purell and hand wash on ships

[Shmoo here]

1 minute ago, ROXIETHEHORSE said:

 

I have yet to have any reaction to using these. I wipe down shopping carts and anything I have to use that the general public has touched. No respiratory infections or gastro sickness since I started using them 2 years ago.  I don't use them to wipe my hands, I wipe surfaces with them.

 

Since most of this discussion is  about how to clean your hands onboard, I figured you were advocating that product for such use.

 

 

[mom says]

Just now, $hip$hape said:

I agree, Purell may not remove germs, but it kills them.

Germs is such an imprecise term. Purell does not kill all germs. It may kill some bacteria, and some fungi but does little to kill most viruses.

[lenquixote66]

10 minutes ago, mom says said:

I'm sorry, did you not see Kleenex in my post? I always have a travel pack of tissues with me. Although, I must say I've never encountered a lack of towels in a ship's public bathroom. Which is the subject of this thread, not some remote exception that you encounter somewhere on land.

Perhaps in my next life I may have the opportunity to be on a cruise with you and you can give me some tissues .

 

Today is the first day of the rest of your life ,Namaste.

[$hip$hape]

17 minutes ago, ROXIETHEHORSE said:

 

I have yet to have any reaction to using these. I wipe down shopping carts and anything I have to use that the general public has touched. No respiratory infections or gastro sickness since I started using them 2 years ago.  I don't use them to wipe my hands, I wipe surfaces with them.

 

I use Germstar Noro spray for hands.

 

Memories...

A few years ago, I took my six-year-old grandson to an amusement park

in the middle of hot summer day.

Whilst waiting in the queue for one of the rides,

I looked down to see him (bored) running his tongue down the railing. 

Update... fortunately he is still very healthy.

Edited February 10, 2020 by $hip$hape

[bonsai3s]

The gym (RCCL) will have alcohol based wipes.  We wipe down all the machines, before and after using them.

[ROXIETHEHORSE]

15 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

Since most of this discussion is  about how to clean your hands onboard, I figured you were advocating that product for such use.

 

 

Sorry, I was just thinking of killing germs in general.

[ROXIETHEHORSE]

6 minutes ago, $hip$hape said:

Memories...

A few years ago, I took my six-year-old grandson to an amusement park

in the middle of summer.

Whilst waiting in the queue for one of the rides,

I looked down to see him (bored) running his tongue down the railing. 

Update... fortunately he is still very healthy.

 

OMG I would have been mortified to see that!!! LOL!!! 

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Many do but not every place has them.Doctors offices do not have them .Many restaurants do not have them.

People open and close public bathroom doors as well.Not everyone uses a paper towel.

Yes, but this is a discussion of cruise ships. My experience is cruise ship public bathrooms do have the type of faucets that automatically turn on and off.

[$hip$hape]

30 minutes ago, mom says said:

Germs is such an imprecise term. Purell does not kill all germs.

It may kill some bacteria, and some fungi but does little to kill most viruses.

I would have to differ.

and Sometimes we call them cooties.😗

 

Edited February 10, 2020 by $hip$hape

[lenquixote66]

1 minute ago, ontheweb said:

Yes, but this is a discussion of cruise ships. My experience is cruise ship public bathrooms do have the type of faucets that automatically turn on and off.

Yes,you are correct,however,we have friends who we cruise with on a regular basis.The husband suffers from Alzheimer’s and on more than one occasion has come out of a cruise ship bathroom and has told his wife that he could not get the water to flow and had to manipulate the faucet.While this is not the case for everyone I am thinking that other people with this disease may have the same difficulty.

[JMorris271]

4 hours ago, Donald said:

The CDC conducted many surveys on cruise ships over the past decade. They discovered that ships pushing the hand sanitizers had far more Norovirus cases than ships that do not. Too many cruisers do not understand that hand sanitizers are an adjunct to handwashing - NOT a replacement.

 

Other CDC surveys pinpointed the best locations to contract Norovirus; 1. airplanes, 2. schools, 3. prisons, 4. old age homes, and 5. hotels. Did you or any of your fellow cruisers visit any of those locations before the cruise? Just about everyone.

 

The next surveys pinpointed the best places on a cruise ship to contract Norovirus; 1. Self-service buffets, and 2. public toilets.

Where does just about every mass market cruiser go immediately upon boarding? 1. Buffet, and then 2. Public toilet.

 

So if you carry a container of sanitizer with you, where do you store it?

Most people opt for a trouser pocket, possibly the dirtiest place on a human being - or a purse, the second dirtiest place.

So you take the contaminated bottle of sanitizer out of a pocket or purse. This guarantees that your hands are contaminated.

Then you sanitize your hands.

Next you use your clean hands to place the still-contaminated bottle back into your contaminated pocket or purse.

So your hands are contaminated again.

You have just defeated the system.

 

Purell may not be effective against Norovirus. But there are some hand sanitizers that are effective. In order to kill Norovirus "spores', there is a minimum requirement called "dwell time". This is the length of time a liquid sanitizer remains liquid and in contact with the viral spores. Most sanitizers require a dwell time of several minutes in order to be effective. How many of you squirt the sanitizer on your hands, work it around a bit, and then quickly dry your hands? You have just defeated the sanitizer and rendered it ineffective. The dwell time was too short to be effective.

