What? My dog isn't the dirtiest thing? He will be so disappointed!

I'm amazed at the number of people that set there purse or lay their jacket on a public restroom floor. I see this all the time and it completely grosses me out.

I've heard that dirty purse thing before, but after reading this and the "dirtiest" post, I'm gonna go clean the bottom of my purse RIGHT NOW!!

i NEVER set my pocketbook down on the ground anywhere. if i need to use a rest room and there is no hook on the door i keep it in my lap. same thing at a restaurant. i'm a virgo for sure!

I never bring my purse into the kitchen! But...eeeew!

This kind of folding purse hanger (which comes in many, many designs) is worth its weight for carrying. The round part has a non-scratch, non-slip backing, and goes on the table or door, and the "bracelet" part is on a swivel and becomes the hook, then wraps around the round part and sticks in place with a magnet when not in use. Some have a little makeup mirror instead of the decor, so do double duty. There's a larger size as well--the original is about the diameter of a quarter and the large is more like a half dollar. The larger one is also thicker, having ridges that protect the "bracelet". I do not willingly put my bag on a public floor.

I remember a study from a while back that stated the cutting wheel on an electric can opener is the dirtiest place in the kitchen. Food residue stays on the wheel or gets into the nooks and crannies and festers, growing some nasty stuff.

Whew!! I don't own a purse! I do own a can opener, though. I don't suppose it counts but I do rinse it under hot water almost every time I use it.

I loop the short shoulder strap over my knee (so that I don't get up and leave my purse)--never put it on the floor, but also never put it on the kitchen counter. But I do put it on the kitchen table, so I think I'll go clean the table and the bottom of my purse just because. . .

I would have bet the can opener cutting wheel or under/behind the fridge would have been the dirtiest. Come to think of it, I better pull my fridge and stove out tomorrow and clean under/behind/sides of them. :(

Another good reason why I don't carry a purse

i don't set my purse down in the restroom either. and i don't bring it in the kitchen. whew, because that IS yuck when you think about it!

but i did see on tv that the can opener is the first place where restaurant inspectors check!

hey plllog, pretty nifty gadget!

Oh man...it's such a non-kitchen item...didn't even think to think of that!

But...I do wipe my purse with those wipes (along with the handles & shelf that holds the purse) when I go to the store 'cause I've read that purse bottoms are really nasty.

I've seen some gals put their purses on a public bathroom floor! EWWW!If I have no place to put it, I just hang it around my neck...I always carry a shoulder bag.

Congrats Growlery!

Well, now we have a good start on what's the messiest place in a kitchen. Honestly, how gals find anything in the typical purse is beyond me.

The closest thing I have to a purse is my briefcase/laptop bag, it has about 20 different compartments and holds about 60 different items, I always keep the same item in the same compartment, so it amazes me how jumbled the contents of SWMBO's purse are - its like she keeps a food processor in there and gives everything a whirl.

I do set my briefcase on the floor of the public restroom - but then again, it never sits anywhere but on the floor, regardless of where it is - basically, it's like shoes.

john...ever wonder why the insides of our purses don't light up? We don't WANT you to know what we have in there! It's secret...it holds magic. You cannot harness magic. Otherwise, it's not magic. Then, it's just a well-organized briefcase with all its lovely compartments that have no life of their own. You poor dear. ;)

I did read somewhere about the bottom of a purse being yucky.

'Losing' my purse in Italy one time, taught me a valuable lesson about keeping my purse on my person.

My purse never sits on the floor. I use a purse hanger to hold it on the edge of the table. If the purse hanger doesn't work because of table design, I hang it on my knee or wear the strap across my chest.

I don't carry fashionable purses because, 1) I can't be bothered and 2) I prefer function over fashion for the safety factors... primarily strap design so I can do the 'across-the-chest' wearing.

Also, I had a hook in my old kitchen where I hung my purse as I had very little counter space for it to land on. No room to cook, much less store a purse.

So I guess I only need to worry about the sponge, can opener, garbage can, ..... :-)

Pepper

ps. I did get my purse back. Bless the people at the restaurant. And now I need to think about where I can hang my purse in the not-yet-finished-past-schedule kitchen.

Once I was in a public restroom at the end of the day, the cleaner was cleaning the bathroom by dunking a mop into the toilet bowls, then swishing the mop around the top of the toilet seat and base then mopping the floor of the stall with the water from the toilet. This was repeated in each stall, ewwwwww.....
No sitting on public toilet seats or putting my purse on the floor for me!

Just to clarify, I don't put my purse on bathroom floors (or kitchen counters) either! But I know it must be yucky from somewhere it's been, so I cleaned my purse before we went out to dinner tonight anyhow : )

Wow, xc60 -- I was going to suggest a very judicious out-of-the-way corner placement of the purse/briefcase (my choice as well) if/when necessary. But I guess there's nowhere tohide from such treatment as you witnessed.

The good news is: if it doesn't kill you, it's good for you. (maybe). In general, I think, these pathogens are more gross to contemplate than ingest. We're pretty well setup to take care of the stuff. But still....

I gave up on a purse some time ago and wear instead, basically exclusively, hiking pants with multiple pockets (well filled). But I was in school the other day and it was reported to me that I looked like a "creepy lady" which is positively mortifying. Clearly, pants-as-purse is not Ok with the teen crowd. So now what??? Purses invite thievery and if not oversight and loss.

I haven't carried a purse in years. I also wear hiking pants with multiple velcro and zipper pockets and they have zip off legs to boot so I can use them all year ! Aliris, that is so funny....the only recent comment I have had was " wow your butt looks so little in those pants....wish mine looked that good ! ". LOL ! Guess I will keep on wearing them . c

plllog that's a good gadget and I think I'll pick one up. I had my purse stolen off the back of my chair once at a restaurant (when my friends and I never left the table - they were that quick and we had no idea) and it was such a pain to replace everything, and wonder about the creepo who had my name and address. (Luckily my keys were in my pocket.) So... chair backs are out, so I end up hanging it on my knee, which can be a pain and it sometimes falls to the floor.

I never bring a purse on vacay -- my backpack does duty as my carryon, purse, camera bag, etc. It takes a beating and ends up on the airplane floor (among other places -- like the beach and my sweaty back on a hike), so I'm going to be more careful about where it ends up when I'm inside!

Oh! How nice to come back and read that I have a "dirty mind"! I am a girl, BTW. A curmudgeon, but a girl curmudgeon.

(And, for the record, swabs of toilet seats actually come back relatively clean. You have much more to fear from the office's front door handle.)

Also, a study a couple of years ago indicated that there are more numbers and varieties of germs that live on the "dry desert" of your forearm than on your moist palm, which people wash, intentionally or unintentionally, many times a day.

I must also point out that I am not a cleaning fanatic. I eat at salad bars, I carry a purse, I don't bleach my lettuce, but I do believe in science, and I know that some people may suddenly be faced with a need to know the facts -- someone undergoing cancer therapy, a pregnancy, a sick child visiting.

And sometimes the idea of what is dirty and the facts about what is a vector for disease can be different. So live your life, just wash it occasionaly.

So true, Growlery - it's a wonder any of us are still alive :)