Our Obsession With Clean

Where does our obsession with being clean come from? I don't just mean basic hygiene so you don't smell, i mean stupidly clean. I bring this up because of what i saw today.

I was at a party for a friends kid, he's five. As you can imagine this involved all sorts of games, kids running around hyped on sugar and general chaos.

I was a little tired to i sat down to rest. As i sat there watching the kids as they seemingly defied the whole perpetual energy debate i saw a kid fall over and hit the ground. As he went down he braced himself with his hands as most people would, it's instinct right?

At this point his mother rushed to him at a speed so fast that i suggest we recruit her as the next womens sprinter in the Olympics. She immediately fetched from her handbag a cloth wipe of some kind and proceeded to rub her childs' hands so hard you would think he'd put his hands in a bucket of anthrax. I mean honestly the way she scrubbed his palms you would think he was the next patient zero of the plague.

She even told him not to put his hands on the ground. So what is he supposed to do when he falls over? Fall on his face? I'm sure if that happened she would scrub his face so hard he would look like he's taken part in a beetroot bobbing contest.

After she had scrubbed his hands she picked him up and let him carry on. He seemed perfectly ok with it but seriously now, when did we get so obsessed with germs? He fell on grass for gods sake, it's not like he suddenly contracted ebola!

As a kid i played in the woods. I spent most days after school going with a friend to the woods where we wood camp, make bases, generally get dirty and often take food (which we ate with dirty hands). I have never had the flu or any of the common diseases. I have CFS (which runs in my family) but i just never seem to contract anything and you know what? Most of the people i played with didn't catch anything.

There is some very solid evidence to say that protecting a child from bugs makes their system vulnerable to infections. So where did this obsession with clean come from? Is it as simple as the corporations pushing cleaning products on us?

Well forgive me but i will continue to eat sandwiches with slightly dirty hands. I will continue to dig in the dirt as i plant crops. I will continue to pick berries from my bushes and eat them without washing them.

Our obsession with cleanliness is not a good one.

This mindset is actually changing. This sounds actually compuilsive on the mother's part. I have never met anybody that bad.

But people are starting to relax and being less fiesty about it. The anti germophobe movement has been happening.

Though I do have a little sympathy, having a young child myself, the constant cold thing my child gets and passes around the house gets old.
Which I think is probably the start of the obsession awhile back.

so i can understand cleaning shopping carts, which I do, and maybe other kid's toys in a public area, it stops there.MY kid gets outside and dirty.

He will even comment when he has dirty hands when we are outside and I tell him he is supposed to be that way.

It is a theory that one reason people have so many digestive problems is that they don't get the dirt(probiotics) that comes on produce because it is so clean. And that it contains bacteria that our systems use to digest.

But you do have to be careful if your using manure based soils and fertilizers in the garden.

I think there are two kinds of dirty for me. Human filth, and natural dirt. You're not likely to get some rare disease while planting a garden... you could probably even eat the dirt if you wanted to. However, I would advise against licking the floor beneath a urinal in a random truck stop or bar.

I think we've taken over so much of the planet that people don't realize what to do anymore. We're conditioned that dirt is bad... and because we're hardly ever truly in nature, we don't know any better. Many people rarely walk on the grass in their bare feet anymore. Eventually we'll all be in sterile, well lit facilities. Afraid of the next strain of super-whatever that just was discovered.

Originally posted by ImaginaryReality1984
Where does our obsession with being clean come from? I don't just mean basic hygiene so you don't smell, i mean stupidly clean. I bring this up because of what i saw today.

I was at a party for a friends kid, he's five. As you can imagine this involved all sorts of games, kids running around hyped on sugar and general chaos.

I was a little tired to i sat down to rest. As i sat there watching the kids as they seemingly defied the whole perpetual energy debate i saw a kid fall over and hit the ground. As he went down he braced himself with his hands as most people would, it's instinct right?

At this point his mother rushed to him at a speed so fast that i suggest we recruit her as the next womens sprinter in the Olympics. She immediately fetched from her handbag a cloth wipe of some kind and proceeded to rub her childs' hands so hard you would think he'd put his hands in a bucket of anthrax. I mean honestly the way she scrubbed his palms you would think he was the next patient zero of the plague.

She even told him not to put his hands on the ground. So what is he supposed to do when he falls over? Fall on his face? I'm sure if that happened she would scrub his face so hard he would look like he's taken part in a beetroot bobbing contest.

After she had scrubbed his hands she picked him up and let him carry on. He seemed perfectly ok with it but seriously now, when did we get so obsessed with germs? He fell on grass for gods sake, it's not like he suddenly contracted ebola!

As a kid i played in the woods. I spent most days after school going with a friend to the woods where we wood camp, make bases, generally get dirty and often take food (which we ate with dirty hands). I have never had the flu or any of the common diseases. I have CFS (which runs in my family) but i just never seem to contract anything and you know what? Most of the people i played with didn't catch anything.

