# Toilet paper v hand: is the latter really more sanitary? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 18, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper-v-hand-is-the-latter-really-more-sanitary/550598 "2010-08-18T03:06:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper-v-hand-is-the-latter-really-more-sanitary/550598/61 "2010-08-19T19:17:46Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > what’s worse to you - a slightly soiled asshole area, or getting shit on your hands and then cleaning it off ? > > I for one prefer to never have shit soil my hands in any way shape or form. I’d rather be completely clean by the end of it. So I pick option 1. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper-v-hand-is-the-latter-really-more-sanitary/550598/62 "2010-08-19T19:20:16Z")
Well, when I wash directly after pooping, as it were, I usually just spray the water into my butt area. It’s not like I’m smushing crap into my hands. Getting clean really isn’t rocket science. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper-v-hand-is-the-latter-really-more-sanitary/550598/63 "2010-08-21T02:21:23Z")
According to folks I’ve met who were in the Middle East more recently than I was, it’s a no-no to shake an area native’s left hand as that is their wiping hand. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper-v-hand-is-the-latter-really-more-sanitary/550598/64 "2010-08-21T02:33:52Z")
If toilet paper is so great at keeping shit off of your hands, why bother washing your hands after you’re done? ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper-v-hand-is-the-latter-really-more-sanitary/550598/65 "2010-08-21T18:11:33Z")
Squatting points the asshole downward and spreads the cheeks, so leads to a lot less shit left behind. ---
**Author:** ![Kelby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a587f6/32.png) [@Kelby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelby)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper-v-hand-is-the-latter-really-more-sanitary/550598/66 "2010-08-22T00:13:24Z")
Random thought: Why don’t other mammals…say dogs and cats, have this issue? Aren’t we supposedly more highly evolved? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper-v-hand-is-the-latter-really-more-sanitary/550598/67 "2010-08-22T00:27:03Z")
I think we had a thread about that, **Kelby**. I think the butt cheeks give us the issue. But also, the other thing is that animals just don’t care. They get messy and…well, they stay that way. Dogs and cats do lick themselves there, but you know, sometimes things get gross. ---
**Author:** ![Kelby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a587f6/32.png) [@Kelby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelby)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper-v-hand-is-the-latter-really-more-sanitary/550598/68 "2010-08-22T00:59:46Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I think we had a thread about that, **Kelby**. I think the butt cheeks give us the issue. But also, the other thing is that animals just don’t care. They get messy and…well, they stay that way. Dogs and cats do lick themselves there, but you know, sometimes things get gross. All I know is our 3-year old Corgi pinches 'em off every morning, no muss no fuss, unless he’s been sick or been given something exotic to eat. Cat’s are even better at it, it seems to me. I wonder if fecal odor and the animals’ tendency to get olfactory sexual information from potential mates from the same area has anything to do with it, evolutionarily speaking. ---
**Author:** ![BobC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@BobC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobC)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper-v-hand-is-the-latter-really-more-sanitary/550598/69 "2010-08-23T12:01:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Take dump. Servant wipes, washes, and towel-dries your ass. Overseer who was monitoring servant to make sure he does it right then drives servant into wilderness, never to be seen again. Overseer picks new servant to wait til your next dump. You get perfectly clean, unclean servant is disposed of, overseer stays clean so you can keep using him, and clean replacement servant is provided for next time. I’m sure I read somewhere that Henry V111 had a Royal Ass Wipe servant. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper-v-hand-is-the-latter-really-more-sanitary/550598/70 "2010-08-23T13:56:02Z")
Ok, here goes. And bear in mind, I hate talking about pooping. But there is so much stuff being talked about here, it needs to be clear. You go into the toilet. Now, generally the clothes I am wearing are a salwar kameez, which has a drawstring tie at the waist. I learned to knot the drawstring just so that even when I untied the bow, it still didn’t fall and had to be guided past my hips. You pull your pants and underwear down to about your knees. You kind of learn, though, how to tuck even lenghas (long skirts) and all of your veils around you. I’ve never done it in a sari, but people have so I’m sure they manage. You squat, do your stuff. In India, even old ladies are still squatting over the hole. You just do it, you know? Sometimes people will help the really frail ones, though. There