Poll: Health professionals recommend washing your hands regularly to prevent illness. How often do you wash your hands daily? / LJWorld.com

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Response		Percent	Votes
7 to 10 times		30%	258
4 to 6 times		28%	242
1 to 3 times		13%	111
11 to 15 times		12%	108
More than 20 times		9%	76
16 to 20 times		5%	42
Total	837

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RETICENT_IRREVERENT (Ronaldo Ignacio) says…

Kinda depends on how often I void, eat, or what I am doing.
July 9, 2009 at 6:31 p.m.
Irish (Leslie Swearingen) says…

I keep bottles of handwash in the bathroom and kitchen because those are so easy to use.
Who needs to wash twenty times a day unless you are a nurse or doctor? Isn't that indicative of a mental disorder?
July 9, 2009 at 8:01 p.m.
gccs14r (anonymous) says…

I'm with R_I. Every time I use the restroom or blow my nose, before and after meals, when they look or feel dirty, plus probably another four to six times per day. Thinking about it, that may put me in the over 20 category on some days.
July 10, 2009 at 8:27 a.m.
xbusguy (chris Ogle) says…

Last Tuesday, I washed my hands.... but who is counting
July 10, 2009 at 8:38 a.m.
whatadrag (anonymous) says…

This is clearly offensive to those who do not have hands.
July 10, 2009 at 8:43 a.m.
alm77 (anonymous) says…

I wash my hands at least 6 times just when cooking dinner! I am terrified of cross contamination and salmonella. Other than that, it's just the normal times gccs referenced, but that easily put me into the 16-20 category.
July 10, 2009 at 8:53 a.m.
snap_pop_no_crackle (anonymous) says…

Purell is your friend.
Remember that the mouth and nose are the Freeways to Infection. Avoid breating through your mouth or nose as much as possible.
July 10, 2009 at 9:09 a.m.
consumer1 (anonymous) says…

I work in a position where people shake my hand. so, I wash my hand after every handshake, and every other shake I do. then I use a paper towel to pull the door open to exit the restroom. I am grossed out by the number of men who don't wash their hands after draining the lizard.
July 10, 2009 at 9:10 a.m.
consumer1 (anonymous) says…

I lick my hands to keep them clean.
Then I rub my fingers in my eyes and nose and clean my hands again.
July 10, 2009 at 9:18 a.m.
sunshine_noise (anonymous) says…

I wash when they are dirty or sticky like after planting or cleaning and after bathroom use and before and after handling raw meat. But I'm not obsessive about it like some people I know who are so germ phobic. As my Mama use to say: "gotta eat a little dirt before you die". If people go around constantly wanting an antiseptic environment we are going to kill ourselves off just by allowing bateriera (sp?) to affect us because we will loose our ammunity to it. I've come to learn in my old age that people stick sometimes, people have various levels of hygiene, but most are cleaner then in the past days when the Europeans came to this country. Native Americans thought they spelled bad and so did the Japanese. Also we live longer then those days because we probably bath more and know how to keep cleaner environments. I think the pendulum is swinging way too far now by being overly cautious about cleaniness. I think if people take regular baths, change their clothes daily and brush their teeth after each meal and wash their hands sparingly the world will be just fine. Oh, and what about lovers kissing - OMG do you know how many germs are swapped just by that and what about sex - Oooowwwwwwwa. Please stop this germ phobia before it gets outta hand.
July 10, 2009 at 9:29 a.m.
bearded_gnome (anonymous) says…

Irish,
it depends what you're doing. if you cook two meals a day, change a baby's diaper several times a day, blow your nose, its not hard to get to 20 in a day. if you visit or are visited by someone with a sneeze/cough, wash your hands too. did you clean your floor? wash your hands. did you change your bedding, wash your hands.
not hard at all.

