A question to ponder on bathrooms

coasterqueen wrote: Ok, so many of us think public bathrooms are gross. You know I didn't think they were that bad until I had kids and saw how they like to touch everything. Before kids I just went in there, did my business, washed my hands and left. Now I see them picking things up off the bathroom floor, trying to get in the little waste baskets in the stalls, sitting on the floor, etc and it grosses me out.

But think of this -- is your bathroom that clean at home that it shouldn't gross you out? I clean my bathroom, but honestly if the store is doing what it's supposed to be doing those bathrooms get cleaned more often than mine at home.

So isn't the gross part of public restrooms more so because it's filled with everyone else's germs and our private bathrooms are filled with just ours? I mean, even if they are our germs they are germs - still pretty disgusting.

lisar replied: My bathrooms are clean all the time. As far as public restrooms the ones around here you might get lucky if they are cleaned once a week. They are nasty. And its not just that its someone elses germs its the fact that people (women) cant hit the toilet when they pee and the leave the toilet paper all over tha bathroom and they cant hit the waste basket when they throw away the paper towels and they cant seem to flush the toilet. It drives me insane.

Danalana replied: I don't understand a woman not being able to hit the toilet. I mean, we're sitting right on it Something's messed up there,

gr33n3y3z replied:
LOL

Ummm not me I wont sit on one
Oh I lift the seat

gr33n3y3z replied: I clean the toilet just about everyday as for the rest of the bathroom a few times a week

PrairieMom replied: For me it is the fear of the unknown. I KNOW what germs we have going on here, but who knows what is growing in a public bathroom. eew. We only use them in an emergency situation.

coasterqueen replied: Ok, I'm a terrible wife/mother because I try to clean the bathroom (and I mean deep cleaning) every week, but that doesn't always happen with working full time and trying to spend time with the kids. So deep cleaning may not get done every week, but I do do the floors, wipe the sinks down, and clean the toilets weekly - not several times a week, though.

coasterqueen replied:
That's it for me, too. The fear of the unknown.

Kaitlin'smom replied: dont feel bad Karen I only really calen them once a week also, but I do wipe down surfaces more often in Kait's bathroom, since hers is the main bathroom people use when they come over. even then I feel mine are way cleaner then public ones, I mean who knows how well they really clean them and all the people who use them....eewwww, you have way more kowlage in your own home.

amynicole21 replied:
Me, too.

And I would NEVER sit on the seat of a public toilet, but I also clean up if I happen to splash the seat a bit

Hillbilly Housewife replied: I'm an absolute freak then I guess.

i do the flylady thing...and I wipe down the sink, brush the toilet bowl, wipe the outside of the bowl and tank, and swiffer wet the floor every day. I also go in there after the kids have gone, to make sure there isn't any leftover pee where there shouldn't be. If there is, I wipe it down.

The sink I do in the morning when the kids and I have finished brushing our teeth. The toilet bowl I do after I use it in the morning. The outside, I do after lunch, when I have a few extra minutes to spare, and washing the floor with the swiffer wet, I do while the kids are eating their lunch.

I don't do my upstairs bathrooms every day... just the one on the main floor, since that's the only one we use during daycare hours. Especially with Naomie potty training, she's got her hands all over that thing.

Mommy2Isabella replied: Being a stay at home mom, my toilets are PRISTINE.

I sweep the floors daily, and mop them once a week, as well as clean out the sinks daily. I hate a dirty bathroom, I hate a dirty house.

Karen- I don't think because you don't DEEP clean everyweek makes you a horrible person. you work a full time job and have children you spend your time with. If I didnt have a clean bathroom, thats when a problem would come about ... im here alllllllll day!

Mommy2BAK replied: You've got a point Karen!

mom21kid2dogs replied:
A through cleaning once a week is what we shoot for here, too. Sorry, I'm just not that into housework!!! If I was totally honest, the upstairs bathroom only gets it when I think about it or we have guests because I never use it and I rarely go upstairs after we are up in the morning. I'm sure some public restrooms are cleaner than mine!

moped replied:
same here - I don't have time!

holley79 replied: Well DH and I have been a freak about our bathrooms at home since Annika was born. I use to clean them once a week if I was lucky. I am very choosey about which public restrooms I use. I just worry about the stuff she can pick up off the floor and put in her mouth. I also am a little more leary now because there are so many viruses out there we didn't have growing up. Not to mention all the different strains of staph that are out there that can live on a surface for up to 72 hours. It's scary.

jcc64 replied: I don't fear OUR germs- I know what we have around here. And that pretty much liberates me from being chained to my toilet brush. Once a week is as good as it gets around here- with the quick wipe downs every other day or so. I live with 3 boys/men, and I admit, it can get to smelling like Port Authority (a skanky bus terminal, for all of you non-NY'ers) if I don't stay on top of it. What is it with guys- the target's pretty big, considering the size of the "weapon"- why can't they hit the bowl dead on?
Fwiw, I think housework sucks in a big way, and I would much rather be at my kids' baseball games than have a spotless house. I won't be inviting Martha Stewart over anytime soon, so who really cares?

luvbug00 replied: Yeah ,we don't clean our toliet more then a regualr sunday cleaning.

lovemy2 replied:
PLUS - don't you have company over? Do you clean the bathroom after every person comes over and uses it? So therefore you do have OTHER people's germs - yes they aren't strangers but germs are germs and we all have them - plus - aren't germs healthy in some sense (now don't go overboard what that comment - I don't mean let your kids nap on the local walmart bathroom floor) in that they help to build immunities that are very important????

HuskerMom replied:
That's so true. When I worked at Taco Johns in highschool I was the lucky one to clean the bathrooms and the women's bathroom was always a million times dirtier than the mens.

Calimama replied: I clean my bathrooms 3 times a week. I can't stand public bathrooms!

Brias3 replied: I hate public restrooms but when you gotta go, you gotta go! My rule of thumb is that I paper the seats, flush with my foot and use a paper towel to open the door handle.

redchief replied: As a plumber for 30 years I can state without doubt that female restrooms are dirtier than men's.

Think about these places:
Bank teller counter and bank transaction prep areas
School buses
Your child's school bag (how many little germ factories sneezed on that today?)
The playground... or worse, Chuckee Cheese
Convenience store counters
The doctor's office

lovemy2 replied:
My point exactly