I certainly would not spray it with lysol and anything else so damaging!

 

My bag doesn't go on the floor anywhere including my home.

[CAC104]

Did you know that you can put your WET sponges in the microwave for a few seconds to kill germs? Personally, I'd rather toss it.:rolleyes:

Putting it in the micro wouldn't clean it though....and I can't afford to throw a sponge a day away.

 

Good god! I would never put my handbag on the floor and I certainly would not spray it with lysol and anything else so damaging!

 

My bag doesn't go on the floor anywhere including my home.

 

I don't carry designer bags...

[mad4mky]

How do you people make children?

 

Sex must be so dirty for you :p

 

THIS has GOT to be the post of the day!!!:D :D :D

 

Too funny!!

[kidznp]

After reading this thread yesterday, I caught myself at the local grocery store this afternoon just about to plop my purse in the "kid seat" like I have done all my life. Of course I suspiciously looked at the seat and kept my purse on my shoulder--will start carrying my leather backpack bag when shopping from now on. Anybody ever think about all the germs inside your purse on the money:eek: . Lord knows where THAT'S been!!

[ElsieToo]

How do you people make children?

 

Sex must be so dirty for you :p

 

 

I know that this is supposed to be funny (and it is) but you've mentioned several times that you think we as a society take cleanliness too far; we understand. Referencing it repeatedly won't make us change our minds about what actions we take, and statements with "you people" as a subject are condescending. It's entirely possible that your situation is different from ours - Holland is a very different place with different social customs and norms. It's not fair to impose your expectations on how to live on people with such dissimilar lives.

[JJHNLC]

Just my two cents..... I never put my handbag on the floor anywhere, but I am guilty of putting it on the kitchen counter. In the car it is on the front seat, back seat or center console. Never the table either. No I don't think we can be too careful when it comes to germs, especially in public places, because even though most of us wash our hands after using the bathroom, there are many, many who don't!!!:eek: Just this past weekend I was in a public restroom and while I was at the sink I witness 2 women leave the stall and head out the door. Never stopping at the sink YUK!!!!:mad: Anyway off to sponge down the bag LOL;) !!!

[madge57]

I guess I never thought about putting my purse on the floor! I have always used the hooks on the door. Its there so I use it. It has nothing to do with cleanliness just a habit that I have always done. My house is clean and I'm sure I spread germs around but I'm 49 with a DH, 2DS and 1DD and know ones been in the doctors office with serious illness. I guess we just live right and don't worry about it. Yes I wash my hands after I am in the bathrooms just habit not worried about the germs. I live my life not worry about it!!

[Jane110]

How do you people make children?

 

Sex must be so dirty for you :p

 

"Us people"? You mean you feel that there's a you vs us? And I gather that "make children" is your way of saying have sex, since many of us here are not into baby making or doing it for reproduction purposes only.;)

 

Well, I can't speak for all "us people", but this person, has no problem exchanging bodily fluids with my spouse. However, I don't see how that has any relation to putting my handbag on the filthy floor of a public toilet.

 

I just don't see how they're related. But please, don't bother to explain, it's TMI. (too much information) LOL! :p

[iamgolden]

I would never spray my $500 handbags w/Lysol:eek:, and I never gave any thought to where I put them down. I have way too much else to worry about, and we seem to be a pretty healthy lot.

[cruisemom42]

Anybody ever think about all the germs inside your purse on the money:eek: . Lord knows where THAT'S been!!

 

 

Ick, does that bring back memories. When in college I worked summers as a fill-in teller at a bank. You would not BELIEVE how many people would come in to make a deposit, taking the money directly out of their bra, sock, or shoe (in the heat of the summer, in the deep South....well, you can imagine.) Talk about gross! And this was in the days before hand sanitizer was available. I was in the bathroom at every break, scrubbing my hands!

[McDebbie]

Thank you SO much to the OP! I have been bitching for YEARS because my SIL and MIL walk in the house and dump their purses on the kitchen counter. DH couldn't see the big deal, now maybe he will get the idea! Not only do I hate them being on my kitchen counter but THEY don't know what I have had up there in the past few hours!

[Liquid Shiva]

[quote name=Jane110;11271698

I just don't see how they're related. But please' date=' don't bother to explain, it's TMI. (too much information) LOL! :p[/quote]

 

Pardon?

This is democracy? React on a post, but tell someone not to react anymore, in other words to shutup?

Without "explaining" too much; if you would have thought/looked a little further, you would have understood my post,

exchanging body fluids, is exchanging germs in the worst way ;)

it was written with a bit of humour, to lighten up the fearfull posts, full of diseases and worse....:rolleyes:

[CAC104]

I know that this is supposed to be funny (and it is) but you've mentioned several times that you think we as a society take cleanliness too far; we understand. Referencing it repeatedly won't make us change our minds about what actions we take, and statements with "you people" as a subject are condescending. It's entirely possible that your situation is different from ours - Holland is a very different place with different social customs and norms. It's not fair to impose your expectations on how to live on people with such dissimilar lives.

 

I know when I have been in Europe I see a lot of women who do not believe in shaving the hair on their legs and under their arms and do not use deodorant either....if that is an idea of natural living, then I am glad I use some artificial products to keep clean.

[KC_fn]

Women put their purses on the floor in public restrooms? :confused: There is almost always a hanger, and when there's not, a shoulder will do in a pinch. Sheesh.

 

All of my purses are fabric, and get a good laundering occasionally.

[Ottawa_cruise_man]

You mean I'm not supposed to lick the bottom of my wife's purse? How else will I find out where she's been?:D