not really 'wrong,' just suboptimal.

April 27, 2016 11:40 AM

You're washing your hands wrong. You're also drying your hands wrong.

Do Dyson jet hand dryers really spread 1300 times more germs as paper towels?

posted by the man of twists and turns (96 comments total)

I've been doing the one-paper-towel thing for years. I actually got an appreciative nod in a rest stop bathroom once from someone else who was shaking the water off.
posted by Etrigan at 11:44 AM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

This will not go over well with my 4 year old, whose current technique is: 1.Turn on water 2. Wave hands in water stream for 2 seconds, maximizing splash, 3. Shake wet hands at dad, shouting "water power!", 4. Wipe hands on mom's towel, 5. Finish drying hands on shirt and pants.

We are working on extending the length of step two by having him sing "happy birthday to everybody" at least once through, and maybe rubbing his hands together some while he's at it.
posted by cubby at 11:48 AM on April 27, 2016 [14 favorites]

what if I just dry my hands on my pants

it saves on paper towel, you gotta admit
posted by mightygodking at 11:50 AM on April 27, 2016 [5 favorites]

Wow, cubby, I think our kids must have watched the same TED talk. "How to get your parents as soaked as possible while not cleaning your hands," perhaps?
posted by town of cats at 11:51 AM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

Because I worked in food service for years, I still wash my hands the way they tell you to: between fingers, around wrists, etc.
posted by Kitteh at 11:54 AM on April 27, 2016 [9 favorites]

Required: the "hazards of disease" machine from The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker
posted by chavenet at 11:55 AM on April 27, 2016

I always assumed the drying your hands TED talk was a parody...
posted by Wretch729 at 11:56 AM on April 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Obligatory.
posted by Fizz at 11:57 AM on April 27, 2016 [10 favorites]

So a more complicated and longer cleaning process means a cleaner outcome? Mindblowing!

That said-- the Ted paper-towel talk weirdly stuck with me, twelve shakes each time-- but I think that's because I really hate wasting paper-towels more then any background OCD tendencies reaching to the surface.
posted by Static Vagabond at 11:58 AM on April 27, 2016 [3 favorites]

Washing my hands?
posted by beerperson at 11:58 AM on April 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Having seen a very good friend's young daughter die from a post-operative infection, if you're in the medical field and not washing your hands with the most optimal method, I'll happily do it for you. With a flamethrower.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:59 AM on April 27, 2016 [14 favorites]

You’ve Been Washing Your Hands Wrong

To the general population this is internalized as, "why should I bother washing my hands, science says it doesn't work."
posted by peeedro at 11:59 AM on April 27, 2016 [6 favorites]

The hand-drying talk might be both a parody and an actual instructional talk. I saw it a couple of years ago, and I've been using the method ever since. It has cut my consumption of paper towels in public restrooms at least in half.
posted by JimInLoganSquare at 11:59 AM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

You’ve Been Washing Your Hands Wrong

I'll say! I've just been letting my dog lick them clean! I reward him with hugs! Which he loves I am sure of it!
posted by maxsparber at 12:02 PM on April 27, 2016 [48 favorites]

Push Butt. Rub Hands Gently Under Arm.
posted by spilon at 12:03 PM on April 27, 2016 [20 favorites]

Shouldn't we just use soap and water? Aren't hand sanitizers breeding super resistant bacteria at the expense of temporary (and faulty) peace-of-mind?
posted by glaucon at 12:03 PM on April 27, 2016

Aren't hand sanitizers breeding super resistant bacteria at the expense of temporary (and faulty) peace-of-mind?

AFAIK, only the ones with triclosan. The alcohol ones are fine. But soap and water is also fine.

I sing Happy Birthday while washing my hands. Audibly. This has led to several entertaining public info sessions.
posted by epanalepsis at 12:05 PM on April 27, 2016 [4 favorites]

I think we know where this is going to end up: You are wrong.
posted by tommasz at 12:05 PM on April 27, 2016

The hand washing instructions are applicable for both hand sanitizing and using soap & water.
posted by FJT at 12:05 PM on April 27, 2016

I sing Happy Birthday while washing my hands. Audibly.

