Yep, I'm another Bob!

Absolutely, I always use a paper towel to open the door. The towel goes in the nearest trash can.

I not only use towels to open the door but to turn the faucet
on and off. If a restroom has only blowers I wash my hands with antibacterial hand wipes that I carry.

But I don't touch anything with my bare hands in a public restroom. Flush with my foot or a piece of paper.

Love those new touchless towel dispensers they are putting in. One of my favorite little diners even added a touchless soap dispenser.

When I signed up to do volunteer work at the hosp near where I used to live, that was part of our training. Use a piece of T Paper to flush, and paper towel to open the door when exiting the rest room. Good practice for all of us to use.

There I was riding around WalMart in one of their electric scooters and all of the sudden I burst out in laughter.

Jan says, "Care to share the joke with me?"

I said,"yea,,see that lady going in the changing room over there? Ten minutes ago she was standing outside the ladies room door with a bottle of hand sanitizer in one hand and a pack of tissues in the other in a feeble effort to clean her hands after leaving the ladies room. There is a chart on the ladies room door that shows they clean it every hour, but I bet nobody in the store remembers the last time the changing rooms were cleaned......LOL"

Hate the new touchless paper holders. They're always getting jammed. My favorite is the Xcelerator hand blower. It practically blows the skin off your hands. LOL. Your hands are dry in two seconds. Can't stand regular hand blowers.

Yep, I use my foot to flush, paper to open stall door and paper to turn on water, as well as exit the public bathroom, I should have added all this to the post I started.

I keep a dispenser of hand sanitizer in my car door pocket.

Use it when going thru the drive thu at the bank, pumping gas, etc etc etc.

Remember the movie: What about Bob?

I always use a paper towel to exit...also, I do not touch the soap dispensers! YUK As soon as I get to my truck, I sanitize my hands. I'm not a real germ freak but public bathrooms gross me out. I only use them if I HAVE to.

Do you know what the most germ-ridden surface in a public bathroom? Nope, not even the toilet seat is as dirty as the button to the soap dispenser.

And yes, I am one who grabs extra towels to open the door.

I am not a germaphobe, I don't go to special lengths to opening the door and good god almighty if you can believe it, I cannot even remember the last time I was sick! HA! I guess I've got the last laugh!

Guess I am different. I do wash my hands, but don't worry about touching much else. Germs are everywhere and there have been several articles about using too many antibacterial products. I just try to be as care full as I can. But I am extra careful visiting people in the hospital. Usually the times we do get sick is after we are at the Doctor's office with all those sick people.

There are some public restrooms that are probably cleaner than some of my friends. If you are going to wash your hands anyway, why do you need paper to open the stall door?

If you are going to wash your hands anyway, why do you need paper to open the stall door?

Because you are maybe going to touch yourself. Men understand this concept better than women. Many believe it is more important to clean up BEFORE going. They know where their privates have been but not so sure what their hands may have touched.

and always remember ppl....think of where you put your purse!

Before I wash my hands I get the paper toweling to dry my hands, so I don't have to touch the lever to advance the paper after my hands are clean.
Kathy G in MI

I don't worry about it very much...I figure I am building up my immunity.
If it is flu season, I am more careful.

I've been touching all sorts of things everywhere for many, many years and never caught a thing. People really should build up their immune systems. Germs are everywhere. All those extra precautions are for naught if someone in the next stall sneezes.

I got an eye infection fron either the front door handle or from handling the magazines when I visited the eye doctor.

I had a small growth on my eyelid. The doctor asked me where it was. Without thinking I put my finger on it.

A very contagious eye infection was just starting to go around. So contagious that some doctors got it as well as workers in the eyeglass stores.

That was the last time that I touched a magazine in a waiting room.

In doctors offices and hospitals I use a tissue to push elevator buttons, and try to hold my breath until I can exit.

I don't worry much about germs, and I rarely get sick, though I supposedly have a very compromised immune system.

I do all of those things and never touch my face when I'm out of my home. My husband hasn't learned this yet as he rubs his eyes and puts his fingers near his mouth. I try never to have to use restrooms but if I do I wash like a crazy person and never touch anything without a paper towel.

You're not alone. Yep, me too, I use it on everything in a public restroom.

Yuck, I avoid public bathrooms at all costs!! I shudder to think of my granddaughter getting big enough to have to use them....icccckkkk!!!

How do you expect to build your immunities if you are hand-sanitizing constantly. The most important thing to avoid getting sick is to wash your hands with SOAP AND WATER and to not touch your face. That being said, I do use a paper towel to open the bathroom door if available. And any door I can open using my shoulder instead of touching it, I do.

