So I’m in the midst of having a pretty nasty cold right about now, and I went to sneeze here in the office and I whipped out my handy hankie and everyone started laughing at me! They said that I’m not old enough to use one and that it’s increadily gross that I do use one. I say that cotton feels better on your nose than any kleenex and that it’s much more environmentally friendly to use something that I can launder than it is to waste tons of paper just because I have to blow my nose.
I guess it is old fashioned, but what’s the big deal what I use for a snot rag?
It’s not like I’ve saturated the thing with two liters of mucus! I sneeze in the rag, and pack in the pocket it goes. It’s in my back jeans pocket that I don’t keep anything else in, so it’s not like it’s all over my car keys or anything either.
I prefer them as well – I sneeze right through a tissue. Bur be advised that not everyone feels this way. Pepper Mill and MilliCal use tissues exclusively.
And the Japanese look upon handkerchiefs (used as tissues) with loathing. I think they view it in the same light as if you’d use a handkerchief as toilet paper, and returned it to your pocket after use.
Ditto. Having a cold is gross no matter whether you use disposable or reusable snot rags. Hankies have the bonus of being an easy token thing for the environment–I don’t think paper tissues are flooding our landfills, but it’s one less thing to throw away. I suspect that they’re also cheaper in the long term; a pack of cotton hankies is pretty cheap, and you just throw them in with whatever white clothes you’re washing. (On the other hand, I’d feel a bit awkward about sending them to the laundry.)
I carried a hanky for a while, and probably will again. My biggest problem was remembering to pull them out of my pants before throwing them in the wash–I’d wind up with only one or two in my drawer in the morning and the rest scattered throughout the back pockets of various pairs of jeans.
So, its preferable to wipe your nose with the back of your hand or your sleeve when you don’t have access to a tissue? If I’m about to sneeze, I should sprint to the nearest tissue dispenser, or spray in someones face?
Chalk me up as a hanky user. I’d rather keep the germs and snot in a safe, washable location, than dripping down my face, or sprayed out like a cannon.
If you have a cold/allergies then carry tissues with you. Or, if you get caught without a tissue and wind up having to sneeze in your hands then run to the restroom and wash your hands. Another great alternative is water-free foaming hand sanitizer when you can’t get to a bathroom to wash your hands. I keep both that and tissues in my desk at work, and in the car.
There was a video on YouTube a while ago that said the best place to sneeze into is into your sleeve. The viruses don’t live very long there, and they’ll be washed out when you wash the shirt.
It’s also possible to overwash or oversanitize your hands. Soap and sanitizer gel is very drying, so unless you follow up with hand lotion, you’re at risk for cracked skin, which in turn, can allow all sorts of crudniks to enter. I’m not saying that you should never wash your hands, just that after every. single. sneeze during a cold is kind of unrealistic.
That said, I don’t have a problem with someone using a handkerchief in lieu of tissues, as long as there aren’t two quarts of mucus and other goodies in there.
So, wait–do you paper tissue users only use a tissue once per blow/wipe of a runny nose? How do you manage to carry around enough tissue to make it through an afternoon, much less an entire day? I’d have to have a pack-dog follow me around, laden with boxes of tissue, if I never reused a single tissue. Sure, it’s a bit gross, but as I said–once I’m a dribbling snot-factory, I’m far too busy with being miserable and disgusting to worry about getting squicked over a multi-use hanky.
I was told a while back that you’re supposed to cough into your elbow, to keep the germs away from your hand. To be honest I hadn’t thought of sneezing there. I get this image of a snot-crusted inner elbow.
And XJETGIRLX, as for always having enough tissues on hand, or hand sanitizer: My pockets are stuffed to capacity as is with wallet, cell phone, keys and the occasional hanky. If you can convince society that men should wear purses, maybe I’ll follow that advice.
I keep a box of tissues in every room of my house, and promptly dispose of the tissue once it’s been used. If I worked in an office (that wasn’t my home) I’d just…well, bring more tissues to work. If I leave the house with a runny nose I always have a pocket pack of tissues.
That being said, I have nothing against sneezing some sneeze spray into a hankie and putting it into your pocket to be used again. Also nothing against honking something into a tissue and putting the tissue in your pocket NOT to be used again.
The ick factor for me, I guess, is not so much having a pocket full of snot it’s having a snotty rag that you keep re-using to snot in to.
I rarely have problems with runny nose since I started using my neti pot. Before that I used to be a serious snot-factory. But, I digress.
If I have a cold or allergies bad enough that I’m constantly dripping, I stay home and keep a roll of TP out to use instead of tissue. Otherwise, it’s usually just the occasional sneeze or drip and one tissue usually does the trick.
And, if you keep using the same hanky you could be re-infecting yourself with germs. Nothing like a nice, porous, warm hanky full of moist snot to incubate a nice bumper crop of ickiness.