A bartender wonders about men’s hygiene habits after noticing a significant difference in soap usage between the men’s and women’s restrooms at her workplace.
Veronica Skaia (@veronica.skaia) films herself refilling the soap dispenser in the women’s restroom at the bar where she works. It’s a routine task, but she explains that there’s one dispenser she doesn’t really have to worry about.
“Hi, everyone. I’m at work, and guess what I’m doing?” asks Skaia, as she films herself pouring soap into the wall-mounted dispenser. “I’m refilling the [women’s] soap dispenser because it was out of soap.”
“Guess what I’m not doing?” she asks. “I’m not refilling the men’s soap dispenser because it’s still full from last weekend, when I refilled half of it.” Her video has been viewed more than 817,000 times.
In other words, while the women used enough soap to require a refill, the men’s dispenser remained full for practically the entire week.
Do men wash their hands?
Skaia’s observation isn’t entirely surprising. A 2013 study conducted by Michigan State University and published in the Journal of Environmental Health observed 3,749 people using public restrooms in a college town and found that women “used soap and engaged in proper handwashing behavior significantly more often (77.9%) than men (50.3%) .”
Furthermore, 14.6% of men did not wash their hands at all, and 35.1% rinsed their hands with water but no soap (compared to 7.1% and 15.1% of women, respectively). Approximately 10.3% of all participants did not wash their hands at all.
These results suggest that Skaia’s experience may reflect a broader trend, even though they do not allow us to determine exactly what is happening at her workplace. Apparently, the installation of signs with handwashing instructions increased soap use (from 60.5% to 68.5%).
Another study published in 2009 proved even more alarming: researchers used wireless devices at a heavily trafficked highway rest stop in the United Kingdom to track the number of people using soap dispensers, and concluded that out of 200,000 restroom visits, only 31% of men and 65% of women had washed their hands with soap. One of the study’s authors, Susan Michie, told CNN that people were less likely to wash their hands if no one was watching them.
“The more people there were in the restroom, the more likely people were to wash their hands,” Michie said. “If no one was around, people tended to slip away without anyone noticing.”
Furthermore, a 2016 meta-analysis of dozens of studies found that, on average, women were 50% more likely than men to wash their hands properly and follow other hygiene practices during an outbreak.
Michie attributed this gender difference to the ways men and women are socialized. “Women are more care-oriented than men—caring for children, doing household chores, personal care,” she said.
The Importance of Washing Hands with Soap
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), washing your hands with soap and water helps prevent the spread of respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses.
The agency recommends lathering “the backs of the hands, between the fingers, and under the nails,” then rubbing for at least 20 seconds (or humming the “Happy Birthday” song twice from start to finish).
Rinsing your hands with water alone can remove some germs, but soap is significantly more effective at eliminating them.
It’s worth noting that soap consumption isn’t necessarily directly linked to bathroom hygiene.
Is there a problem with the soap dispenser?
The bar where Skaia works may have many more female customers than male ones, and the dispensers in each bathroom may dispense different amounts of soap. But if the comments are anything to go by, this disparity comes as no surprise.
“Almost all men think they don’t need to wash their hands after urinating. Which seems completely crazy to me,” wrote one internet user.
“In 80% of cases, my husband tells me he’s seen a man not wash his hands after leaving the restroom,” wrote another. “Half the time, it’s right after he’s heard them blow their noses… It’s disgusting.”
A third woman, who identified herself as a flight attendant, said, “Even men in suits sitting in first class don’t wash their hands.”
And one internet user, who wrote that she, too, had held a job that involved refilling soap dispensers, echoed Skaia’s experience, adding: “At my last office, I was in charge of refilling the soap dispensers in the restrooms. I refilled the soap in the [women’s] restrooms every week. The men’s restrooms? ONCE EVERY TWO YEARS.”
The next time a guy tries to shake your hand at a bar… maybe you should pass.
@veronica.skaia
Subplot News contacted Veronica Skaia via private message on TikTok.
The article “A Bartender Restocks the Women’s Restrooms at Work. Then She Reveals a Disgusting Secret About the Men’s Restrooms” was first published on Subplot News.
A bartender stocks the women’s restroom at her workplace. Then she reveals a disgusting secret about the men’s restroom.