I really try not to use public restrooms and certainly not touch anything in there. The sinks especially creep me out, so I'll often wash my hands with sanitizer. I even hate to use the tp that is already hanging down off the dispenser, since it's likely the person before me has touched it. So I often take advantage of those thin paper seat covers and use those instead of tp when they are available. With all this said, the shopping cart handles probably have more germs than anything else. I know this sounds nuts and I probably am, lol.

Meijer grocery has sanitizing wipes for your use as you come in for your cart handles and hands. I am not so picky about using a towel or things. I do use a handy wipe before eating if we get fast food and have been shopping.

Sue

IM another one who doesnt go through all of these precautions and never get sick

Count me in as a paper towel handle holder :)

I also carry BBW pocket bacs in my handbag. It's amazing how many times I pull that thing out and use it.

I would love for someone to test the outside of all the hand sanitizer bottles.

You have dirty hands, you pick up the bottle, squirt some stuff out, put the bottle away, in your purse, car door, pocket, wherever. Germs are now on the bottle, in your purse, car door, wherever.

My dad is a germaphobe and it makes me nuts, he won't do anything without washing his hands first. He gets a lot of colds. I am not a germaphobe but I do wash my hands after using a public restroom but don't fret about handles on carts or menus, etc. I haven't had a cold in years, or anything for that matter.

I just read an article that stated that the hot air driers are one of the most germ-laden things in a public restroom. Don't know if it's true or not but interesting thought

You have dirty hands, you pick up the bottle, squirt some stuff out, put the bottle away, in your purse, car door, pocket, wherever. Germs are now on the bottle, in your purse, car door, wherever

Now you've done it, Flamingo! They're gonna go nuts worrying now. Thanks!

I never touch anything in a public bathroom, and I use a paper towel on the door handle too.

I've haven't had a cold or flu in many years.

I do think I picked up conjunctivitis in an eye doctor's office a few years ago.

The air coming out of the blow dryer in the bathroom has to get pretty hot on the trip through, doesn't it?

As far as turning the thing on ... what do you figure that elbows/forearms are fore?

Quite a few public places now have replaced doors with that sort-of-a-maze thing that you walk through to get to the business end of things.

Didn't I read somewhere the other day that the average home's kitchen counter often has more germs than the average home's toilet seat?

Heck - we have billions of germs on our bodies, don't we? Most of them friendly, I'm pleased to report.

Oh, well.

ole joyfuelled ... somewhat prone to un-sanitized remarks

lily -- I, too, just avoid touching my face while outside my house. DH and I wash our hands as soon as we get home. We wash hands or use sani-wipes before eating.

This all sounds like overkill. Do y'all not touch the clothes in a store or the items in a grocery store? How about your mail? Money? The gas pump handle? Your car door? Do you 'shoulder' your way into church? Wipe off the pew and kneeler?

Do you think germs are confined to public bathroom? Germs are *everywhere*. You just need to avoid putting them where they can get INTO you -- past your skin, into your mouth, eyes, 'other' parts.

Do you know who tore the lettuce in your salad or cut the veggies? Did the chef or the waiter cough, sneeze or *breathe* near the food? Did they *touch your plate*?

PARANOIA, my dear peeps.

I bet you germaphobes would die if you had to clean out a horse stall, and do any of you do yard work, dirty jobs like that...and heaven forbid pick up after your dog when you take them walking. Now I know who you are that I'm cursing that don't pick up after your dogs on the walking path.

I am SO laughing

I am a retired Commercial Plumber and I could not begin to count the number of hours I have laid on my back on a public restoom floor in schools, hospitals & retail stores of all sorts, yet I never even had occassion to go to a doctor for over 25 years...and as sad as it is to admit, I am the worlds worst for not washing my hands when I should.

But then I also grew up on a dairy farm and as a kid we didn't think a thing about cleaning the barn in our bare feet, often standing ankle deep in animal fecal matter and the only precautions we took was to roll our pant legs up so Mom wouldn't give us H@## for getting that stuff on our clothes....in fact, when we went to chase the cows in on a foggy morning in spring or fall we would watch the cows when they first stood up and hope they would poop so we could dunk our bare feet in it to warm our toes, then we would run to the creek and spash them off in the cold water and look for another fresh spot to warm our toes....LOL

Now I will admit that I now suffer from COPD, but that is a result of a lifetime of working with radio active materials, asbestos, and chemicals of all varieties and mostly with just the bare minimum or no safety equipment at all, and not to mention a one pack day smoking habit since 1962. But aside from my breathing problems my doctor says I am as health as a 20yr old athlete....go figure.

