Now wash your hands!
Feb 23, 2012, 3:56 am
#16
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Near Edinburgh
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 9,034
Feb 23, 2012, 3:57 am
#17
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Near Edinburgh
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 9,034
Feb 23, 2012, 3:57 am
#18
Join Date: Jul 2011
Programs: Mucci de la Cuisine Aérienne du Réseau Courte Durée de British Airways
Posts: 4,704
I think, using hot water and soap, is the best way to wash your hands.
I often sea people wiping their dirty hands and face with a hot towel and then using the same towel to clean their table!!
Not a good idea!
I often sea people wiping their dirty hands and face with a hot towel and then using the same towel to clean their table!!
Not a good idea!
Feb 23, 2012, 4:03 am
#19
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 289
Hmmm. Whilst I cannot disagree with PtF's comments about handwashing after using the toilet, one has to keep perspective. Unless you sanitise everything you come into contact with (which is of course impossible), some of the actions described here are almost certainly pointless. In addition, coming into contact with a few bugs doesn't do much harm and can even do good.
Of course, not my place to criticise - whatever people are comfortable with is right for them, just need to keep perspective or we may see a rash of OCD..
Of course, not my place to criticise - whatever people are comfortable with is right for them, just need to keep perspective or we may see a rash of OCD..
Feb 23, 2012, 4:10 am
#20
Join Date: Jul 2011
Programs: Mucci de la Cuisine Aérienne du Réseau Courte Durée de British Airways
Posts: 4,704
I'm not at all OCD about all of this, just amazed how many people who don't wash their hands after going to the loo. This is, I think, something that we all should be doing as second nature.
Feb 23, 2012, 4:15 am
#21
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: BOS
Programs: BA Silver, Mucci
Posts: 5,289
Please can the crew have tongs for the bread basket and serve it to us?
Feb 23, 2012, 4:16 am
#23
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Birmingham
Programs: Mucci (Chevalier de Sagesse), Betty Ford Alumnus, BA Gold, ScaryTeam Elite+
Posts: 400
...and don't forget there are probably 10,000,000 bacteria on the skin between your elbow and fingertips right now.
There is a perception that all bacteria are bad - nothing could be further from the truth - and while hand washing is desirable it will only reduce bacterial counts on your skin by 40% if you dry with paper towels (or 10% if you use cotton).
Incomplete drying is the actually biggest risk from an infection control perspective - but that pales into insignificance when you look at air dryers (as opposed to towels). A traditional one will give you a 500% increase in the number of bacteria on your skin - but it will replace the benign ones with enterobacteriacae and faecal coliforms. Euuuwwwww!
There is a perception that all bacteria are bad - nothing could be further from the truth - and while hand washing is desirable it will only reduce bacterial counts on your skin by 40% if you dry with paper towels (or 10% if you use cotton).
Incomplete drying is the actually biggest risk from an infection control perspective - but that pales into insignificance when you look at air dryers (as opposed to towels). A traditional one will give you a 500% increase in the number of bacteria on your skin - but it will replace the benign ones with enterobacteriacae and faecal coliforms. Euuuwwwww!
Feb 23, 2012, 4:39 am
#24
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 892
Feb 23, 2012, 5:20 am
#26
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jan 2009
Programs: Battleaxe Alliance
Posts: 22,127
Given the worrying degree of fullness of hand wash bottles almost at all times at the BA F lounges at LHR, I suspect many do not wash their hands after going to the loo any more.
Feb 23, 2012, 5:26 am
#27
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: All over the place often South Wales and Lake District
Programs: BA Gold for Life Accor Platinum
Posts: 4,552
...and don't forget there are probably 10,000,000 bacteria on the skin between your elbow and fingertips right now.
There is a perception that all bacteria are bad - nothing could be further from the truth - and while hand washing is desirable it will only reduce bacterial counts on your skin by 40% if you dry with paper towels (or 10% if you use cotton).
Incomplete drying is the actually biggest risk from an infection control perspective - but that pales into insignificance when you look at air dryers (as opposed to towels). A traditional one will give you a 500% increase in the number of bacteria on your skin - but it will replace the benign ones with enterobacteriacae and faecal coliforms. Euuuwwwww!