A twenty-second scrub is SOP. Our version is that you can sing the ABC song or Twinkle-twinkle Little Star, we don't care which.
posted by bonehead at 12:15 PM on April 27, 2016

If you've, like, just washed your hands, all the Dyson dryer will be spreading is water.
posted by grumpybear69 at 12:15 PM on April 27, 2016 [3 favorites]

I sing Happy Birthday while washing my hands. Audibly.

Never mind the germs, this must cost you thousands in music licensing.
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:16 PM on April 27, 2016 [9 favorites]

What do you mean I'm supposed to wash/dry my hands sitting down?!!?!?
posted by davros42 at 12:17 PM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

That TED talk is the best TED talk. I’ve been mumbling “shake… fold” to myself when drying my hands for the past four years.
posted by migurski at 12:17 PM on April 27, 2016 [3 favorites]

Never mind the germs, this must cost you thousands in music licensing.

You'd think, but nobody's ever mentioned it.

But I just timed myself, and it only takes me 12 seconds to sing it, which is obviously a problem. So I think it'll be Baa Baa Black Sheep from now on.
posted by epanalepsis at 12:18 PM on April 27, 2016

Strange Interlude - Not any more!
posted by Wretch729 at 12:19 PM on April 27, 2016 [4 favorites]

I don't see what the big deal is, I wash my hands every month whether they need it or not and I save hundreds on paper towels.
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 12:20 PM on April 27, 2016 [10 favorites]

I hate to break it to the NYT, but using hand sanitizer is not the same as washing your hands. I prefer a 5 minute surgical scrub to 2 inches above the elbows myself.
posted by TedW at 12:24 PM on April 27, 2016 [3 favorites]

Christ, this is too complicated. Let`s just replace our hands with titanium prosthetic grab-claws. That way you can use the ceramic kiln or the plasma-fired annealer if the kiln isn`t working. Kills all bugs in 3 nanoseconds, compared to 42 seconds for this so-called `hand washing`technique.
posted by storybored at 12:26 PM on April 27, 2016 [9 favorites]

Push Butt. Rub Hands Gently Under Arm.

Receive bacon
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:27 PM on April 27, 2016 [15 favorites]

Of course there is a TED talk about disrupting how you dry your hands. Of course.
posted by Anonymous at 12:32 PM on April 27, 2016

My hands are dry clean only.
posted by Kabanos at 12:35 PM on April 27, 2016 [3 favorites]

Just watched that TED talk. Best thing ever. Now I will be singing and saying "shake...fold" like a total crazy person in public bathrooms now.
posted by epanalepsis at 12:36 PM on April 27, 2016

I wash my hands in obsidian basins full of the Tears of the Innocent, then I dry them in copper bowls full of the Impotent Rage of the Just. I have no fears whatsoever of accidentally spreading disease, although I do have a slight tendency to combust in the light of the Sun, but, hey, no system is perfect.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:37 PM on April 27, 2016 [21 favorites]

A TED Talk person lecturing the world on proper use of paper towels pretty much epitomizes what I find ludicrous about TED Talks.
posted by aught at 12:46 PM on April 27, 2016 [5 favorites]

I sing Happy Birthday while washing my hands.

Mr Larry David? Is that you? When did you become one of MeFi's Own?
posted by aught at 12:48 PM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

What, will these hands ne'er be clean?
posted by hat_eater at 12:52 PM on April 27, 2016 [7 favorites]

I wish! No, sorry, just some nutty person who has no social inhibitions and a paranoia on matters of public health.
posted by epanalepsis at 12:53 PM on April 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

I love the TEDx talk about hand drying. It's the poster child for ridiculous TED talks. And yet it contains wisdom embedded in the Dr. Bronner level bizarreness. (shake fold twelve apostles twelve tribes twelve zodiac signs twelve months biggest number with one syllable). My other favorite is the TED talk about tying your shoes. tl;dw: square knot instead of granny knot.

Silly as both these talks are, the damnedest thing is they're right. And they actually have changed my life.
posted by Nelson at 12:59 PM on April 27, 2016 [6 favorites]

I saw that hands-drying TED talk a couple years ago. While I scoffed at the idea that this was a TED topic, I did wonder if it worked. So I ignored my internal jeers and tried it...sure enough it does work, though I've found that the returns diminish after 9 or 10 shakes.

