# Cleanliness **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 2, 2024, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505 "2024-01-02T17:39:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/141 "2024-01-05T10:46:24Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > They did. It was kinda gross when we uncovered one. This is why you need a dog, if you have a cat. Organic poop disposal. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/142 "2024-01-05T10:47:51Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > This is why you need a dog, if you have a cat. > > Organic poop disposal. We used to call them ‘dog tootsie rolls’. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/143 "2024-01-05T11:22:55Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Or from encountering bacteria or viruses coming directly off other humans or the stuff they’ve touched or pooped in or whatever. Haven’t read the massive thread yet but the above early reply glaringly omitted the issue of zoonooses. Even with zero human contact there’s plenty of bacterial / viral risk around (tuberculosis, rabies, tularemia, listeria, Hanta virus, Lyme disease, TBE, ad infinitum), and a boatload of animal-to-human parasites, as well, from tapeworm to trichinosis. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/144 "2024-01-05T14:23:37Z")
I remember a Medical Drama on TV where they had a young patient with visual issues. It was discovered, or manufactured, that he’s been playing in a sandbox where the cats had been pooping. He somehow ended up with some kind of worms inside his eyeballs. Don’t remember the cure though. I don’t know if that’s possible or not, but creepy. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/145 "2024-01-05T14:30:46Z")
House, M.D. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/146 "2024-01-05T14:38:11Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > He somehow ended up with some kind of worms inside his eyeballs > [@SuntanLotion](#): > > House, M.D More specifically … > **[Lines in the Sand (House)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lines_in_the_Sand_(House))** > > "Lines in the Sand" is the fourth episode of the third season of House and the fiftieth episode overall. > Adam, who is autistic, is learning shapes and words in his backyard. His father, Don, is trying very hard to show Adam words, but Adam seems more interested in drawing lines on his chalkboard. While eating his lunch, Adam gags as if choking, grabs at his chest, and screams loudly. > While House and his team are doing the differential diagnosis for Adam, he notices that the blood-stained carpe... ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/147 "2024-01-05T14:38:23Z")
Speaking of cleanliness…A friend stopped over last week to return a tool he’d borrowed. I invited him in for a beer. When we went inside I warned him my gf was working in her office with the door closed and so we couldn’t play loud music. He asked if he still had to remove his shoes (we do not wear shoes inside). I told him he could leave his shoes on if he did one thing. He had to remove one shoe and lick the sole from front to back. He didn’t have to think long before just removing his shoes. He has since texted me several times on how much the thought of licking his shoe affected him. He is no longer wearing shoes in his home and his wife may follow suit. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/148 "2024-01-05T15:01:15Z")
I often wear shoes in my house. I don’t eat off my floor, either. But i dance in places that require “no outdoor shoes”. I don’t really have any indoor-only shoes. So when i plan to go to a venue like that, i take a pair of shoes and wash the soles. And yes, I’d be happy to lick them after i wash them. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/149 "2024-01-05T15:14:46Z")
The unintended upside to this practice is that it makes it easy to figure out which of your friends – if any – is a closet shoe-licker. And that ain’t nothin’. ---
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/150 "2024-01-05T15:34:01Z")
So far the thread has dealt with the cleanliness of one’s person, one’s clothes, one’s floors, etc. and even washing eggs, but not (unless I missed it?) with dishes and silverware. In most areas mentioned I consider my own practices restrained and logical. My mother would have said slovenly. Washing dishes is the one area where I exceed her standards, and I admit it’s more compulsive than logical. Are the benefits more than aesthetic? What would happen if I quit _washing_ dishes entirely? If I simply wiped them with a relatively clean cloth till no visible food or grease was left and then put them away (a plan I am NOT actually considering) would I suffer any increased incidence of food borne illness? Exceptions would be made for anything that had contacted raw meat, of course, but that’s not something I often prepare anyway. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/151 "2024-01-05T15:38:30Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > I remember a Medical Drama on TV where they had a young patient with visual issues. It was discovered, or manufactured, that he’s been playing in a sandbox where the cats had been pooping. He somehow ended up with some kind of worms inside his eyeballs. Don’t remember the cure though. > > I don’t know if that’s possible or not, but creepy. I have a lady friend this happened to when she was about 3 years old. They tried to save her eye for several years but ended up removing it completely. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/152 "2024-01-05T15:39:27Z")