I'm another one that doesn't worry about all those germs. I do wash my hands before leaving the public restroom but don't worry about the rest. Outside of sniffles I haven't been sick in years.

When I took microbiology in college we had to go out through the college and swab various things to culture and grow out germs and see what was the dirtiest. The drinking fountains were way more 'dirty' than the toilet stools.

bet you germaphobes would die if you had to clean out a horse stall, and do any of you do yard work, dirty jobs like that...and heaven forbid pick up after your dog when you take them walking

Actually a lot of us animal people are a strange breed. I can handle all kinds of animal "stuff" that I could not deal with if it were people "stuff".I know a lot of people like myself. We could never be nurses for example but we have no problem with the nastiest animal stuff. Canine anal glands are fine but I ain't touching no people butts. LOL

Well one thing that I do make a point of doing is when I get home, I wash my hands really good as soon as I finish putting away the groceries and stuff.

Well wildchild, I wish more dog owners were like you because most people don't pick up after their dogs even though there are signs all down the path saying "it's the law"...I wonder what the fine would be if caught..HAHAHA!

I wonder how many people who are 'protecting' their washed hands from contact with a door actually wash their hands long enough to get them clean. (You need to wash as long as it takes to go through the Happy Birthday Song twice in your mind. Hot water, cold water, soap or no soap...it's the friction and TIME that remove the germs.)

I use the surgeon method when washing my hands in public bathrooms (and sing Happy Birthday in my mind) and I do use a paper towel to open the door...but I'm also not afraid to get my hands in dirt or dog poop.

I'm not a germophobe either. We wash hands once in a while. I avoid doctor's offices in winter and wash hands when I come home, but don't go overboard with it. It annoys the heck out of me that the school has the kids use hand sanitizer before eating rather than washing hands.

This may be a little off topic, but one thing that has always been a point of curiousity with me is the people who don't think other people's kitchens are clean enough or are huge germophobes about unclean surfaces. These same people have multiple sex partners and apparently don't use protection other than birth control pills. That has a lot more potential for disease than the hand washing issues. I don't get the attitude.

I get a kick out of the extremes. There's the "germophobes" on one end of the pendulum and the Ah eats dawg turds, nevuh wash muh hanz and ah duzint gets sik! Germs make me healthy. on the other end! Very amusing to me. I wouldn't care to see their homes if some of these people are being honest! LOL

I tend to be more to the moderate. I avoid public bathrooms but when I need to use them I use them. I don't worry about too much, however if I'm in a restaurant then yes, I use a paper towel on the door and finally after enough people toss the towels on the floor they're wising up and putting waste baskets by the door. Some places even have the door so you push as you leave rather than enter. Makes more sense.

I don't like seeing wait staff handling flatware by the business end though, nor do I like when they put their fingers inside the glasses to grab several of them to carry. I know that sanitary conditions in restaurants are spotty at best and take that into consideration. You don't avoid all, but to not use common sense is silly too.

When I'm out and about and go to a drive through and when I've been in a situation where something is dirty, yes I use sanitizer. I also realize that using sanitizer is not washing your hands! And I also know that toilets spray bacteria all over, moreso when there's no lid like public toilets or when people won't put the lid down.

Even at home I know that phones, computers, remote controls, keys and the like are some of the dirtiest things around and if you're using them, you have potential issues.

I don't particularly like situations where people for instance have a community bowl of popcorn, people grabbing with their unwashed hands, lick their fingers (probably the only cleaning those hands have seen in a week) and then go back in for another fistful. I don't obsess but I usually will pass on it.

When women worry about germs with that petri dish they carry around with them on their arm or shoulder all the time, well, that's also amusing! And then set that on the table. Might as well wipe the table with raw chicken. LOL

always washed, ect but until i had my cancer , never thought about doors, carts, ect...but now i do for sure! don't ever want to go back and spend a second in a hospital again!

Hi Arkansas girl,

"Well one thing that I do make a point of doing is when I get home, I wash my hands really good as soon as I finish putting away the groceries and stuff."

Wouldn't it be more effective to wash *first*? Before putting way the groceries, etc.? Even so ... let's not forget that most of them have been handled a number of times prior to our picking them up in the first place ... and then by the check-out person while scanning them (unless you use do-it-yourself check-out).

o j

Yep. One of the first lessons volunteers at our hospital learn--use it on the faucet, door, etc.