And yet it contains wisdom embedded in the Dr. Bronner level bizarreness.

Dessicate! Dessicate! OK!
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:02 PM on April 27, 2016 [3 favorites]

Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!
posted by cooker girl at 1:08 PM on April 27, 2016 [6 favorites]

I do not shake 12 times, but i do shake, and fold. Only one towel.

I also buy Dr. Bronners soap.
posted by nat at 1:15 PM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

That's it, no more hand washing. Only hand wringing.
posted by Splunge at 1:17 PM on April 27, 2016 [8 favorites]

I had to take handwashing training my first day on the job here. I work as a software engineer but our lab is owned by a hospital and all hospital employees have to take the same training. I have to take a little web quiz every year to re-certify that I know how to wash my hands (and dispose of sharps, evacuate patients and various other things that I'll never do).
posted by octothorpe at 1:18 PM on April 27, 2016 [4 favorites]

OH and just because I feel like sharing, this post also highlights a childhood anxiety of mine, which that Ted talk finally helped alleviate. Somewhere c. age 8 or so, I got very stressed around hand washing because the two maxims of "don't waste" (paper towels, water) and "sanitation is important" didn't seem to be mutually satisfiable.

There's still the water issue, but at least now it's Shake, Fold, one towel.
posted by nat at 1:18 PM on April 27, 2016

You people shake and fold in bathrooms? I just shake. Wouldn't folding hurt?

Oh, wait, you're talking about towels. I'll just show myself out, then.
posted by jackbishop at 1:24 PM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

I much prefer the Dyson air blade driers. Fast, efficient (at water removal) and if you've washed your hands properly they don't spread germs, but clean water. Even if they DID spread germs I'd rather develop an immune system then see truckloads of papertowels get driven to and from the public restrooms. Incredibly wasteful activity, even if you only use one each time.

Also, A POX ON THE AUTO TAPS/SOAP dispensers/paper towel dispensers. Stupid things never work, and I must have lost days off my life waving my hand underneath them trying to find the exact spots so my hands actually get wet, the soap go flying over my wrist and paper actually come out. Stupid shite things.
posted by Brockles at 1:26 PM on April 27, 2016 [5 favorites]

Our version is that you can sing the ABC song or Twinkle-twinkle Little Star, we don't care which.

You're doing it wrong. You're supposed to sing Staying Alive so you get the right BPM.
posted by The Bellman at 1:31 PM on April 27, 2016 [14 favorites]

God I remember that ted talk about drying your hands. Most times I go to the bathroom I get to think to myself "Your stupid trick doesn't work! I still end up with wettish hands if I tried to do it your way", so that's nice. I guess it works in the same way that I could save a towel after a shower and let myself airdry for 45 minutes, 'hack' more than useful tip.
posted by Carillon at 1:33 PM on April 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

When I got to Japan, one of the first things my SO gave me was a small hand towel. Because there are very few places with hand dryers there and even fewer with paper towels. I just ended up letting my hands air dry a lot because I didn't like carrying around a wet hand towel in my pocket. It honestly wasn't that big an issue. Of course, now that I'm back in the US, I'm using paper towels.
posted by Hactar at 2:10 PM on April 27, 2016

If they get dirty, I cut off my hands just above the wrist, then nuke them from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
posted by blue_beetle at 2:16 PM on April 27, 2016 [6 favorites]

Our version is that you can sing the ABC song or Twinkle-twinkle Little Star, we don't care which.

But if one person is humming the ABC song and another person is humming Twinkle-Twinkle, won't the clash between two different songs at the same time sound horrible?
posted by straight at 2:55 PM on April 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

blue_beetle, I tried that method for a while, but the limbs took minutes to regrow. What's your secret?
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:57 PM on April 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

ugh, how else am i bathrooming wrong today? i suppose next you're going to tell me that screaming "WOOOOOO!" while twirling around like a lawn sprinkler is the WRONG way to use a urinal.
posted by indubitable at 3:18 PM on April 27, 2016 [8 favorites]

how else am i bathrooming wrong today?

