Do you wash dishes in TS before use?

[AwayWeGo]

Battling The Bedbugs -- And Letting Down Our Guard.

We also check for bedbugs. Our daughter was bitten by bedbugs at a New York Marriott hotel. Luckily the bedbugs didn't hitch a ride in her luggage so she didn't bring any home with her.

Hard to tell how much of the current bedbug scare is media exaggeration & how much is unfortunate fact.

I fear complacency had much to do with whatever bedbug resurgence is happening. In the old days, bedbugs were pretty much taken care of by the use of DDT -- & before that by the use of steaming hot laundry water to wash hotel linens (a practice specifically targeted against bedbugs).

Years later, we've switched to bug spray thought to be less environmentally harmful. Meanwhile, many laundries (no doubt including those at hotels & resorts) have switched to cold water washing to save energy.

The comeback of the bedbugs could be sheer coincidence -- or it could be (at least in part) because agencies & institutions & hotels & resorts forgot all about the bad old days & complacently let down their guard.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Zac495]

Grand Mayan rules

The Grand Mayan has a big sign that says if you don't wash all your dishes before you check out, they will charge you.

So think about it - people might rinse and return rather than cleaning it.

It was so odd because we had daily maid service (and it was very good service). But I guess when you leave ... ???

So that icked me out and I washed everything. However, it was the first time it even occurred to me.

 

[Mel]

We do a spot check, and wash as needed. If we had severe food allergies or depressed immune system, I would probably wash everything. But we have to consider the impact of all this cleaning - just like we need to think about how "protective" we are of our children.

Yes, things were different when we were kids, and some of the precautions we use today are reasonable (we were fine without seatbelts, let alone car seats, but I still require my 8YO to use a booster seat because of her size). But some may be going too far. Talk to the parents of multiple children. When the first child dropped something, it was immediately placed out of reach until it could be washed, in case it might be put into the child's mouth. But the third child, the 10-second rule has been implemented, even for items intended to go into the child's mouth, because we know the child needs to be exposed to germs to develop the immune system. I'm not going to purposely expose myself to certain germs, but I'm also not going to be overly worried about it. And it's not just germs, it's the dangers of sunlight, and anything else that might "hurt" us.

A friend from college recently learned he was having major health issues caused by vitamin D deficiency. He's a fair skinned redhead, and was advised several years ago, after having a mole removed, that he should be diligent about using sunblock. He stopped using the sunblock about a month ago, and is feeling significantly better - not just the known health issues, but feeling better in general. He's prepared to accept the increased risk of skin cancer, because the risk really isn't that high to begin with.

Now bedbugs - that's a whole other story. I check the bedding, and am careful of what I place directly on top of the bedspreads, or on the floor. We have enough trouble with those stupid little moths in our house - I don't need to deal with bedbugs too. (Every time we seem to get rid of the moths, we find they've come back into the house in something again. Can't wait until Winter, when everything can sit overnight in the freezing mud room before going into the cabinets.

 

[Jaybee]

Never!... unless they obviously haven't been washed. We are just not germiphobes. I do clean the rims of the glasses in the bathrooms, after seeing those awful videos, but I wouldn't feel comfortable in a timeshare if I felt I had to sterilize everything before using it.
I'm so brave (or dumb) that I even go barefoot on strange carpeting..unless I'd have an open wound on a foot. I guess this all depends on our "Ewww" level.

 

[ownsmany]

I've never washed dishes before using in a timeshare. I also always walk barefoot in the timeshare. I'm almost always barefoot at home and away in hotels or timeshares.

Guess I'll have to think twice next time.

 

[RDB]

...
When you check in to a TS room, do you run the already clean dishes through the dishwasher before you used them for the first time?

...

A couple thoughts ran through my brain:

1) No, not in the TS room. Can't trust that the dishwasher is sanitary enough.

2) We take our own and leave them for the next quests. We carry the TS items home to be sanitized.

On to another filthy subject: We contact the resort to get the air return filter size. We bring a new filter to install before we breath in the room. Just about pass out from holding our breath.

 

[bobby]

It never even occurred to me. If something looks dubious, I wash that alone. I walk over all the floors and never got anything, etc. None of us have gotten sick. Maybe we build up good germ resistance by not being overly sanitized.