There is some very solid evidence to say that protecting a child from bugs makes their system vulnerable to infections. So where did this obsession with clean come from? Is it as simple as the corporations pushing cleaning products on us?

Well forgive me but i will continue to eat sandwiches with slightly dirty hands. I will continue to dig in the dirt as i plant crops. I will continue to pick berries from my bushes and eat them without washing them.

Our obsession with cleanliness is not a good one.

I've gone over this fact hundreds of times, constantly disinfecting surfaces your child comes in contact with or his hands, is HURTING THE CHILD 100%. These children grow up with no immune system to protect them, and mommy grows out of running around sanitizing everything. This leads to a plethora of problems through the childs life.

Kids that grow up, being and acting like kids, are the ones who will have better health. This also goes with adults and teenagers as well though, get rid of all the sanatizing crap you have, the stupid hand gels or sticks, all of it, stop using it and your body will thank you for it.


Edit: My mom never sanitized anything I used or touched EVER, I hardly ever washed my hands as a kid, and even today, unless using a bathroom, I don't ever go out of my way to wash my hands. I haven't been sick in over 10 years, and I thank my mom for that. She let me and my brother, be kids.

[edit on 3-4-2009 by king9072]

I agree with your rant.

So does Henry Rollins. You might find this video of interest.

I gave up on being clean unless it's really needed.

I take a shower only when I stink. No point in wasting the water and soap.

I clean my clothes only when they stink. Wear it once.... It's still clean, unless I was working out. At the moment I am wearing a pair of pants that havent been washed in 3 weeks. They don't smell and look good as new.

I distaste washing my hair... All those chemicals kill the health of my hair, I would rather have a little oil than dry crimpy hair.

Hi and I totally agree w/ you. I have a neighbor that is just like that. She even goes to school during the days to make sure her daughters hands are sterilized before eating breakfast and lunch . I think she is a wonderful lady but she takes it a little too far. I'll tell ya, my husband and I are raising 8 children all under the age of 11 and I just resort back to what my grandfather always used to say to me... germs are good for us, if we are never exposed to germs we never build up a resistance and when something major comes along the people with out resistance will not be able to fight the viruses off. I've found what he used to say to me to be true.

I agree with the poster who said we are hurting our children, and ourselves, with excessive cleanliness. The children are going to grow up with dpressed immune systems. We are also weakening the immue system of adults.
I work in health care, so naturally I Wash my hands several times daily. But I don't wear gloves everytime I touch a patient, like most nurses do. (For example, When I start an IV on someone, I don't wear gloves, because I can't feel the vein. I used to piss off a couple of doctors, but they're gone and I'm still here. Now, if someone has HIV, or one of the Hepatitis strains, I will wear gloves, if I am going to come in contact with bodily fluids or feces. But I happen to believe, under normal circumstances, that human tough is important to the health of patients, Why do they call it and the last thing they need is the perception that I am afraid to touch someone without the barrier of latex.
why do they call it common sense when it's so uncommon?

reply to post by kettlebellysmith


I'm sorry but in a hospital environment i would argue very strongly for the use of gloves and hand creams at every single patient. That is a different matter entirely as already sick people don't need their immune systems taxed further.

This was about an obsession by healthy people about their kids and other healthy adults. People are just so utterly obsessed about germs and they seem to forget they are breathing germs in right now! As we sit, typing at our computers we are breathing in bacteria, viruses, fungal spores and a host of other stuff! These people are just nuts in my opinion.

I am clean, my son has to wash his hands after school, soap and water but I have not been obsessive about it. After a bus ride on public transpo or touching money, yeah..I get a lil crazy about washing. But, my son has never had a cold in his entire life, a day of slight fever maybe, a little cough, nothing a few tylenols don't cure. He is 15, healthy as a horse.

Being clean and sanitary verse having obsessive compulsive disorder are 2 different things.

The mother you described clearly had OCD and I know a few people like her.

I love a clean environment. I hate clutter and I like to be organized. I dust, clean bathrooms, floors, etc to be clean and not live in filth. My home is clean, but it certainly looks lived in.

However, i'm not obsessive about it. I go out in public, shop and touch things that probably have a zillion germs on it....and don't always wash or use sanitizer immediately after. My child, as all children do, touches everything and I don't obsess over it. Now if she was putting random things in her mouth, I might take issue with that. That is just gross. And I make sure her and I wash our hands after restroom use.

I do get grossed out rather easily though and I admit, I can become a little OCD about some things. Such as eating in public or at people's homes. Some people's level of cleaniness (or lack thereof) can really gross me out!! Being in a public restroom and seeing someone not wash their hands afterwards really grosses me out. And I do get OCD about being in hotel rooms. Ive seen way too many reports and stories on how disgusting and filthy they are.

When one reads stories such as this, its easy to see why people become OCD over being "clean":

articles.mercola.com...

