# Poll for people who wash their hands after using the bathroom. (Please read before voting.) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 1, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770 "2011-04-01T13:15:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/41 "2011-04-01T20:28:20Z")
Man. I usually thoroughly wash my hands after peeing, but it’s not just because I’ve peed. It’s because I’m touching all kinds of crap throughout the day. Sometimes I’ll just do it for social reasons (perhaps I didn’t touch my junk on a particular occasion). ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_of_the_Lake)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/42 "2011-04-01T20:32:39Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > So you’re equating a handshake to a cockfondle? And why should the middle man be left out? > > But really, (most) dicks don’t have cooties that will get you even if you don’t know about them. There a filthier things than penes floating in the air that you never see. > > Like Cat’s mind. Well…perhaps you are correct. I should have called it ‘a firm cock shake’. True, true, no argument there that there are many more dirty things than a penis. I wonder if I find this odd due to the sexual nature of the beast. Also, I personally wash my hands after touching myself; I find it, as I said, odd that others wouldn’t. > [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > Human resources frowns upon that. Awe ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_of_the_Lake)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/43 "2011-04-01T20:36:40Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > This will now be my new form of greeting people. Thank you. > > Unrelated, when/where’s the next Dopefest? The system works! ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/44 "2011-04-01T20:36:56Z")
> [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](#): > > I should have called it ‘a firm cock shake’. I can’t thank you enough for giving me a mental image of a rooster in a blender. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/45 "2011-04-01T20:44:14Z")
> [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](#): > > You’re _touching your penis_ and then shaking hands and stuff. I mean, if you then shake hands with another guy who doesn’t bother washing his hands…oughtn’t you just bypass the middle man and fondle each others penises as a ‘hello’? Thats gross. I don’t want penis germs on my hands. I say we leave hands out of it all together and we just waggle our penises back and forth and penis slap each others penises. I don’t know what the woman are going to do though. You ladies are going to have to figure that out on your own. ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_of_the_Lake)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/46 "2011-04-01T20:58:47Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > I can’t thank you enough for giving me a mental image of a rooster in a blender. Your welcome! Just think, if Rocky had gone this route instead of using eggs… > [@Tahssa](#): > > Thats gross. I don’t want penis germs on my hands. I say we leave hands out of it all together and we just waggle our penises back and forth and penis slap each others penises. I don’t know what the woman are going to do though. You ladies are going to have to figure that out on your own. This is surely a much more manly way to greet one another. I’d imagine the mighty Spartans greeted one another like this. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/47 "2011-04-01T21:16:37Z")
Cockfondling was actually a standard way of greeting a fellow man in certain parts of Papua-New Guinea, much to the shock of early Western visitors. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/48 "2011-04-01T21:20:18Z")
I don’t wash my hands every time I pee and I imagine most people don’t. They rinse. I’ve seen it hundreds of times, just running their hands under the faucet with no soap. I do the same thing because I hate that industrial soap smell. I guess I just like living on the edge. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/49 "2011-04-01T22:16:48Z")
I don’t do it as often at home as I do when out, but that’s not because of social pressure. I know who has been in my toilet. Plus, only one of my toilets has a faucet by it. And if I’m using the restroom while out, I’m usually eating. I also want to point out that I don’t think anyone is a germaphobe for washing their hands after they use the restroom. It’s a good habit to get into, and one I kept up forever. But I do find it concerning to be constantly thinking about where everyone else’s hands have been, or wash your hands so often they start showing damage. The last thing I want anyone to be is ruled by their irrational anxiety. ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/50 "2011-04-01T22:31:21Z")
I often don’t even bother touching my penis when I pee. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/51 "2011-04-02T02:07:06Z")
