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The unfortunate truth is that all of us, at one time or another, have to use a public bathroom. Nobody likes doing it there, but there comes a time where you just can't make it back to the house. Or, maybe you're on the road a lot and have to frequent the public restrooms. Regardless of how you end up there, ultimately you want to be as sanitary and clean as possible. Posted below are a few tricks that have helped me survive the horror of public restrooms, and I hope that they will also be beneficial to you.
Minimize Contact
Minimizing contact is huge when using a public restroom. Whether you realize it or not, there are tons of things that you would normally touch that you don't need to due to the unsanitary nature of public restrooms. First off, if the bathroom provides touchless solutions such as toilets and faucets, you should take the opportunity in a heartbeat. You don't really get to choose whether a bathroom provides touchless fixture, however, going touchless plays a huge part in reducing germ pickup and you should definitely choose touchless given the option. One of the most germ infested parts of the whole bathroom is the door handle. Everyone needs to get in and out of the bathroom, so it makes sense that door handles get touched more than other parts of the bathroom and naturally care more germs. Many public restroom doors are push open, but many people use their hands anyways. The best way to stay germ free in such a situation is to use the rest of your body to open the door as opposed to your hands. There will be times where you many have to use a door handle to get in, but it is definitely preferred to use your body instead of touching the handle. The last thing on the list of things not to touch is the toilet handle. On top of the fact that it carries a hefty amount of germs in the first place, people also tend to flush with their foot to avoid germs, essentially adding even more possible germs to the mix. You could either hop on the foot flushing train yourself, or what I recommend, use an extra piece of toilet paper to flush and protect your hand from possible germs.
Avoid Blow Driers
I feel like one of the most unsanitary things you can do to a public restroom is put a blow drier in and not offer an option for paper towels. Although store owners do it to save money, they are only causing bathroom users to be less sanitary. When you wash your hands and blow dry them, you are literally drying the germs right back onto your hands. When you wash your hands and proceed to use paper towels, you essentially wipe what's left of the germs off. Sometimes you are forced to use blow driers, but given the two options, paper towels will kill off more germs every time.
Keep Hand Sanitizer
This may seem unconvenient and unnecessary, but this is one of the biggest ways you can reduce germ pickup in pubic restrooms. For women who carry purses, keeping a small bottle of hand sanitizer can be convenient, but that cannot be said for most guys. I recommend that if you don't carry some kind of purse or bag around that you get a bottle you can put on your key chain. That way, you'll always have it with you, and you can kill off germs as needed.
