Thursday, April 16, 2009
My grandfather used to carry the same handkerchief around every time I saw him. When I was younger, he would even wipe my face with it. My mother would always give the same repulsed look, staring in disbelief that my grandfather would think to clean off my face with the same piece of cloth he had been blowing snot into for the past three weeks.
However, handkerchiefs have been making a comeback recently because they are more environmentally friendly than tissues. But Charles Gerwick, emergency physician in Overland Park, says the health risks of keeping a handkerchief outweighs the green benefits.
Wipe away the day: Using the same handkerchief repeatedly can spread and multiply viruses and germs.
“Cold viruses and bacteria are present in the secretions that you clear from your nose. These viruses live on the handkerchief and then you go and touch other surfaces or people and they contract the virus,” Gerwick says. “Handkerchiefs are a reservoir for the virus to live and replicate.”
After you use a handkerchief, it is covered in the viruses or bacteria that secrete from your nose. When you then stuff it back into your pocket, the viruses and bacteria are now not only on your hands but in your pocket.
Each time you reach in and out of your pocket to grab the hanky, you are covering your hands in bacteria and viruses from your snot. So unless you are going to wash your hands and hanky with antibacterial soap after each use, better just stick to the tissues.
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Comments
That's disgusting: Handkerchiefs
Although I sympathize with this author's childhood trauma, this article is wrong on a number of levels. So it is still correct to use/adopt handkerchiefs for environmental reasons.
Yes, if someone is extremely sick and infectious, a pack of tissues may be the best way to go.
But many people need a handkerchief simply because of allergies or everyday nasal irritants. There are not significant numbers of germs.
Similarly, a partially-unfolded handkerchief puts several layers of cloth between the nose and fingers, increasing the chance that the fingers stay dry, compared to using a single tissue.
And there is the practical matter. Guys in particular are a lot more likely to grab a hanky in the morning than tissues. How many times have you seen a guy with no tissues at all? Or a guy (or a woman for that matter) with one little tissue, that they use over and over? That is much, much worse.
Because handkerchiefs are washable, by using them we are not continuously cutting down old-growth forests for something disposable.
So handkerchiefs are generally the superior choice.
That's disgusting: Handkerchiefs
"Guys in particular are a lot more likely to grab a hanky in the morning than tissues. How many times have you seen a guy with no tissues at all? Or a guy (or a woman for that matter) with one little tissue, that they use over and over? That is much, much worse."
Remember guys, if you're married, just grab one of your wife's socks and use that as a handkerchief. She was going to wash it anyway.
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