# Why don't we wash our hands before going to the bathroom. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 23, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412 "2010-03-23T00:12:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/1 "2010-03-23T00:12:32Z")
I mean, there is some sensitive mucus membrane down there. If we’re so concerned about getting germs from our privates on our hands during holding of the main vein/wiping, why aren’t we concerned about getting germs from our hands onto our privates at the same time? I mean, really, I work in an office and touch gross door handles, phones, elevator buttons, my pimples, food in the fridge, dirty dishes, etc. My hands are probably FULL of bad things, and then I go and put those germy hands right by my vagina and urethra when I wipe! :eek: I’m not _really_ serious, just something to consider. ETA: AH CRAP! I didn’t use a question mark! Sorry (re: the thread about posters not using ? for questions in the title)! ---
**Author:** ![EasyPhil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47c2d/32.png) [@EasyPhil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EasyPhil)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/2 "2010-03-23T00:28:54Z")
I think some people wash their hands before and after they use the bathroom, I know I do. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/3 "2010-03-23T01:05:14Z")
I do sometimes, if I think I don’t want something that’s on my hands to be on my girly bits. Usually after using cleaning products or if I have hands full of dirt. I figure the other bad stuff, if my hand comes into contact with my bits (I am big on using lots of TP!), will get sterilized by urine. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/4 "2010-03-23T01:38:09Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I do sometimes, if I think I don’t want something that’s on my hands to be on my girly bits. Usually after using cleaning products or if I have hands full of dirt. > > I figure the other bad stuff, if my hand comes into contact with my bits (I am big on using lots of TP!), will get sterilized by urine. But if urine is sterile, then why do we wash our hands after going pee? ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/5 "2010-03-23T01:41:31Z")
Uhm, even if Urine is sterile (I believe it is), that doesn’t mean it _sterilizes other things!_ Peeing on a wound won’t disinfect it, it’ll just cover it in urine! ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/6 "2010-03-23T01:47:35Z")
> [@Todderbob](#): > > Uhm, even if Urine is sterile (I believe it is), that doesn’t mean it _sterilizes other things!_ > Peeing on a wound won’t disinfect it, it’ll just cover it in urine! So then if you transfer germs from your hand onto your urethra, the urine won’t sterilize it, as said by **ZipperJJ**? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/7 "2010-03-23T01:52:04Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > But if urine is sterile, then why do we wash our hands after going pee? Your penis isn’t sterile unless of course you’re fixed, in which case it still probably has E. coli bacteria on it. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/8 "2010-03-23T02:48:14Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > But if urine is sterile, then why do we wash our hands after going pee? Urine is only sterile _inside your body_. My guess as to why we (females, that is) don’t wash our hands first is because we generally don’t touch ourselves even while wiping without a layer of tp between us and those mucus membranes. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/9 "2010-03-23T02:51:42Z")
I use a %^&\*load of tp, yes. I mean…why not? I also wash up first, though; at least I do at work, where I handle too many medical papers to have it be worth the risk. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/10 "2010-03-23T04:11:11Z")
When I was a working auto technician I would wash my hand before I used the facilities because my wife was giving me hell about the dirty greasy fingerprints l was leaving on my jockey shorts. ---
**Author:** ![kjbrasda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/74df32/32.png) [@kjbrasda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kjbrasda)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/11 "2010-03-23T07:51:18Z")
I gave my auto technician husband hell for leaving dirty greasy fingerprints on his member! Seriously, he came home from work and had a clear handprint right around his penis. (actually, I laughed so hard I think I shamed him into washing his hands before he pees after that) ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/12 "2010-03-23T11:13:28Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Urine is only sterile _inside your body_. > > My guess as to why we (females, that is) don’t wash our hands first is because we generally don’t touch ourselves even while wiping without a layer of tp between us and those mucus membranes. If you use so much TP that germs can’t get from your hands to your bits, you could reason that germs couldn’t get from your bits to your hands. So why wash afterwards then? ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/13 "2010-03-23T12:08:35Z")
I’m a nurse. I sure as hell wash before and after using the washroom. Also before and after patient care, and so forth. Actually, why re-invent the wheel? [Cecil has the straight dope.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1043/why-are-men-supposed-to-wash-their-hands-after-urination) ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/14 "2010-03-23T12:43:00Z")
I do this in Walmart or stores where my hands feel dirty after touching the merchandise. I wash my hands before leaving Walmart also so I don’t take that sticky feeling with me. I also heard the carts are germ ridden and do it to avoid getting a cold. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/15 "2010-03-23T12:57:23Z")
I used to have a job where I maintained copiers and printers. You’d better believe that I washed before touching my wiener. Toner is nasty stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/16 "2010-03-23T13:08:14Z")
I do if I’ve been doing anything that might have left residual dirt, but I wash my hands so often during the course of my day that I rarely feel the need to wash them again before I go to the restroom. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/17 "2010-03-23T13:55:06Z")
> [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](#): > > I’m a nurse. I sure as hell wash before and after using the washroom. Also before and after patient care, and so forth. > > Actually, why re-invent the wheel? [Cecil has the straight dope.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1043/why-are-men-supposed-to-wash-their-hands-after-urination) I get why we do it after, but why isn’t it such a big deal if we don’t do it before (in most cases - obviously some people, like nurses, really should do it)? ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/18 "2010-03-23T14:34:33Z")
I had a friend who was an aircraft mechanic. He told me you only skip washing first once with jet fuel on your hands before it becomes a key step. ---
**Author:** ![MissMossie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MissMossie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissMossie)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/19 "2010-03-23T15:29:15Z")
I do it after I use the restroom because it provides me with a convenient times to wash my hands several times throughout the day. I don’t do it before I use the restroom because I can generally handle not actually touching my girly-bits at anytime during the process. Once a month, an exception to that rule rolls around and I am likely to wash my hands both before and after using the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![GreatStuffMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f04885/32.png) [@GreatStuffMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreatStuffMan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412/20 "2010-03-23T15:35:03Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > When I was a working auto technician I would wash my hand before I used the facilities because my wife was giving me hell about the dirty greasy fingerprints l was leaving on my jockey shorts. > [@kjbrasda](#): > > I gave my auto technician husband hell for leaving dirty greasy fingerprints on his member! > Seriously, he came home from work and had a clear handprint right around his penis. > (actually, I laughed so hard I think I shamed him into washing his hands before he pees after that) Mr and mrs Greaseprints…? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-wash-our-hands-before-going-to-the-bathroom/533412.md?page=2)