Verbing a noun, among other things...
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:23 PM on April 27, 2016 [3 favorites]

verbing weirds language.
posted by indubitable at 3:37 PM on April 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

The problem with the Dysons is that, while your hands may have been washed properly, there's usually dirty water on them from improper hand washers.
posted by nathan_teske at 3:55 PM on April 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Straight, you do know that the ABC song and Twinkle Twinkle are actually the same melody, right? Baa, Baa Black Sheep also is the same song. So, just sing them all, as long as you start on the same note, there shouldn't be any problems.
posted by MythMaker at 4:14 PM on April 27, 2016

A TED Talk person lecturing the world on proper use of paper towels pretty much epitomizes what I find ludicrous about TED Talks.

Useful information presented entertainingly sucks, amirite?

I hate the original Dyson airblade because of water blowback (mine and probably other people's as well). The newer model fixes that.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 4:28 PM on April 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Potential Onion headline: CDC revises guidelines to advise humming "In a Gadda Da Vida" while washing hands.*

* I say this as someone who's a huge fan of thorough and frequent hand washing despite my eczema.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:29 PM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

CDC revises guidelines to advise humming "In a Gadda Da Vida" while washing hands.

Man, I remember when we used to get high and wash our hands to that song for hours in the 60's...
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:37 PM on April 27, 2016 [3 favorites]

If you've, like, just washed your hands, all the Dyson dryer will be spreading is water.

Well, that and deafness.
posted by Bee'sWing at 4:47 PM on April 27, 2016

Washing your hands correctly is futile when, on your way out, you have to open the door touched by everyone before you who did not wash their hands. Plus, a friend once revealed to me that she flushed toilets in public restrooms with a shoe-clad foot and I nearly died.
posted by peripathetic at 4:57 PM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

Plus, a friend once revealed to me that she flushed toilets in public restrooms with a shoe-clad foot and I nearly died.

Wait, you mean you touch that thing with your hand???
posted by DingoMutt at 5:13 PM on April 27, 2016 [7 favorites]

I sing a couple verses and a chorus of Black Hole Sun while washing. Gits it DONE.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 5:17 PM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

How many paper towels has that guy used to give how many talks about how to use fewer paper towels? He used 5ish in that one talk. 200 talks like that a year? Just stay home and use however many fucking towels you want.

I DO like that twelve is the largest one syllable number. That's a nice fact.
posted by nevercalm at 6:12 PM on April 27, 2016 [4 favorites]

Plus, a friend once revealed to me that she flushed toilets in public restrooms with a shoe-clad foot and I nearly died.

Oh yes, my long long ago boss Betsy used to refer to this as the "Lucy Liu method." And I still do it.
posted by Kitteh at 6:24 PM on April 27, 2016

How many paper towels would it take to wipe away the TED talk phenomenon? It has gone from mildly interesting to self-parody in just a few years.

Plus, a friend once revealed to me that she flushed toilets in public restrooms with a shoe-clad foot and I nearly died.

I thought everyone did this, until some previous Metafilter thread about odd bathroom behavior made me realize that some benighted people actually use their hands to flush in public bathrooms.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:42 PM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

Idk, it seems a bit inconsiderate to the people who use the bathroom after you, no? The toilet handle wouldn't be any cleaner than the latch to the stall which you'd have to use your hands to undo, and well, your shoes would have come into contact with the urine-splattered floor. If you are going to wash your hands after, it also seems quite unnecessary!
posted by peripathetic at 7:14 PM on April 27, 2016

Twelve is the largest one syllable number in English.

This talk would not work in Japanese.

I am not shaking my hands 兆 (a trillion) times.
posted by motty at 7:15 PM on April 27, 2016 [4 favorites]

We do the appropriate bathroom hand wash and drying. But I must admit.... I keep a bottle of alcohol based hand wash in the car. And we always use it whenever we get in. Maybe doesn't do anything but makes me feel better.
posted by pearlybob at 7:22 PM on April 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Just stay home and use however many fucking towels you want.

All of my coworkers with whom I share a bathroom just pull three or more towels out at once before they've even started trying to dry their hands. (Except for the couple of people who've seen the Shake and Fold video.) Given how many of them a) use paper ass gaskets on the toilets that get cleaned at least twice as often as any of our toilets at home do, and b) fail to ensure that said ass gaskets are flushed or otherwise properly disposed of after use, I haven't got a whole lot of hope for them.

