Dirty hands? Think twice about using that public restroom soap

Cleveland Plain Dealer ^ | 9/6/2013 | Janet Cho

[EBH]

AKRON, Ohio -- Here's something that might send you dashing back to the washroom: Microbiologists at GOJO Industries and other institutions have discovered that a quarter of the soap in public restrooms is so contaminated that it leaves your hands filthier than before you washed them.

In fact, some of the soap they tested contained so much fecal matter that you're almost better off washing your hands in the toilet after you flush it, said Charles P. Gerba, professor of microbiology in the University of Arizona's Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science.

GOJO, the company that invented Purell hand sanitizer, has launched a public awareness campaign called Gojo.com/NoMoreBulkSoap to not only warn consumers about the hazards of using dirty soap, but also to convince businesses, airports, shopping centers, restaurants, and schools to quit using some soap dispensers altogether...

... Turns out that washing with dirty soap could leave your hands with "25 times more (potentially harmful) gram-negative bacteria after washing than before washing with contaminated soap," Shumaker said. "You could end up going into a public restroom and coming out dirtier than you were before."

[CharlesWayneCT]

I use the water, because there has been few cases where they have found the water coming out of the tap to be contaminated.

I don’t use the soap. I rinse my hands, and then let them air-dry, and push the door open with my elbows. Unless it is a hand, then I use a towel.

I do hate when you have to touch something to get the towels though. A lot of bathrooms are putting in electronic towel dispensers, which help. The blow-dryers are OK, but you can’t use them to get the door open.

[CharlesWayneCT]

It is kind of funny how “grossed out” people get about a guy who pees not washing his hands. Like guys don’t ever adjust themselves, or that they actually pee on their hands somehow.

I always rinse the hand I use. Most of the time I’ll rinse my hands before using the toilet, because I figure whatever I’ve been touching for the last 5 hours is likely to be dirtier than my privates.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

In fact, some of the soap they tested contained so much fecal matter that you're almost better off washing your hands in the toilet after you flush it,

Really dear boy? I would like to point out that in the majority of bathrooms there is cleaner that rushes through the bowl to cleanse it so you might be right. After flushing toilet water is actually quite clean.

As for the "fecal matter in the soap" thing I am going to come right out and say that your alleged study is full of fecal matter.

[Jeff Chandler]

and someday, they'll find that repeated washing your hands with the alcohol soap is only making germs more adaptable

Not likely. There is no microbial resistance to alcohol.

.

and we less resistant

Perhaps. There question is: at what point do our efforts at hygiene stop protecting us and start making us weaker?

[Jeff Chandler]

I always rinse the hand I use.

You only need one hand?

[ansel12]

*””I flush with my foot, and get out of the stall quickly so as to avoid a shower of germs from the open toilet.””*

This product removes that floating mist, and odors.

For a couple of years I tried to push this product to my upscale customers, especially for those on small luxury boats.

Youtube video — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqCwIj05QrY

Manufacturers site- http://ventagesystem.com/how_it_works.php

The Ventage System is a revolutionary bathroom vent system where the vent attaches directly to your toilet to stop odors at the source. Unlike a traditional ventilation fan that ventilates the odors once they escape the toilet, the Ventage System ventilates the odors before they escape into the bathroom. The Ventage System utilizes a blower, not a fan. Unlike a fan, a blower is capable of creating negative air pressure which creates suction, not just air movement. This is why the odors do not escape the toilet. This patented design whisks away odors before they ever escape into the air. Direct toilet ventilation keeps your bathroom air cleaner and smelling better than ever.

[444Flyer]

Oh there is no such thing as dirty soap unless they mean a bar of soap that someone did not rinse off after using...

"It was soap poisoning."

[bgill]

Read the article before posting.

[bgill]

0% of guys wash their hands at our middle school. The school took out the soap dispensers because the boys kept putting stuff in them or squirting them all over the place. The male species is gross.

[lastchance]

A tragic fate that most children these day will never know.

[lastchance]

Oh to heck with that. Get a service dog to help you cope with lavatoraphobia.

[lastchance]

Fecal matter would be solid and visible. I wonder if they mean E.Coli which is vary common and of different strains. Not all of which are fecal matter.

[Cyber Liberty]

All the soap dispensers where I am are “touchless.” I wish the water facets were too.

[CatherineofAragon]

Cool product. We just keep the lid closed when we flush, LOL.

[Sherman Logan]

GOJO thinks it's best to eliminate refillable soap dispensers entirely and replace them with sealed-soap dispensers that squirt soap directly on the hands. "When you're talking about a sealed system, you're just opening up the dispenser and putting a sealed cartridge in there," Shumaker said.

IOW, GOJO wants you to buy their products.

[gitmo]

The mens room was immaculate and the ladies(wrong term) room was always filthy by noon.

I had a job that required me to clean some public restrooms in city parks. The ladies' rooms were absolutely disgusting. The men's rooms were OK.

[US_MilitaryRules]

Uh, when people wipe their butts and get it on their hands. Then they walk over to the sink and push the dispenser! Pooh on the dispenser handle for you to get on your hands.

[US_MilitaryRules]

That is because I was taught to use TP for #2 and not to pee on my fingers! lol Old harvard/sanford joke. lol

[ErnBatavia]

NEVER touch the flusher knob with your hands. Use your forearm or elbow.

Hell, I always use my foot - if I bother at all....I be good at the high-kick thing.

Seriously, when we travel, I carry a small aerosol of germicide spray and hit all the hotel doorknobs, plumbing handles, phone, TV remote, bathtub bottom and A/C thermostat; then after a shower, I hit the feets with athlete foot spray.

[bigredkitty1]

It’s that nasty pink stuff that masquerades as soap. It does not lather up and dries your hands out tremendously. In the restroom at work, I personally put out Dial liquid hand soap in the individual dispensers. Less than a buck each and people use the soap because it works. Last January, the flu hit my company HARD. The week I had scheduled for vacation, I spent sick with the flu. At work, half the phone staff was out with the flu, the other half was either coming down with it or just recovering. I made the decision to put out soap that works. At best, it helps cut down on some of the illnesses that get passed around in a public setting. At worst, it’s one of life’s little niceties in an unexpected place.