I know you lying…in a public shared bathroom

Sure some may say this is an exaggeration or not that serious, but what on God’s green earth do you mean by “WE ENCOURAGE THE USE OF REUSABLE CLOTH HAND TOWELS FOR GUESTS” on an open shelf in a public single bathroom for customers and employees who handle food?! Ok, let me back up and explain and I apologize for the overzealous passion of anger I have in my writing; but from someone from healthcare, ran a small Chinese restaurant and worked in the food industry in multiple areas; but I digress to the beginning.

It was a good day. It was a great day even but clearly it was going to have to stop…I am passing through to visit my boyfriend at work for a lunch date; we like to do these as if we just met & it’s continued for two years. I pick a quick spot on Google and I blame myself for this; and Google for recommending it.

Upon arrival it’s cute, cozy, warm and out of the New York City wind’s mouth. We’re laughing and talking and it’s like our first coffee date each time; except I leave upset at the spot picked. I finished Darjeeling tea and he finished his coffee; he took a bite out of this strange sandwich they had as a special which was basically an overdressed SpongeBob SquarePants when in doubt pinky out overpriced onion sandwich; but you know people are struggling so I wanted to help a business out. At the end of our beautiful conversation and warm laughter I needed to use the restroom; should have checked here first.

I walk into the bathroom and it’s quaint but nothing to write home about; there’s normal hygienic required items like a sink, water, a clean toilet and a funky red blue light to set the mood of whatever they were aiming for. I use the bathroom and I walk to the sink to wash my hands; and there it is a small brown shelf with a stack of cut up cloth next to the soap. I hadn’t noticed it since my bladder was poking at me. Above the cut up cloth was a sign stating “WE ENCOURAGE THE USE OF REUSABLE CLOTH HAND TOWELS FOR GUESTS”. It took me a nanosecond of realizing how unsafe eating at this what was cute upon arrival but now frustrated me. I just ate there. My boyfriend ate there and we used their reusable cups; that looked clean I’m hoping are washed properly. Beneath the shelf out of sight was disposable paper towels. Next to the sink on the floor was a metal basin with used cut up cloths already in it.

Here’s my grief…are the use of disposable paper towels perfect? No. What about air dryers? No. But you know what, those options are more sanitary than reusable cloths for any public restroom especially a single public restroom for both employees and patrons. Let’s explore why!

Shared cloth towels = cross-contamination by design.

This isn’t hypothetical. I’m not guessing. This isn’t Facebook, Ai or alternative facts. A reusable towel in a public restroom becomes a microbial relay baton. Walk with me

Person A washes poorly → wipes hands → deposits microbes & maybe put it in the basin or not, maybe they grabbed a bunch by accident after wiping themselves but before proper hand hygiene techniques.

Cloth stays damp → microbes survive longer

Person B dries hands → microbes transfer back onto clean hands

This defeats the purpose of handwashing. In healthcare, food service, and labs, shared cloth hand towels are explicitly avoided for this reason. I can’t think of a moment when I had a customer and used reusable hand towels for everything; sure maybe wiping a table after it’s been soaking in bleach to properly cleanse everything. You know, to avoid people getting sick.

Moist textiles are ideal microbial environments

Cloth towels are fun playgrounds to trap moisture, are often not fully dried between uses to Support survival of:


- E. coli

- Staphylococcus

- Enterococcus

- Norovirus particles

Studies on real-world towel use show biofilm formation meaning bacteria can persist even after laundering if protocols are sloppy. A café bathroom is not a controlled environment.

Public sanitation never relies on trust.

It relies on:

- Engineering controls

- Single-use barriers

- Redundancy for human error

Saying “we encourage reusable cloths” implicitly means “We expect you to trust strangers with your health.” That is not an acceptable risk model, especially in a business that serves food.

The basin on the floor makes it worse, not better

A shared basin loves to collect wet, contaminated textiles, can aerosolize microbes when disturbed and becomes another contaminated surface staff must handle…Unless gloves are used, laundry is done at ≥160°F with disinfectant and cloths are changed many times per day; and judging by the stack I saw I’m not confident.…it’s theater to present it any other war; not safety.

Ok maybe the healthcare in me is being pessimistic. Let’s say each person does drop the towel in the basin while minimizing contact with most of the cut up cloth…The problem isn’t just how you touch it it’s what happens before and after. Even with careful users, the system fails at multiple unavoidable points.

You still touch a cloth before knowing its history. You cannot verify whether the cloth was freshly laundered, whether it was accidentally used already, whether it was touched by someone with visibly dirty hands, whether it was contaminated by splash, aerosolized toilet plume, or surface contact. In infection control, unknown history = contaminated until proven otherwise; that’s the core principle. If a hospital did it people would shut it down.

Healthcare knowledge cleans hands are not sterile hands; even after proper handwashing. Why? Glad you asked, it’s because the skin still carries resident flora, viral particles (e.g., norovirus) may persist and microbes transfer more easily when hands are wet

So even “clean” users can still seed the towel with microbes, add moisture and contribute to cumulative contamination. A shared cloth system assumes zero error across dozens of people, which is unrealistic. This isn’t your house.

Moisture accumulation makes the towel progressively riskier

Even if each person only touches “their” piece, the cloth stack exists in a humid bathroom (no window), Towels are stacked close together and moisture wicks between fibers and adjacent cloths like they’re besties leaving bacteria to survive longer in damp textiles

Studies show that damp towels support microbial survival and biofilm formation, even between uses. So the risk increases with each user, regardless of intent.

The basin does not contain contamination it concentrates it

Even with perfect dropping technique used towels collect in one place, our friend moisture sprinkled with organic matter = microbial growth it’s like the math is crazy, handling the basin later exposes staff to higher microbial loads and splashing/brushing past, or air movement can spread contamination. In healthcare and food service, soiled linens are enclosed immediately, not left open. An open basin is not a containment system.

Fun fact while we are at it, “E. coli is a group of bacteria that can cause infections in your gut (GI tract), urinary tract and other parts of your body. Most of the time, it can live in your gut without hurting you. But some strains can make you sick with watery diarrhea, vomiting and a fever. Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) is most likely to cause severe illness.…E. coli can be contagious (spread from person to person)...E. coli infections can cause everything from brief bouts of diarrhea to life-threatening illness. Most people recover on their own or with antibiotic treatment. Providers usually don’t treat STEC infections, but you might need supportive care, like supplemental fluids or nutrition. You might also be hospitalized and isolated to keep STEC from spreading.” (https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/16638-e-coli-infection)

This violates the “no shared hand-drying surface” principle

Public health guidelines don’t hinge on “if everyone is careful.”; remember COVID or when the measles wasn’t a trendy vaccine to avoid like the hepatitis B shot for babies even though it saves lives…but what do I know. They hinge on predictable safety, protection from worst-case users and minimizing dependence on behavior.

It’s soooo the reason why gloves are single-use, paper towels are single-use AND shared cloth towels are discouraged or prohibited!

Systems should be safe even when people are tired, rushed, or careless. Sustainable practices matter. But sustainability does not override sanitation; especially in spaces where food is prepared and consumed. Public hygiene systems must be designed for worst-case users, not best-case intentions. Disposable paper towels and properly designed hand dryers exist for a reason. Encouraging shared reusable cloth towels in a public food-service restroom is not progressive. It’s a preventable public-health risk and one that should not be normalized under the banner of environmentalism.

I used the paper towel they had way below as if to avoid being seen but walked out extremely frustrated and annoyed; and concerned about the food I just paid to consume.