It's also a hell of a time trying to get any of them to put the paper towels in the compost bin (or, hell, even the trash bin. Anything but the goddamn recycling bin, because paper towels are not recyclable. They've already been recycled.)
posted by asperity at 7:47 PM on April 27, 2016

My mother drilled it into me that I must never, never, never shake the water off because it'll end up on the floor and I'll step into it and the dirt on the soles of my shoes will spread all over and make a mess.

So I dutifully passed that rule on to my own children.

That's at least three generations irreparably damaged.
posted by Dragonness at 8:17 PM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

I make my child use hand sanitizer every time she gets in the car and at other random transitions throughout the day.

This is mostly to reduce Stickiness Of Unknown Origin.
Any actual sanitation is a bonus.
posted by madajb at 8:39 PM on April 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

I hate everything about this. Just wash your hands. Stop making everything into a fucking lifehack omg
posted by Doleful Creature at 8:57 PM on April 27, 2016 [5 favorites]

I much prefer the Dyson air blade driers. Fast, efficient (at water removal) and if you've washed your hands properly they don't spread germs, but clean water.

But what if I just washed my face? HOW DO I DRY MY FACE???
posted by e-man at 9:16 PM on April 27, 2016

MetaFilter: a fucking lifehack
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:38 PM on April 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

But what if I just washed my face? HOW DO I DRY MY FACE???

Option A: Shake your head really hard.

Option B: "Accidentally" stumble into the back of a coworker who looks like they're wearing an absorbent shirt. I do NOT recommend stumbling into someone's front.

Option C: Get so mad about people who waste paper towels that your whole head heats up and evaporates the excess moisture.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:09 PM on April 27, 2016 [3 favorites]

why can't you do anything right? Huh? what the fuck is wrong with you?
posted by ennui.bz at 12:05 AM on April 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

I swear I've seen the dry your hands better TED talk before on Metafilter but search tells me otherwise. I mean, where else would I have seen that kind of thing?
posted by like_neon at 1:48 AM on April 28, 2016

My high school for some reason briefly had instructions posted above the bathroom sinks on the proper handwashing procedure:

1) Remove rings and bracelets.
2) Wet hands.
3) Apply soap to hands.
4) Rub hands together for at least fifteen seconds.
5) Rinse hands with hot water.

Ms. Morello, my International Relations teacher, noted: "They don't tell you to put your rings and bracelets back on..."
posted by El Mariachi at 2:37 AM on April 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

None of this explains the nicely dressed and presented women in my workplace who "wash their hands" after using the bathroom by swishing them limply back and forth under the tap twice without soap. Sometimes with a little "spirit fingers" action if they're feeling frisky.
posted by stuck on an island at 3:53 AM on April 28, 2016

I was recently in hospital where there where posters about the WHO hand washing method above every sink. There were also posters showing number of days since various horrible infections, which kind of focused the mind. The other option is to never touch your face or any other body/world interface or anything that goes into them, which can be a bit limiting. One thing that I found interesting was that they didn't clean any wounds made by needles, just a plaster and off you go to use your own immune system to heal.

Here is a website about shoelace tying. Just one loop and you'll be hooked!
posted by asok at 4:18 AM on April 28, 2016

But what if I just washed my face? HOW DO I DRY MY FACE???

In movies men (and only men) are always washing their faces in public bathroom sinks, but I have never seen a man in real life washing his face in the sink and I've rarely seen a public bathroom sink that I would want my face anywhere near. (I've seen people stripping down and bathing, but that is a different phenomenon.)

I've assumed that it is just one of those movie tropes, like not saying goodbye on the phone, but perhaps it is one of those sit/stand kind of binary deals where half the world thinks it is normal and the other half looks on in amazement.
posted by Dip Flash at 4:49 AM on April 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

None of this explains the nicely dressed and presented women in my workplace who "wash their hands" after using the bathroom by swishing them limply back and forth under the tap twice without soap. Sometimes with a little "spirit fingers" action if they're feeling frisky.