Germs Easily Transferred From Everyday Objects To Hands


A new study has found everyday objects such as telephones and kitchen faucets can transfer high levels of potentially dangerous bacteria to the hands. And from the hands, bacteria often end up on the lips. A related study by the same researchers found that oddly enough, you are more likely to contaminate your hands when making dinner than after using a public restroom.

In one of the studies, the researchers looked at coliform bacteria, including fecal coliforms, on the palms of volunteers' hands after making dinner, cleaning the house, doing laundry, using a public restroom, petting a dog or a cat, or returning home from elementary school.

And there are so many more articles and studies like this. Enough to make me become 100% OCD....so I try and avoid them LOL

[edit on 4/3/2009 by greeneyedleo]

We are surrounded by hypo-allergenics, antibacterials and antiseptics a lot these days (there are so many adds for these products, it's scary). People want their homes to be as clean as hospitals which is incredibly foolish.

Is is just students who realise that a challenged and exercised immune system is a healthy immune system. Or is that just the benefit of being a slacker? I forget.

But yes, as I understand things, people are going to become more susceptible to infections as cleanliness gets out of hand and who ever survives will be the ones to rethink the idea of neglecting to expose children to an appropriate amount of germs so they can fight off a cold when they're older.

What happened to the days when an expression of love from a caring parent was to put their child with other children who had chicken pox in order that their own child contracts it. This is the right thing to do - some short-term loss for long-term gain.


But I don't need to tell you guys this, there is no point repeating what we already know.

thats funny

the best part is everything else the kid touches that gets handled by people is probably 3-4x more likely to make him sick. I wonder if she scrubs him after he touches another kid or picks up a soccer ball or touches the phone doorknob radio dial
game controller etc etc etc



[edit on 4-4-2009 by constantwonder]

lol, I remember coming back to my place after a long day, covered in oil, grease, metal filings, a few cuts, and a whole slew of different substances that most people would be freaked out by having them spilled on them.

What did I usually do once I got in the door?

Made myself a sandwich, kicked back on the balcony, and relaxed.



Did I ever worry about disinfecting my hands? Nope, just wiped them off before eating.
(Machine oils usually don't taste very good.)

And most of the metal I used was salvaged... saves costs.



People freak out about being uber-clean way too much.
If I'm not expecting to have anyone over, and not expecting to go anywhere on a weekend, yeah, I'm usually filthy.

It is all this "multi surface sprays" that i don't understand!
Not such a thing existed when i was a child,and i don't think i picked up any more illnesses than any modern child!

All we are doing is,making our children more susceptible to illness,by trying to prevent it in the first place.

I say,let the children pick up bacteria,and let their bodies own natural defenses fight it off.

After all,when my Dad could'nt find me when i was a kid,he would usually look for the nearest muddy puddle,and sure enough,i would be sitting slap bang in the middle of it,splashing away happily!

S+F

Immune systems, as one(EDIT:several) person mentioned.. Star to that person.

I don't understand why people mow their lawn(ok that's a stretch).

I can't imagine how many germs I help to pro-create. I don't wash my hands, I bathe rarely, and I'm (OMG) healthy as a horse(as they say).

Some germs good... some germs bad... if you kill 99.9% of germs with your lysol how many are good germs you kill? I'm not saying to bathe in your own filth, but JEEZ... C'MON.

[edit on 4-4-2009 by dragonking76]

Originally posted by greeneyedleo
Being clean and sanitary verse having obsessive compulsive disorder are 2 different things.

The mother you described clearly had OCD and I know a few people like her.

Erm no sorry, if she had OCD she probably would have been unhappy at him touching the other kids, playing hot potato, bouncing on the bouncy castle etc. She at no point intervened in any of this to clean him, only when he hit the grass, which we all know is where the government gets it's biological weapons apparently. I mean what other reason would she have for going nuts over that and not the other stuff?

Unless she has a very specific OCD to do with grass which would be an odd version of it.

Originally posted by Tentickles


I distaste washing my hair... All those chemicals kill the health of my hair, I would rather have a little oil than dry crimpy hair.

More studies show recently that it is better for women to only wash their hair once or twice a week. They are healthier that way.Black women get get away with one time a week.

If you wash your hair too much it actually takes the natural balance off. I actually like my hair better (behaves better, lol) after 2 or 3 days.

Originally posted by nixie_nox
If you wash your hair too much it actually takes the natural balance off. I actually like my hair better (behaves better, lol) after 2 or 3 days.

Me too. I guess that must be the norm.

I lived with a guy for 4 years who had OCD. Kinda like "Monk". This guy washed his hands hundreds of times a day. He was sick all the time. He would get horrible infections in his sinuses and then given antibotics. Then of course that quit working and they put him on new stronger antibotics. I tried to explain to him he was killing off the good germs and making the bad ones stronger. Never got the point. We really need to stop with the obssesive cleaning. I live in a major city and I really only wash my hands before eating and after going to the bathroom and I don't have any problems. I blame it on the new household cleaners. They are stronger than ever and kill good germs with the bad.