We can never escape! > **[Hands-Free Faucets Can Harbor Nasty Germs](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2011/04/01/135043674/hands-free-faucets-can-harbor-nasty-germs?ps=cprs%2F)** > > Johns Hopkins found electronic faucets are cozier than old-fashioned ones for bacteria. Tests detected the bacteria responsible for Legionnaire's disease in more than half the faucets tested. The hospital replaced them in areas where patients receive... ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/52 "2011-04-02T03:36:15Z")
> [@Mr.Duality](#): > > I wash _before_ peeing. the Purple Helmet Warrior spends nearly all his time safely tucked away inside my underwear. My _hands_ sometimes get into some really disgusting situations. I’ve heard that guys from West Virginia wash their hands _while_ they’re peeing.😃 ::d&r:: ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/53 "2011-04-02T05:26:28Z")
> [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](#): > > You’re _touching your penis_ and then shaking hands and stuff. I mean, if you then shake hands with another guy who doesn’t bother washing his hands…oughtn’t you just bypass the middle man and fondle each others penises as a ‘hello’? Actually . . . yes, I’ve been known to do exactly that. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/54 "2011-04-02T05:42:40Z")
> [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](#): > > You’re _touching your penis_ and then shaking hands and stuff. I mean, if you then shake hands with another guy who doesn’t bother washing his hands…oughtn’t you just bypass the middle man and fondle each others penises as a ‘hello’? I hold my penis with my left hand and shake hands/eat with my right (not usually at the same time, though 😛 ). However, I’m a professional cook and so I’m in the habit of washing my hands after just about everything I do anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/55 "2011-04-02T06:57:19Z")
I wash my hands all the time when I’m in a bathroom, because I figure that the bathroom is full of other people’s germs. I also wash my hands any time I touch a garbage can. ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/56 "2011-04-04T17:08:58Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > There a filthier things than penes floating in the air that you never see. I know this isn’t what you meant but… I have this vivid vision of phantom peni floating about my office poking my coworkers in the ear and becoming frustrated by the popularity of earbuds. Frustrated phantom phalli - that’s just enough weird to get me off the Dope and back to work, my boss thanks you. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/57 "2011-04-04T17:15:12Z")
Urine is sterile and your penis is likely the cleanest part of your body. Cleaner than your hands. There’s no reason to wash your hands after urinating if you’re a male. BUT- you should wash your hands, _often!_ And with soap, maybe even hot/warm water. So, since you’re already there in the bathroom, why not combine the trip? Often, if my hands are dirty, _I wash first_, then urinate. Maybe, then if there’s people watching I might give my hands a quick splash. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/58 "2011-04-04T17:16:14Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I see no reason to wash my hands if I didn’t piss on them (and everything is already covered with germs anyway), but I’ll run my hands under the water for a few seconds to avoid getting the stink-eye in public restrooms. > > It’s become a problem at home because my daughters have started monitoring me to see if I wash my hands before I come out of the can. Good for her. ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/59 "2011-04-04T17:33:01Z")
Reading people’s responses has been enlightening. I wash with soap and water every single time I use the bathroom, whether it’s #1, #2 or anything else. I can’t imagine not doing it. But now I can justify my constant washing: I wash all the time because you don’t. What is this bit about the penis being the cleanest part of your body? What? Mr. P is nestled snugly against your warm, gently sweating plums. All of this is tucked into your underwear, and then if we’re lucky you have another pair of pants on. There is some SWEATING going on there, just like we ladies get. I’m mellow and never give folk the side-eye, but watching someone either rinse or not bother to wash at all grosses me right the hell out. I’m sure I have traits that gross others out too, so it’s all good. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/60 "2011-04-04T18:16:36Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > Me too. And I don’t want to shake hands with anybody either. I go to a fair number of gaming conventions. We always talk about “con crud”, the cold-or-flu-like bug many con-goers wind up with in the days after the convention. Part of it is undoubtedly the short sleep, but part of it also is coming into close contact with many gamers, many of whom (still, alas) have less-than-sterling hygenic habits. I’m a social guy, but when I go to conventions, I do try to limit physical contact (hand shaking, hugs, etc.) to people I know well (most of whom, I like to tell myself, wash their dang hands). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770.md?page=4)