Magical thinking. It's just a ritual that makes them feel clean. Unfortunately, we all still get sick because they can't use science.
posted by epanalepsis at 6:46 AM on April 28, 2016

In movies men (and only men) are always washing their faces in public bathroom sinks, but I have never seen a man in real life washing his face in the sink

I've only ever seen this at my work, and it does always feel kind of strange and intimate and maybe even aggressive in a small shared space. We also get the occasional guy brushing his teeth in the men's room after lunch hour as well, which I would think would be nightmarish for a germophobe.

Unfortunately, we all still get sick because they can't use science.

On the other hand, fortunately, most of us have fairly robust immune systems and it doesn't really matter because the office bathroom (unless you work in a restaurant or bar, or someplace a janitorial crew hasn't scrubbed in the early morning hours) is likely no more germ-laden than the desk we're about to go back to for hours, put our hands on, eat our lunch off, etc.
posted by aught at 6:56 AM on April 28, 2016 [3 favorites]

I swear I've seen the dry your hands better TED talk before on Metafilter

Voilà
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:11 AM on April 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

None of this explains the nicely dressed and presented women in my workplace who "wash their hands" after using the bathroom by swishing them limply back and forth under the tap twice without soap.

Maybe she's learned how not to pee on her hands.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:27 AM on April 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

most of us have fairly robust immune systems...

Except that some people don't, and being immunocompromised (or caring for someone who is) doesn't mean you don't still have to go to work every day. Asthma is incredibly common, and what's "just a cold" to someone else can mean a week in the hospital to someone who has asthma. (Which can also mean losing your job, if you don't have sick time.) I work with someone who has lupus, you might too. And there are some contagious diseases that make everyone miserably ill. Wouldn't you rather not get those? And viruses mutate best when they're allowed to spread.

Germ theory was a major advance for humanity, but it doesn't help if we don't use that information. And sadly, the bathroom is the only place some people wash their hands, so it would help if they at least did it well there.
posted by epanalepsis at 10:10 AM on April 28, 2016 [3 favorites]

I use three paper towels because after drying my hands I use them to wipe down the sink and counter area for the next user.
posted by Standeck at 10:12 AM on April 28, 2016

From the hand washing study abstract it looks like neither hand sanitizer method actually did much. 6.5% reduction from the 3-steppers, and 21% reduction from the 6-steppers. Assuming it is linear (which is clearly the best assumption) we're going to need approximately 21 steps to reach a 95% reduction.
posted by mountmccabe at 11:01 AM on April 28, 2016

Maybe she's learned how not to pee on her hands.

Barring an urinary tract infection, pee is pretty sterile.

Now that I think of it, maybe I found the most environmentally friendly hand washing technique...
posted by hat_eater at 11:08 AM on April 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

Was that study on Dyson jet hand dryers specifically designed to turn out poorly for jet hand dryers? It's fun pretending that blowing is the only way of spreading bacteria and other friends.


To be clear, I am not a shill for the hand dryer industry, I think they are terrible, ineffective products that should almost never be used. I don't want to stand there drying my hands for a minute plus.
posted by mountmccabe at 11:40 AM on April 28, 2016

So if anyone sharing that bathroom is shedding the virus (which happens for around two weeks after infection) and not properly washing before they touch shared surfaces, they're putting everyone else at risk.

But those people are also touching desks, water coolers, coffee pots, door handles, copying machines, etc. all day long. For me the best thing to ward off colds and flus is to wash my hands after contact with people who appear like they might have a cold, to get a flu shot every fall, get enough sleep, and eat nutritionally. (And take multivitamins, though I know that will rile some people up; still, I believe in the power of B's and C when stressed and tired.)

As far as the toothbrushing, if you're anxious about aerosolized fecal matter in general, would you want it anywhere near a toothbrush?
posted by aught at 11:51 AM on April 28, 2016

Barring an urinary tract infection, pee is pretty sterile.
Now that I think of it, maybe I found the most environmentally friendly hand washing technique...

Note to self: do not hire hat_eater as a chef
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:16 PM on April 28, 2016

When's the TED talk about properly discussing a plate of beans?
posted by Chitownfats at 5:17 PM on April 28, 2016