Is it okay to wash your hands in the kitchen sink washwater (with the dishes)?
Is it okay to wash your hands in the same dishwater that you are using to wash the dishes? In other words, Can someone use the kitchen sink filled with soapy dishwater to wash hands after using the restroom? Is it safe or just gross?
Best Answer
No! This risks fecal contamination of the dishes.
One of the most common methods for disease to spread is the fecal-oral route. By washing your hands after going to the toilet in the same water as the dishes you're cleaning, you're transferring that fecal contamination to the water and then to all the dishes washed in it, and then to all the food eaten from those dishes.
Pictures about "Is it okay to wash your hands in the kitchen sink washwater (with the dishes)?"
Does washing dishes count as washing hands?
When unwashed, the germs on our hands can spread to other surfaces, as well as food and drink items we may be handling (via CDC). For this reason, health experts encourage handwashing both before and after washing the dishes.When should you wash your hands in the kitchen?
Did you know that washing your hands properly can prevent 1 in 3 diarrheal illnesses and 1 in 5 respiratory infections like the common cold or the flu? Handwashing is especially important when handling food and at other times when you are likely to get and spread germs.Can you wash your hands in a bathroom sink?
You may even think it's healthier and safer not to use a dirty sink after going to the toilet rather than washing your hands. According to experts, however, you should always wash your hands after using the toilet, no matter the grottiness of the sink and taps.How dirty is the kitchen sink?
According to a 2008 study, 46% of kitchen sinks tested had a total bacteria count of more than 100,000 per square centimeter, that included E. coli, campylobacter, and salmonella. The average toilet seat? 50 bacteria per square inch, according to Dr Chuck Gerba, professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona.How To Wash Dishes By Hand - Wash Dishes Efficiently Using Less Water
More answers regarding is it okay to wash your hands in the kitchen sink washwater (with the dishes)?
Answer 2
I completely agree that after the toilet it's a very bad idea. Just don't. Food hygiene regulations for commercial settings, strictly interpreted, are likely to mean that you wash your hands after the toilet and on arrival in the kitchen, i.e. again.
If what you're washing off is from food prep, it's less clear-cut. I still wouldn't recommend it in a professional setting, where there should always be a separate hand-wash sink. At home, when cleaning as you go, sometimes you have little choice. I find this especially true when batch-baking, or when preparing a lot of fruit/veg for several dishes at once - you may need to wash the onion smell off before prepping dessert, for example. Then you're either washing in or over the washing up water.
Somewhere in between is dirty food-prep. By this I mean tasks like getting soil off root veg transfer the soil to your hands. You wouldn't want that in your washing-up water either. Of course that's fairly unlikely as you'll need a sink to clean the veg, so you'll have somewhere to wash (once the veg is out of the way so you don't get soap on it).
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Burst, Sarah Chai, Sarah Chai, cottonbro