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Use a paper towel to open the door and toss it into the next garbage you see outside the bathroom. Or toss it into the trash as you leave.
There are a good reasons for this:
Inward opening doors pull air into the bathroom area and both contain the smells and germs, (the opposite is true for outward opening doors) but also bring additional fresh air in.
Doors that open outwards into hallways (where public access toilets are most commonly found) is a huge hazard to people passing the door.Not to mention foot pulls and automatic door openers are becoming more common so you dont have to touch the handle as often.
Lots of newer public toilets (at least in australia) are designed with an s-bend entrance to eliminate doors completely (however require constant exhaust).
Toilets in commercial buildings often have ante-chambers where doors open both ways into the chamber so you have to touch a handle regardless of direction of travel. (Common in offices and hospitals)That’s the best version. People leave with washed hands so hands remain clean and it’s possible to enter by pushing with a foot.
The other way requires using the door handle while entering. That can contaminate the hand that is going to touch or get close to the private parts. It’s better to have that hand as clean as possible.
Hard disagree.
- Your hands are filthy regardless, you’re on your way IN to the bathroom so you very likely haven’t washed your hands but you’ve touched a LOT of things. Phones, keyboards, door handles, banisters etc. Pulling one more door open is not adding any meaningful contamination. If you are that concerned about one door handle, you should be VERY concerned about the state your hand is already in and thus would need to wash your hands before using the other facilities anyway.
- You’re being overly paranoid. Your junk is not going to explode because it interacted with real world pathogens.
Clean, dry and uncut hands create a formidable barrier to pathogen transmission. And the most dangerous pathogens tend not to live long outside a living body.
Also, sebum is a useful thing.
So wait for a while after washing hands, before touching dirty stuff.[1]I tend to rub my oily nose/head with my fingers, right before doing something that I know would require me to wash my hands later. Makes cleaning with a soap much easier.
Also, has it happened to you sometimes, that even if you try your best to wipe your hands after washing, they tend to easily stick dirt for a while, until they become just a little bit oily (because the palm doesn’t accumulate enough oil for one to casually notice).
of course that can’t be done in public restrooms, but considering that people are always coughing enough for the exhaust fans to be rendered inadequate, the exit door is hardly a big deal ↩︎
So better not wash hands, especially if one had to touch a dirty door?
So better not wash hands, especially if one had to touch a dirty door?
No. My point was that dry, unopened human skin makes pathogen transmission by touch nothing to worry about.
Many places put these on the bottom of the door for this very reason. Granted they only help people able to use them.
Most general public bathrooms (ie. not ones found within stores/reataurants) in Australia don’t have doors - but rather an S-shaped path that provides privacy, without the necessary “stickiness” of having to touch a door handle.
Is this not common elsewhere?
Yeah we have that in Europe on highway stops and other places with high traffic of people like stadiums, big concert venues etc.
My workplace does this, there’s still a door but it’s always open
That’s what most airports, schools, and such seem to have in my experience. (U.S.)
I wish. I’m surprised we haven’t brought back pay toilets in the US.
Nothing like losing your balance or getting your foot jammed when someone slams the door open from the other side. I prefer the wheelchair buttons
Best I can do is a Palantir face recognition device that verify your identity before allowing you out of the bathroom
Those things fucking suck when you can get them to work and they are downright dangerous otherwise.
I’ve hyperextended my knee using one. Good times. Hyperextension used to be a “oh that sucked” but as I get older they’re more and more a "oh shit is this the time it fails on me? " territory.
The way people behave in airport bathrooms bothers me. The bathroom gets cleaned 5 times a day and people still use a mountain of tp on the seat and flush the toilet with their foot like a bunch of homo zombies with norovirus just rode the handle.
But if you must do the above, in any restroom with soap, wash your hands afterwards. You’d want your doctor to.
that bothers you? Consider yourself lucky if you’ve never heard/seen someone disgustingly snorting their snot into the sinks, or washing their feet in it.
I’m unlucky :\
Theoretically, if everyone did the Yes, the But wouldn’t be that big of a But.
Sadly, I’m well aware not everyone does the Yes. Going into a men’s public bathroom is disgusting; it’s disgraceful how many men I’ve seen leave without washing.
My favorite was a guy in college who came in, used the urinal, used the hand dryer, and left.
i hate this so much
Do you expect him to leave with wet urine on his hands? Those dryers are made specifically for drying urine and blowing away the smell. That’s clearly what the little picture on them means.
I know where my dick has been. Usually.
I genuinely don’t even know what you’re trying to say with that comment.
All the more reason to wash.
My hands harbor far more bacteria than my dick. And so does that door handle, the grossest part of the whole business.
Just use the paper towel you used to dry your hands to open the door
It’s truly amazing how many people including who ever made the picture don’t realize this. It’s kind of like those conversations where people talk about washing spoons and always getting water sprayed on themselves. Or the people that can only wipe standing up. It’s like somehow they just are going through life and not managing the most basic thought processes.
And some places are smart and put a garbage can by the door, for the reason.
If the trash is not close enough to the door, that paper towel goes on the floor. I know it’s a bit rude, but every public restroom should have it close enough to do this.