is a basin of water right next to you. You pick up the water and pour it over your bum, and rinse. You don’t have to use your fingernails, I am not sure what everyone here is thinking. You kind of use the side of your hand. I mean, I don’t know what your poops are like - how often do you have enough poop all over your ass to cause a problem? And squatting like that does make the area easily accessible. So. Now your bum is clean. You get up, using your right hand to pull up your pants and kind of cinch up your drawstring. Your right hand never goes near your bum, other than to pour the water. Generally right outside the door is a sink with soap. You scrub your hands, and then, finish tying off your pants properly. It sounds complicated, but quick enough, you get used to it. Much more complicated is what to do with pads and tampons while you have your period. Now. I am American, no matter how much connection I have with the old country, and to be quite honest, I prefer sit toilets and toilet paper, and if need be, those wet wipes. I pretty much have told my family I won’t even come to their houses unless they have a sit toilet - what you are willing to do at seventeen is not what you are willing to do at thirty-four. But that doesn’t mean that one is necessarily better - just what i am used to. I mean I hope you all still finish up and wash your hands! And I am sure there are times you find that toilet paper isn’t enough. And no, I don’t like that wet feeling much, with water. The best situation I think would be a combination - a bidet, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper-v-hand-is-the-latter-really-more-sanitary/550598/71 "2010-08-23T14:44:17Z")
I understand that the Japanese are the kings of poop with washing and drying built into their commodes. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper-v-hand-is-the-latter-really-more-sanitary/550598/72 "2010-08-23T14:56:37Z")
I have lived with both and infinitely prefer the water/left hand option over the paper-only option, per Thailand and Malaysia. No, you don’t use soap during the operation, but despite what people in the thread are concerned about, I’ve never met any residue that couldn’t be shifted with water and a little dabbling with the fingertips. And you don’t use fingernails - the water breaks the poop down pretty well before your hand comes into any contact with your ringpiece. THEN, and this is what a lot of visitors to those countries miss, you dab/wipe yourself dry with toilet paper. If there should be any residue left behind (which I’ve never encountered), the drying operation will get rid of it per the paper-only way. (Most places can’t handle toilet paper in the plumbing, so you put it in a trashcan. Western visitors who know about the bad plumbing, but haven’t adapted to the water method yet, often wipe shit off their ass then put their filthy shitpaper in the can, which is absolutely gross and unnecessary - particularly in tropical heat.) Then you scrub your hands thoroughly with soap and water. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper-v-hand-is-the-latter-really-more-sanitary/550598/73 "2010-08-23T14:56:47Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > I understand that the Japanese are the kings of poop with washing and drying built into their commodes. I don’t know why this made me snerk, but it did. Personally, I think the fact that we poop is proof there isn’t a god, and we certainly aren’t made in His or Her image. Eww. A perfectly nice thing like an ass, and we have to go and have nasty stuff eke out of it. Yes, I have a problem with poop. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper-v-hand-is-the-latter-really-more-sanitary/550598/74 "2010-08-23T15:01:37Z")
I’ll be happy when pooping goes digital, like in that episode of Family Guy. Or when bidets become commonplace in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![chromaticity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@chromaticity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chromaticity)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper-v-hand-is-the-latter-really-more-sanitary/550598/75 "2010-08-23T16:21:20Z")
Some washlets in Japan have water temperature, wave control , water strength and other stuff like music to drown out the poop sounds. Basically the toilet paper is just to get your behind dry. The toilets are what I miss the most when I visit some other place ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper-v-hand-is-the-latter-really-more-sanitary/550598/76 "2010-08-23T17:57:55Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > I understand that the Japanese are the kings of poop with washing and drying built into their commodes. Also the rear-view camera, for inspection purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper-v-hand-is-the-latter-really-more-sanitary/550598/77 "2010-08-23T17:59:23Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Also the rear-view camera, for inspection purposes. I couldn’t tell if you were serious so I googled. And I found [this](http://www.therearviewmirror.net/). And I’m not sure if _they_ are serious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-paper-v-hand-is-the-latter-really-more-sanitary/550598.md?page=3)