# Men: Do you wash your hands if nobody else is in the room? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 2, 2003, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941 "2003-04-02T12:50:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/1 "2003-04-02T12:50:24Z")
I know some guys actually go to the trouble of using soap and hot water to wash up after going to the bathroom, but most guys I see just perfunctorily wave their hands under cold water for, oh, about 1 second on the way out the door, and I’ve always wondered how many guys do that just because somebody else is in the room. So it’s time to fess up, guys… When you’re alone in the bathroom, do you bother washing your hands after peeing (I’m going to assume that EVERYBODY washes their hands after moving their bowels, since the alternative is just too nasty to consider…)? Barry ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/2 "2003-04-02T13:02:28Z")
Yes. 98.5% of the time. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/3 "2003-04-02T13:21:08Z")
Yes, ALWAYS! And I gets 'em clean, too. None 'O this wimpy stuff fer me, I’m scrubbing like a madman. I do this several times a day. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/4 "2003-04-02T13:27:19Z")
You could ask the same question of women. I know that I always wash - soap and hot water - whether there are other people around or not. But being on a university campus, I’m always amazed at the number of people who don’t ever seem to wash their hands, just exit the stall then the restroom. ---
**Author:** ![blinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@blinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinx)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/5 "2003-04-02T13:30:01Z")
Always. If there is soap and water, I will use it. But then again, I also wipe after peeing 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MSU\_1978](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@MSU\_1978](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MSU_1978)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/6 "2003-04-02T13:36:05Z")
Depends. If the stream is forceful enough where I can feel the splatter from the urinal, then yes. If a little tinkle that doesn’t spray, then no. ---
**Author:** ![Jammers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@Jammers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jammers)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/7 "2003-04-02T13:49:03Z")
If I’m at home, or work, then yes, I always wash. If i’m at the pub, or in a club, then no, because I am convinced that my undercarriage is far cleaner than most, if not all public toilets ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/8 "2003-04-02T14:06:13Z")
Yes, and if the sink is broken or the soap is all gone, I feel filthy until I can find somewhere to wash with soap. I’ve felt this way even before reading [Cecil’s take on the matter](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_220.html). ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/9 "2003-04-02T14:08:43Z")
I don’t even WITH people in the room ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/10 "2003-04-02T14:14:57Z")
Curiously, I always wash my hands thoroughly at the office, but often skip doing so at home. I don’t know why. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/11 "2003-04-02T14:18:57Z")
Always, always, always. I feel disgusting if I don’t wash 'em. And I never touch the door handle on the way out, I always use a paper towel or my shirt to open it. Well, unless I’m at home. Happy ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/12 "2003-04-02T15:58:26Z")
Are you talking about just urinating here? I don’t see any reason to wash my hands after peeing, so I won’t do it unless someone I know is also in the restroom with me. If you think about it, washing your hands involves touching the faucet handles that other people use right after they poop, so I don’t see how that is going to make your hands cleaner. For this reason I don’t flush, either. I also don’t wash my hands when I’m at home. I use my sink as a urinal. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/13 "2003-04-02T16:01:28Z")
Never when there IS someone else in the room. When there ISNT, sometimes. (#1. #2 always, as OP assumed.) ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/14 "2003-04-02T16:03:27Z")
Another hand washer here. And if there’s soap and water, so much the better. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/15 "2003-04-02T16:05:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Surreal \* > \*\*For this reason I don’t flush, either. > \*\* I always use my foot to flush. Nothing worse than opening a stall door to see a toilet full of shit. ---
**Author:** ![SlowMindThinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@SlowMindThinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlowMindThinking)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/16 "2003-04-02T16:15:24Z")
I always wash when the sink appears to be clean enough. Surreal, I hope to hell you are talking about flushing a urinal. Not flushing after the alternative is disgusting. (I think I could use my foot on a urinal Indygrrl, but missing has consequences not worth thinking about.) Surreal, guys have an advantage in this department. We can urinate without ever touching anything other than our, presumably clean, selves. If the bathroom does not appear to be well kept, I flush the urinal with my elbow and do not wash as I feel cleaner that way. If the bathroom is well kept, I always wash. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/17 "2003-04-02T16:19:32Z")
**godzillatemple** -“_I’m going to assume that EVERYBODY washes their hands after moving their bowels, since the alternative is just too nasty to consider._” Not so. [http://www.sparklingpc.com/](http://www.sparklingpc.com/) "\*Surprisingly feces on phones, desktops and on the buttons of office machines… He reported that, in ALL of the surfaces tested, it was found there was at least one form bacteria and/or virus on each surface, such as E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and even fecal matter, just to name a few.\*" ---
**Author:** ![SlowMindThinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@SlowMindThinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlowMindThinking)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/18 "2003-04-02T16:22:28Z")
The second “Surreal” was actually supposed to be Lsura ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/19 "2003-04-02T16:25:47Z")
Well, I wash my hands, but more importantly, I don’t piss or shit on them. * * * Fagjunk Theology: Not just for sodomite propagandists anymore. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941/20 "2003-04-02T16:44:04Z")
“I always use my foot to flush.” Doesn’t that get your foot dirty? Public restrooms creep me out. But those I use often have auto flush. Shucks, even our airport restrooms have this thing that pulls out plastic or paper that covers the seat automatically & when done, pulls it back in & changes it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-wash-your-hands-if-nobody-else-is-in-the-room/165941.md?page=2)