For many dudes, washing your hands after peeing is more of a “vibes”-based choice. However, a post-poop hand wash is simply a must… or so we think.


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That may just be our American sensibilities, one study claims. In Europe, this study found, a significant amount of people don’t wash their hands after they poop at all. Blame it on the free health care, I guess.



The study, which was published in 2015, polled people from numerous European countries about whether they washed their hands after using the bathroom. Amongst the top-tier handwashers were Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Kosovo and Portugal. Rounding out the bottom were France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, with the latter admitting that only half of their population washes their hands after dropping a deuce.


And if you’re wondering whether COVID changed this behavior, it doesn’t appear that it did, even for those in the medical industry.




We don’t know why the Dutch are so opposed to scrubbing their hands. In a discussion on Reddit, users said that, though they don’t know why our brothers in Holland refuse to wash their hands, the finding of the study doesn’t surprise them.


“Sometimes when visiting someone’s home it is apparent that the toilet sink is not used very often… I don’t know why,” wrote a user. “I’m Dutch myself, and I’ve noticed this too. Many guys don’t wash their hands, and if they do, it’s just with water and no soap! Gross,” added another.



Say what you will about our fine country, but at least I can shake someone’s hand being fairly confident I’m not going to get the scrapings of last night’s Taco Bell.