How do you tell a fully grown adult to wash their hands

I'd be wanting to move out if I thought another housemate was actively listening to my toilet use handwash or not.

Simple, just say "wash your hands, ya dirty bastid".

Do you honestly think sticking up some signs will make somebody like this change their ways? Not a bloody chance? When it comes to awkward conversations about things like personal hygiene, dropping hints and sticking up signs never work. Somebody always has to take the offender aside for a an awkward chat. I've mentioned before in another thread that I used to annoy my housemates by making too much noise at night. It was only when somebody had a word that it all started to make sense. I had heard the hints but it never occurred to me that they were for my benefit. I don't think I'm a stupid person but I made no connection at the time.

I've seen it suggested here many a time that people should start gifting stinky colleagues with cans of deodorant. Or better still, strike up a conversation that goes along the lines of "Hello Joe, I've just bought the latest version of Sure in the supermarket. Have you tried it? It's really good you know. Not a bead of sweat has formed under my arms since I bought a can last week". Seriously.....

If somebody's a filthy bastard like this man is, he's not going to change his ways drastically. He might wash his hands when you're in the house so that you don't have another awkward conversation about it but what when you're not there? I've met or worked with a few people whose mothers don't seem to have gotten around to explaining the basics of personal hygiene to. They're in a minority but they exist.

I love how at least three posters blame this guys mother, as if an adult is not responsible for knowing to wash hands. If you think he is equivalent to a child, maybe treat him like a child.

OP, is there a bar of soap in the bathroom?

Here’s what I do with my children. I put solid soap in the bathroom, a bar of it. No liquid soap. It is blindingly obvious when someone has washed their hands with a bar, because it is wet.

I personally bollock the kids out of it until they wash, and the evidence is right there. You could do that, be his parent.

Or, You go to use bathroom after the revolting guy. Come out and say, Hey John, I see you don’t use the soap to wash your hands , do you want a different brand?

Whats worse, a man who doesn't wash his hands or a pet running around the house?

It is unbelievable in this day and age that people don't practice the most basic of hygiene

Where I work lads come out of office toilet and walk straight past the sink, proceed to kitchen and put on kettle. !

I thought when Covid started they would get the message as there are signs stuck up on every wall space there is, extra soap left out , hand dryer and kitchen rolls supplied, along with hand sanitizer but made no difference at all,

Surface transfer is the least of it here. Coughing and sneezing all over the place and most times dont bother to cover their mouths, other times staight into hands. I have stopped using kitchen for this reason as my stomach turns when I think of the lack of hygiene

I think you should say something straight out, like when he's emptying the dishwasher maybe say I hope you washed your hands before handling stuff, as I know you dont after using the bathroom, don't forget I can hear everything from my room .

Hopefully he takes the message on board, as this is something you need to nip in the bud as he is handling kitchen utensils etc

Well, you couldn't have handled it more badly if you tried. The only way you can broach a sensitive subject like this is face to face. Not using text messages, post-it notes or dropping hints. They do not work. Ever. You blew your chance by avoiding the direct approach. All that's left is a face to face conversation. The slim chances of that going well have evaporated because of what went before.

I was accused earlier in this thread of being unhelpful but I'm being bleakly realistic here. There are people out there who are clueless filthy pigs and nothing you can say will ever fix them. I almost laughed when I got to the bit about him not buying soap. You really don't get it, do you?

At best, he might wash his hands when you're at home, to stop you giving him a hard time. When you're not at home, he probably won't bother. That's the best case scenario.

The only way this can be solved is by one of you ceasing to live in the house. Unless he's planning on moving, it looks like you'll be going. All you can do in the meantime is keep your personal things in your room. Good luck with the house hunting.