How many cruisers squirt enough sanitizer on their hands to keep it liquid for several minutes? Hardly anyone.

 

Now let's talk about the mobile telephone that you carry in your contaminated pocket or purse. This is the thing that you are constantly pressing against your face, letting others press against their faces, and handing it to any number of people to hold and view a photo or video. How many times a day do you properly sanitize that mobile telephone?

Wiping it on a trouser leg or a shirt doesn't count.

Do you sanitize your hands every time after you use your mobile telephone or loan it to somebody else? You should.

Do you wash your face every time after you press that contaminated phone against it? You should.

Nope.  The dirtiest place on the human body is the human mouth. It's been tested and proven.

[mom says]

1 hour ago, $hip$hape said:

I would have to differ.

and Sometimes we call them cooties.😗

 

Lol. Where I come from, cooties are little crawly things that get kids sent home from school, and requiring a trip to the drug store for special shampoo.

[$hip$hape]

8 minutes ago, mom says said:

Lol. Where I come from, cooties are little crawly things

that get kids sent home from school,

and requiring a trip to the drug store for special shampoo.

It's all fun.

My Dear Wife is a specialist with infection control .

I only know what she tells me.

Because they mutate, and reproduce so fast,

In the end, the cooties will win. 

Edited February 10, 2020 by $hip$hape

[mom says]

2 minutes ago, $hip$hape said:

In the end, the cooties will win.

Ain't that the truth. And cockroaches will outlast everything else.

[dkjretired]

Should also point out that some people including myself break out with some of these sanitizers.

[JMorris271]

Aside  from helping to limit  the spread of some illnesses. I believe that sanitizers do more harm than good.  There is nothing like a healthy body with a good bio filtration system , immunity system, that can only evolve with exposure to good old germs and sanitizers limit that .

Edited February 10, 2020 by JMorris271

[gigito2]

3 hours ago, ROXIETHEHORSE said:

Germstar Noro spray

I don't see anything in their on-line literature implying that this product is virucidal - other than the term "noro".  I contacted the company to inquire about this, but have not yet heard back.

[Donald]

2 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

The gym (RCCL) will have alcohol based wipes.  We wipe down all the machines, before and after using them.

Alcohol in concentrations above 60% has been proven to kill many (not all) norovirus spores - but only if the dwell time is longer than 3 minutes.

When you wipe down the machines, do the wiped surfaces stay wet with alcohol for at least three minutes?

If not, you are wasting your time.

[Buck Turgidson]

9 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

RCI and Celebrity both have crew members dispensing Purell at the entrances to the buffet as well as when you board the ship.  Some of RCI's newer ships also have mandatory washing stations at the entrances to the buffet with crew members directing you to them as you enter.  That option is IMO the better one.

 

As with any situation where you are in a concentration of people - a mall, a restaurant, a school, and airport/airplane, a cruise ship, etc. - there is always the possibility of getting sick if someone you are around has a contagious illness, regardless of how often you wash your hands.  Even more so if you are only relying on Purell as the defense.

 

Thank you so much for answering my question and not running off on a tangent, I appreciate it

[bonsai3s]

4 hours ago, Donald said:

Alcohol in concentrations above 60% has been proven to kill many (not all) norovirus spores - but only if the dwell time is longer than 3 minutes.

When you wipe down the machines, do the wiped surfaces stay wet with alcohol for at least three minutes?

If not, you are wasting your time.

 

Not sure...never waited long enough to see.  I'll make sure to wait and time it next time.

Note: When using the wipes on my hands, my hands would stay wet a while...from the time I wipe my hands, out the gym, walking down at least two decks, down the hall..........it may have been more than 3 minutes of walking before my hands were completely dry.

[mammajamma2013]

23 hours ago, Buck Turgidson said:

Do any cruise lines encourage hand cleanliness of the hand wash and Purell stations. in the buffet  My last two cruises on the Spendor (Purell)  and Panorama the stations were there but no one was encouraging people to wash or squirt.  I came home  from both cruises with bad cough, chest congestion and weakness for two weeks. Years ago other lines encouraged hand cleaning and I am wondering if they still do. 

Norwegian has crew members dispensing Purell at the buffet. They strongly reccomend that you use it.

[RocketMan275]

10 hours ago, mammajamma2013 said:

Norwegian has crew members dispensing Purell at the buffet. They strongly reccomend that you use it.

The problem with that is passengers will think they are protected since they used Purell and will not get the real protection from actually washing their hands.  The federal government has issues an order for Purell to stop claiming it's effective against viruses.

[lenquixote66]

56 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

The problem with that is passengers will think they are protected since they used Purell and will not get the real protection from actually washing their hands.  The federal government has issues an order for Purell to stop claiming it's effective against viruses.

Elton:

I go to doctors offices several times a week.They all have sinks but I have yet to see anyone wash hands.They all use Purell or an equivalent product. Mrs.66 is in the medical field and she said it is the same thing in hospitals.

[navybankerteacher]

18 hours ago, mom says said:

Lol. Where I come from, cooties are little crawly things that get kids sent home from school, and requiring a trip to the drug store for special shampoo.

Actually, they are things second grade girls get from hanging around boys (and vice versa).

[ldubs]

23 hours ago, Donald said:

 

Do you wash your face every time after you press that contaminated phone against it? You should.

 

I think you may be the only person in the world who does this.