This is an additional reason I hate places that use air driers instead of paper towels
after you’ve peed on your hands, open the door, then quickly wash your hands and run out. the wind will dry your hands.
this is why i usually pee on my friends hands. then they have to open the door
Why the unnecessary steps? Just pee on the door handle.
I’ve noticed a lot of places now have a trash can conveniently located by the door for this.
I’m that asshole who leaves paper towels by the door until they get the hint.
Just move the bin yourself. They’ll get the hint without extra work.
Eww then ya gotta touch the bin
Some (most) are mounted into the wall though.
I’ve settled into a routine of pulling the door open with the paper towel, flinging the paper towel into the nearest trashcan, and darting out quick enough without having to keep the door open with my foot or anything. Not necessary, but fun
This is the way
IDGI
You clean your hands but then you have to touch a probably dirty handle to open the door.
Use the paper
There’s definitely solutions to the problem. You could carry disposable gloves. People with dogs carry plastic bags everywhere. That could work in a pinch. You could wedge the door open and use your foot to open it to leave.
I personally just try to not use public toilets as much as possible. I carry hand sanitizer spray and a bottle of water in my backpack. It’s definitely gross, but it’s not unsolvable.
People don’t know they can hang on to the paper towel to open the door, then Kobe that shit on the way out?
A lot of places put the waste basket by the door for this very reason.
I worked security in pubs, nightclubs and licenced venues for a decade and to this day, I do not wash my hands in public bathrooms. I touch as little as humanly possible and use paper towel to open the door.
My wife thinks its gross but Ive seen shit that cannot be unseen.
Why does any of that lead to “I don’t wash my hands”? In what scenario is washing your hands the dirtier option? Unless somebody took a shit in the soap dispenser, your hands will be cleaner after cleaning them.
Please clean your hands.
In my country it is illegal to have bathroom doors open to the inside. Same with doors leading outside. It was weird to move abroad as I couldn’t get used to them opening the other way.
It’s unsafe for doors to open into hallways, so you need to design alcoves for every entrance otherwise, so far more space is wasted.
Also, use paper to open the door, and a lot of places have foot pulls now, easier for handicapped people as well.
The best entrance, especially for handicapped people, is a maze entrance, but uses even more space.
I don’t know by what magic a door is safe opening one way but not another. It surely depends on where the door is.
On the other hand doors opening to the inside are less safe in case of an emergency. In my country, all doors in public places must open towards the exit of the building.
That’s due to a panic response and people pressing against the doors so you can’t pull them open. That only happens after a certain amount of people. The couple dozen max in a bathroom or most offices won’t have that issue.
I’ve seen a lot of places add those foot pull handles to doors since COVID. Not the best, but it’s a solution
I never saw this but want them everywhere. I just have to try to grab the doors/handles on unusual places where not many people would touch them
Some places have little foot hooks at the bottom.
I wonder if push to enter doors cut down on injuries of people rushing to the toilet, or if it’s just because they usually open into corridors.
As everyone has already said, use the paper towels. Some doors are also equiped with a small piece of metal at the base of the door which you step on, and pull with your shoe
That foot thing is an awful design IMO. Rather than a step-on to pull, it should be a design that allows you to flex your foot up and hook it under something to pull. The step-on kind necessarily requires you to put weight on it, letting off pressure on your other foot thereby causing instability. This can be difficult to manage for other people or on doors requiring a heavier pull force to open. The hook under kind would stabilize the person trying to open the door.
Counter argument: having to hook your foot runs the risk of damaging the tops of your shoes (often softer material) or your foot if you’re wearing sandals. You can be sure that the bottoms of everyone’s shoes are designed for at least minimal impact protection.
I like the foot step and use them when I can, but it helps to reinforce that the paper towel with a well-placed trash can is the best method imo.
Handicapped people can press down, but not lift up.
Neither option is good, tbh. Hook under allows better grip for those capable, but doesn’t allow for some disabled people. Step on increases the likelihood of usability but also increases the likelihood of becoming unbalanced and falling.
Both options ignore the possibility of broken toes when someone on the outside attempts to push the door in at the moment you’ve got your foot planted on it or hooked under it.
We live in an era where automatic doors and push buttons to open them are a well established thing. Do that instead.
Barring that, the hallway with two turns like Walmart uses is an option. Just make sure they’re wide enough for the widest wheelchairs and power chairs, and the turns are too tight.
I don’t disagree, I still use a paper towel. When it was first installed they forgot to modify the mechanism that closes the door on one of the bathrooms. The tension was set still set to prevent someone from being smashed in the face (or the door from slamming shut), but that meant you needed apply a fair amount of force to open the door. They’ve since adjusted it and now it’s pretty easy to open with just one foot
The kind you describe is the only type I’ve ever seen.
You also pull up your pants before washing your hands. If I were a germophobe, I’d be terrified of the two spots I grab to pull my pants up after pooping.
@humorlessrepost @The_Picard_Maneuver I’m a germaphobe and yes this is literally true.
Finger 2 & 3: poop.
Fingers 1, 4 & 5: trousers.
I sure hope people aren’t going to the sink with their pants still around their ankles
are… are you getting poop on your pants???
Are you getting poop on your hands? I’m not, but I still wash my hands after.
Foot pulls are a part-solution. Accessibility button as well.
Long sleeves
