# What Happened to Washing Your Hands? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [July 18, 2020, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-washing-your-hands/915706 "2020-07-18T23:33:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-washing-your-hands/915706/1 "2020-07-18T23:33:54Z")
When all this started all I heard about was washing your hands. I would get 10 or 20 emails every day from various departments at my work reminding me to wash my hands. Every time I turned on the radio (I don’t watch TV) someone was reminding me to wash my hands. Handwashing reminders were posted on every entrance door and bathroom door. I even got two postcards from President Trump reminding me to wash my hands. Now it’s all about the masks. I don’t think I’ve heard anything about handwashing in over a month. I’m not really looking for an answer. This was just a random thought that was bouncing around in the vast void where my brain used to be this afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-washing-your-hands/915706/2 "2020-07-19T00:01:47Z")
I think we’ve gotten most people on board with the hand washing and the sanitizer, now it’s getting them to wear masks that’s the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-washing-your-hands/915706/3 "2020-07-19T00:04:23Z")
Hand washing was already something everyone did or was supposed to do. It wasnt able to be weaponized by politicians. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-washing-your-hands/915706/4 "2020-07-19T00:07:00Z")
Contagion from surfaces is possible but much rarer than originally believed. Most contagion is thought to take place through particles spreading from the mouth. It just makes sense to concentrate the warnings on the most likely cause. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-washing-your-hands/915706/5 "2020-07-19T00:25:12Z")
I’ll wash my hands when you pry them from my cold dead… hmm… that doesn’t work here does it? ---
**Author:** ![barkodogo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/barkodogo/32/3911_2.png) [@barkodogo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barkodogo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-washing-your-hands/915706/6 "2020-07-19T00:32:25Z")
If you’re not washing your hands by now then nothing is going to get through to you anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-washing-your-hands/915706/7 "2020-07-19T01:35:04Z")
I agree with the OP. Even compliant people experience a degree of frustration and fatigue with events and changing instructions. Of course, most people physical distance and wash hands but reminders don’t hurt. Of course, most places here have mandatory sanitizer at the door. Soap and water is actually better, but that message lost out to more convenience. ---
**Author:** ![Tfletch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tfletch1/32/5340_2.png) [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-washing-your-hands/915706/8 "2020-07-19T05:15:49Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Contagion from surfaces is possible but much rarer than originally believed. Most contagion is thought to take place through particles spreading from the mouth. It just makes sense to concentrate the warnings on the most likely cause. This. Fomite transmission is considered minor compared to droplet and airborne. ---
**Author:** ![Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ebca7d/32.png) [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bacon_Cheeseburger)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-washing-your-hands/915706/9 "2020-07-31T02:54:57Z")
What about face touching? That was big too. And while have also been pretty good a handwashing, the face touching thing has been harder. if your nose or eyes itch you instinctually rub it. Quite abit of fun was made of more than one press conference where “don’t touch your face” was being promoted and the speaker touched their face. While handwashing is normal basic hygiene, not everybody does it. I remember a pre-covid local news segment (which was kinda weird). They were outside at public restroom at a park or something, they’d listen for the flush, then listen for the sink faucet…The amount of no sink faucet sounds was quite larger than i thought. And the weird part was the local reporter would confront the people and ask if they just wiped their A\*\* and didn’t wash their hands like some disgusting animal (I’m paraphrasing) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-washing-your-hands/915706/10 "2020-07-31T14:14:30Z")
There’s also a salmonella epidemic in the country. It seems to be because people aren’t washing their hands after handling backyard poultry. I don’t know about you guys but I used to wash my hands before the pandemic started. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-washing-your-hands/915706/11 "2020-07-31T14:21:53Z")
Yea, I can’t give up face touching. It is just too much fun! ETA: I was supposed to be responding to Bacon-Cheeseburger. But I still can’t get used to the fact that when you hit “reply” it doesn’t put their quote in your post. I know, I know, I have to highlight it first, but that is hard to remember. I wish you didn’t have to. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-washing-your-hands/915706/12 "2020-07-31T14:30:05Z")
For my own experience, I rarely leave the house, and when I do, I rarely touch anything. If I do have to go shopping, I’ll sanitize when I get into the car and I’ll wash my hands when I get home. But, if I’m just hanging around the house, there’s no reason for me to constantly wash my hands, right? If I’m out for a walk and don’t touch anything (other than my face, constantly, apparently), I’m fine. I think it was more important when people were still out and about more, still going to work, still going to restaurants and bars. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-washing-your-hands/915706/13 "2020-07-31T17:58:01Z")
> [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](#): > > a pre-covid local news segment (which was kinda weird) I read that as a _pro_-covid local news segment (which would be kinda weird!)