Why do we clean? Does cleaning do anything? Do we over clean?

Cleanliness is a multi-billion dollar industry that is based on the germ theory. This industry depends on our believe that the solids and liquids they develop are required for our health. Without these products will be ridden with ill health and diseases. Contrary most of these products create allergies and illness.

These products include:
antibacterial soap
home cleaning chemicals
toiletries
kitchen and laundry soap
The list goes on and on. There is a cleaning product for every little thing. All these products are based on the believe if we don't use them, we will become ill and sick. The home environment is more toxic than the outside environment because of all these products people use to supposedly clean their homes.

How come our ancestors had no need for such products? Are we just more clean and civilized than them or something?

Do germs even exist? I don't know, I am just told to believe they exist. Never seen one.

There is a difference between cleanliness and dirt. Dirt is something natural like mud and dust, and does not require cleaning chemicals. Clutter is organization.

Health depends on inner environment and outer environment. Does NH say anything about cleanliness and outer environment? Why? Because everything I read on NH seems to be about the inner environment. It does not expand much on outer environment.

Before cleanliness was invented did people die of uncleanliness?

No system has ever as yet existed which did not in some form involve the exploitation of some human beings for the advantage of others. John Dewey 1921.

Thank you for the post, I would also like to know the answer.
,
I am obsessed with cleaning and would also like to know if germs/diseases spread from bathrooms/restrooms and other unhygienic places.

thanks

When I was a nanny the mother of the children was obsessed with killing germs. Everything was scrubbed down with pine sol and sprayed with lysol everyday. Those were the sickest kids I have ever been around. I like to use vinegar and natural cleaners and although my kids get in the water quite often I only wash them with soap about once a week. We should not try to keep a germ free environment in our homes unless we plan to never allow any one in or out of the home because then the first germ is going to make us sick.

Opinion:

'Germs' propagate in areas where there is dead tissue that needs cleaning up - that is not otherwise disposed of properly. Thus, they serve a very useful and symbiotic function with life. Humans that avoid consuming dead tissues (those that are enzymatically inactive) internally and externally will go a long way to remaining healthy. Don't you think?

-As to a human environment being maintained in a relative state of cleanliness? I'm all for it! LOL. If this can be done without caustic chemicals and in a renewable fashion? So much the better? People can do the best they can...considering! Ha! ha!

-David Z. Mason

"Before cleanliness was invented did people die of uncleanliness?"

Yes.

Those products aren't just based on the "belief" that if we don't use them we will get sick.... people really DO get sick in unsanitary conditions. Dysentary & the plague were results of unclean and unsanitary living conditions. Cholera is spread through dirty water. Tuberculosis & consumption are spread by germs from one person to another. Hepatitis is spread through germs.

That said, I do not use standard anti-bacterial cleaning materials in my home, nor do I recommend them, but publically shared areas like restrooms and restaurants need to be sanitized for contagions. Of course, I'm sure someone will come on here and tell me that shouldn't be necessary or that if you eat raw foods you shouldn't be worried about catching anything. I don't believe that.

Soap and water is usually all that is needed for sanitizing, but I still keep a can of Lysol in the closet and take it with me on trips. And when i am at music festivals, I keep a bottle of sanitizer in my pocket to use after I go to the port-o-lets.

Judy

I don't worry about germs at all. Really.

We keep an orderly and clean home, practice commonsense sanitation in the kitchen and bathrooms, but I rarely give a thought to germs. I pee in Wal*Mart without blinking an eye.

I agree with pakd4fun. The more my immune system encounters germs and overcomes them on its own, the less I have to worry about catching something.

But I do believe that internal cleanliness is key (and I suspect that one can become TOO internally clean also) and that if I keep my immune system (digestive system is key to this) in good working order and allow it to do its job, that I have a stronger chance of avoiding germ related illnesses than does the germ-squeamish who indulge in disinfectants and antibacterials and/or the person who indulges in a SAD diet.

Just my take,

khale

When an immune system has not been exposed and built up by certain germs then it is actually weak. This is why people who are not native to Mexico must drink bottled water to avoid digestive problems while those who grew up there can drink the water just fine. During the 1700's in North America the British gave blankets that were used by people with smallpox to several Native American tribes as an early example of biological warefare. These tribes had never been exposed to the disease and it caused a huge epidemic.

I definitly believe that a person should keep there home clean but not "overly sanitized" with chemicals that read "Caution. Do not allow product to touch skin or clothes" or "May cause respiratory problems".

I don't worry about germs either, I do worry about artificial chemicals which might alter our inner terrain such as most household "cleaning" agents.

The human body is much less prepared to deal with a chemical invasion than with a germ one. I think having a positive mental attitude helps to remain healthy "in spite of" germs.

Eating a biologically appropriate diet would seem to give our body the greatest chance to fight off infection both from a chemical (pH) perspective, as well as a germ (immune system) perspective.

One example is a couple of weekends ago, when my girlfriend was terribly sick with flu, and everyone tried to avoid her for fear of "catching" her germs. I was around her for days, cuddling her and kissing her, and did not get sick at all. Coincidence? Hard to tell but my intuition tells me otherwise. This is certainly something that is scientifically testable though.

I do think that if one is unhealthy on the inside, then one should be quite worried about germs since they would proliferate without many impediments once they got into the body, making a bad situation worse.

Cheers,
Jose

did you see the rats in the filthy KFC on tv? They are there for a reason, to clean up.

This reminds me of a class I took that included swabbing different places to see what types of bacteria would grow in the cultures. Interestingly, the restrooms (toilet seats, etc) had the least amount, while our skins and other areas that one would not think as harboring germs had the most growth.

That being said, my take on it is that there is a need for balance. Yes, it is important to be clean, but going overboard trying to kill every germ and bacteria known to exist doesn't make sense either. Echoing Beauchamp's idea and applying to our body, if a favorable environment is present, then they will proliferate; if the environment is not conducive to growth or present levels of existence, then they will decrease or cease to exist accordingly.

Even if present in or on our bodies, unless these bacterias are in a location that is not the usual habitat and our defense/immune system is not functioning as well as it should be, then there should not be cause for being unnecessaryily obsessed.

Wishing you vibrant health





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/2007 04:29AM by Pistachio.

If you have the 3 to 5 lbs of aerobic bacteria in your body in your villious lining... you don't need to worry about any of this germ stuff. Even wondering about it is anti-intuitive.