***
how often do I wash my hands? well, more often on days I read polls like this or the On The Street, you know, there are other people reading these! my gawd, who knows what *their* hygene is like? and really, I don't want to catch something by reading this poll...
people who *need* to wash their hands naturally are drawn to a poll question like this one. its like if LJWorld asked "do you clean your own fish?" people who aren't fishermen/fisherwomen/fisherwomyn wouldn't answer that question.
and, if you're cleaning fish *wash your hands!* you never know where them fish have been before you got 'em.
July 10, 2009 at 11:03 a.m.
sunshine_noise (anonymous) says…

Good grief...I think about being at work in a closed building where I am breathing what other people are exhaling. Should I wash my hands? Swim in a pool with strangers...we eat off of dishes other people have used (I questions most restaurants washing methods) but we do it and we'll still alive and healthy. People stop being so darn paranoid. Ya gotta eat a little dirt before you die.
July 10, 2009 at 2:08 p.m.
Satirical (anonymous) says…

I wash my hands once a month whether I need it or not.
July 10, 2009 at 3:14 p.m.
yoornotmee (anonymous) says…

Hehe, Satirical :)

I wash my hands a lot. I have a 4-month old daughter and two dogs. I wash my hands after playing with the dogs and before playing with my daughter. I wash them after doing dishes or after scrubbing floors, or after touching the broom handle because it just doesn't seem clean. I wash them after putting dirty laundry in the washer (we use cloth diapers, so I wash after putting those in for sure!). Anyway, this comment is probably boring to other people so I'll stop now :)
July 10, 2009 at 3:54 p.m.
Valkyrie_of_Reason (Kathy Getto) says…

I work in an elementary school - 20 times a day isn't even close.
July 10, 2009 at 4:06 p.m.
tangential_reasoners_anonymous (anonymous) says…

More concerned about mental illness, I'm a strong proponent of brainwashing. Dishwasher, top rack.
July 10, 2009 at 4:30 p.m.
Irish (Leslie Swearingen) says…

I pet Deion all the time and never wash my hand. The way I grew up I should have been dead a long time before this. I think some are just really prissy. It's almost like they don't consider themselves to be human, but of a higher species.
July 10, 2009 at 4:38 p.m.
Satirical (anonymous) says…

imnotyoo...

Sounds like someone has OCD.
July 10, 2009 at 4:38 p.m.
tunahelper (anonymous) says…

An Army private walks into a restroom at KCI and there are three Marines. The Army private proceeds to relieve himself and starts to walk out the door.

Suddenly, one of the Marines says to the Army private: "The Marines taught us to wash our hands after peeing."

The Army Private responded: "In the Army they taught us not to piss on our hands!"
July 10, 2009 at 5:50 p.m.
VoiceOfReason (anonymous) says…

On a "normal" day...after I use the potty. At work...about 100 times a day. I work with open-heart patients and you can't be clean enough when you've cleaned and packed open chest infections that get so big they expose the heart and lungs...bleech! (That's the "medical" term).

In "real life", though, I agree that people could benefit from a little less germaphobia. No amount of hand washing protects you from the patient who decides to cough in your face...but a strong immune system helps. I let my kid play in the mud and get dirty when she was little (and now) and I make her wash her hands before she eats. But (BIG knock-on-wood!) she's a tough healthy kid who rarely gets sick...unlike her uber-clean classmates. You need to be exposed to germs to build an immune system.
July 10, 2009 at 6:40 p.m.
rockchalkjayhawkku (anonymous) says…

Lots of people don't wash their hands at all, so I'm surprised that "ZERO" times is not an option.
July 10, 2009 at 8:33 p.m.
gccs14r (anonymous) says…

It's not what's on the inside of the penis that's a problem, but what's on the outside. It's in a dark, moist environment just inches from a much darker, even more moist environment. You may not mind eating a handful of raisins after having your hands down there, but the rest of us would rather not have that on our food. Please wash your hands, even if you didn't pee on them.
July 10, 2009 at 11:23 p.m.
yoornotmee (anonymous) says…

Satricial, I certainly do not have have OCD. I do, however, have dogs who roll in things and I do get dirty. After cleaning a mess from the puppy, I'm going to quickly wash my hands before playing with my daughter. I'm not afraid of germs and I do expect my daughter to play in mud and in creeks when she's older, etc.
July 10, 2009 at 11:26 p.m.
bearded_gnome (anonymous) says…

Molly,
don't sweat it. most of us were fine with your comment. did not think you obsessive compulsive.
July 11, 2009 at 12:37 a.m.