> [@Nyvaak](#): > > dishes and silverware. When my daughter was in high school, her home-ec teacher was a recent college graduate and a friend of mine. She knew absolutely nothing about the subject she was teaching, so she had to research everything. She taught my daughter that when washing dishes, flatware should be washed first, since forks/spoons went into your mouth and so should be cleaned the best. I’d never heard of that, indeed I’d wash flatware last. ---
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/153 "2024-01-05T15:43:48Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’d wash flatware last. Same here, but mostly 'cause it’s the biggest nuisance. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/154 "2024-01-05T15:58:24Z")
I wash dishes by hand. Usually the utensils and the drinking glasses go in the hot suds first. The glasses get washed and rinsed right away. Utensils get soaking time. Plates and bowls go into soak next. When the sink is cleared then cooking vessels go in and finally the dirtiest pan. Rarely do I need to change the water before the dishes are done. Before my driveway was concreted it was definitely shoes off in the house. The amount of mud sand and grit we used to track in from garage to mudroom was astounding. Now unless one takes a walk in the woods I don’t really care. My cats go outdoors and I can’t get them to wipe their feet. Also we own a vacuum cleaner ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/155 "2024-01-05T16:03:55Z")
When I wash dishes by hand (rare) I wash the glasses first, because minor streaks show on glasses. I don’t know that it matters whether to do plates or flatware next, but I do plates, because they take a lot of room in the sink, and stack neatly. Except, skip that, we now put all the plates in the dishwasher. It’s been years since I washed any significant number of plates by hand. Silverware is last. And when we use the actual silver, instead of stainless, it needs to be washed by hand because there’s stainless in the dishwasher, and the two react in the presence of hot dishwater. But the silver is always washed after the wine glasses. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/156 "2024-01-05T16:11:55Z")
In Zen monasteries, there are regular _sesshins_ which is are a solid week of sitting meditation in which you eat and sleep in the zendo at your assigned place. You eat with a set of three traditional oriyoki nesting eating bowls and chopsticks; you also have a napkin and a cleaning stick with a cotton pad on the end. At the end of the meal, the server comes around and pours a small amount of warm water into the bottom of one bowl, and you clean each bowl with the stick, drink the water, and wrap your bowls up in the napkin and tie it in a ceremonial knot. All with chanting. My point is, your bowls are eaten from for a week with only wiping, no soap, no real rinsing. It’s fine. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/157 "2024-01-05T16:58:36Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I often wear shoes in my house. I don’t eat off my floor, either. But i dance in places that require “no outdoor shoes”. I don’t really have any indoor-only shoes. So when i plan to go to a venue like that, i take a pair of shoes and wash the soles. And yes, I’d be happy to lick them after i wash them. I don’t wear shoes at all, unless it is mandatory (most restaurants, bars, etc) so my shoes live in my car in case of emergencies. I don’t wear gloves either, and I am pretty sure my hands touch worse things than my feet. I personally think that the idea that you are tracking in dog shit or dirt or whatever on your shoes ridiculous, and I have two young children who are much worse at personal hygiene than I am. They go barefoot too. We all have survived so far. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/158 "2024-01-05T17:08:25Z")
I never wash my good chopsticks. I lick off any visible food, and then wipe them with my napkin and put them away. Not many germs proliferate on clean dry surfaces. By removing food residue, i remove growth medium. Also, i don’t share those chop sticks with anyone else. My husband has a similar set which are his. But any residual germs on my set came from me. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/159 "2024-01-05T17:09:25Z")
I hate shoes. But, as needs must, they’re worn away from home. Not likely to get in anywhere around here barefoot. Medical facilities frown on barefeet. As @kayaker said, rarely anyone wears shoes inside my house. The licking the shoe sole is one I’m stealing. Thx. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/160 "2024-01-05T17:11:12Z")
> [@chela](#): > > I wash dishes by hand. Usually the utensils and the drinking glasses go in the hot suds first. Yes, that’s how I learned. back in the Goode Olde Days, when dish soap was not as effective and complicated, the glass was washed first because it was the most obvious if not clean, and then the dshes - white porcelain, also obvious, then the metal stuff. Plus of course the (metal) pots were probably the messiest and greasiest, so you wanted to wash them last so as not to get the water contaminated for the other items. > [@Ulfreida](#): > > My point is, your bowls are eaten from for a week with only wiping, no soap, no real rinsing. It’s fine. Like the towels discussion, the catch is also how long they stay wet - the wet goop is where bacteria like to grow. I presume these bowls are ceramic, so smooth non-porous. You wipe them clean and then they dry fairly fast. I would still recommend washing with soap, but rinsing and leaving no residue is probably a passable option unless it’s the middle of monsoon season, damp with humidity everywhere. Also presumably the food is freshly cooked, so comes with a lot less bacteria included than, say, a salad or milk. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505.md?page=9)