There is a perception that all bacteria are bad - nothing could be further from the truth - and while hand washing is desirable it will only reduce bacterial counts on your skin by 40% if you dry with paper towels (or 10% if you use cotton).
Incomplete drying is the actually biggest risk from an infection control perspective - but that pales into insignificance when you look at air dryers (as opposed to towels). A traditional one will give you a 500% increase in the number of bacteria on your skin - but it will replace the benign ones with enterobacteriacae and faecal coliforms. Euuuwwwww!
Apparently the number of allergies is increasing due to good bacteria being killed by overuse of antibacterial chemicals. So next time you are asked not to eat peanuts on a flight, the root cause maybe closer to home.
Obviously important to wash hands after using the toilet however....
Feb 23, 2012, 5:39 am
#28
Suspended
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The water release fixtures and the pumps for the soap bottles in the plane bathrooms are probably germ-heaven too.
I hope the airline flight crews are properly cleaning their hands before handling passenger food and delivering it, but I expect there are are also numerous failures there too.
Then again, there is a school of thought that exposure to bugs is necessary to strengthen the immune system. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" kind of thinking.
Some studies may show that excessive use of antibiotics and cleaning agents results in increased allergy sensitivity, but that sort of runs counter to anticipation since increased allergy sensitivity is generally the result of a heightened immune system response to foreign agents. Wonderful bodies.
I carry liquid hand-sanitizer -- 60+% ethyl alcohol content -- and Clorox bleach wet wipes for "fixed" surface cleaning, and use them on flights regularly. Never had it go up in flames, but then again the only time I have matches on me is when going camping or picking up a pack of matches from a hotel, restaurant or other entertainment venues as some sort of souvenir someone wants. And I'm not one to play pyromaniac, although some exceptions for Dec. 31st and many more for the 4th of July.
I hope the airline flight crews are properly cleaning their hands before handling passenger food and delivering it, but I expect there are are also numerous failures there too.
Then again, there is a school of thought that exposure to bugs is necessary to strengthen the immune system. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" kind of thinking.
Some studies may show that excessive use of antibiotics and cleaning agents results in increased allergy sensitivity, but that sort of runs counter to anticipation since increased allergy sensitivity is generally the result of a heightened immune system response to foreign agents. Wonderful bodies.
I carry liquid hand-sanitizer -- 60+% ethyl alcohol content -- and Clorox bleach wet wipes for "fixed" surface cleaning, and use them on flights regularly. Never had it go up in flames, but then again the only time I have matches on me is when going camping or picking up a pack of matches from a hotel, restaurant or other entertainment venues as some sort of souvenir someone wants. And I'm not one to play pyromaniac, although some exceptions for Dec. 31st and many more for the 4th of July.
Last edited by GUWonder; Feb 23, 2012 at 5:53 am
Feb 23, 2012, 5:41 am
#29
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: 62K LHR JNB
Posts: 319
A friend of mine (who admittedly is a bit of a hygiene/health freak) recommends bringing a small bottle of Dettox spray on board (even in CW) and applying well to the chair arm rests and dinner tables as the turnaround cleaning isn't quite up to scratch - any truth in this? Probably best I don't tell her this story or she will probably never fly again..
Feb 23, 2012, 6:11 am
#30
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Kent, UK
Programs: BA Gold, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,809
You people are weird 
I don't really get the obsession with cleaning everything to the n'th degree. Are you going to suck your fingers after touching the arm rests? No, then why clean them? Wash your hands of course, refuse anything seved by hand if you like, but last time I ate on a plane, I used a knife and fork which were nicely wrapped up in a clean napkin which rested on a clean table cloth. I didn't use my hands.
I do wonder if people would really notice if companies removed the cleaning properties of wet wipes and just kept the smell. People would still be happy in thinking that everything was clean, which to me is probably why people do it.
I don't really get the obsession with cleaning everything to the n'th degree. Are you going to suck your fingers after touching the arm rests? No, then why clean them? Wash your hands of course, refuse anything seved by hand if you like, but last time I ate on a plane, I used a knife and fork which were nicely wrapped up in a clean napkin which rested on a clean table cloth. I didn't use my hands.
I do wonder if people would really notice if companies removed the cleaning properties of wet wipes and just kept the smell. People would still be happy in thinking that everything was clean, which to me is probably why people do it.