Getting Gloved Up

I was thinking about something interesting, sort of, about how lax we are when it comes to doing some basic things to keep ourselves healthy..

I'm not really sure why or when it happened.. but about a year ago, I had a strange epiphany about something so ..basic yet important. When we are doing things like cleaning around the house, it's in our best interest to use gloves and protective equipment! Shocking, I know..

I think this is a strange one for sure, but let me explain. I think most young adults out there are pretty good at doing their own things like cleaning and keeping a tidy house. There are certainly exceptions to that, and I don't really want to get into all the fine details on that but it's an important thing. One of the things that never really struck me as important though when we are cleaning is how to just do something so basic like protect yourself when you're doing it.

I'm not referring to getting on a gown, putting on a hazmat hood and all that but just some overall basic things like putting on some heavy-duty rubber gloves. I say this because the other day, my wife was doing some cleaning and I saw she was using bleach wipes. I suggested to her that it would be a good idea if she put on some gloves so that it protects her hands and skin from the chemicals in the bleach. She was confused and looked at me like I'm a dumbass and just kept on doing what she was doing, cleaning things but not wearing gloves. I found it strange that we have been so desensitized to doing some basic things like just protecting our skin and bodies from the known harms and carcinogens in our environment that we balk at the thought of having to put on gloves when we are doing some cleaning. It's quite the fascinating situation!

It may seem extreme.. but if you are in one of the countries like Canada or the United States, you have likely heard quite a bit of commercials on TV, the radio and other areas about mesothelioma and the cancers that are caused by exposure to asbestos. The thing is, it was a commonplace chemical all around the developing world! It was in so many houses, warehouses and businesses that you were absolutely going to come into contact with it, but at the same time it took decades and a whole lot of sickness for people to realize that we had to protect our bodies from those nasty chemicals.

Are we heading in the same direction for cleaning products? I know it may seem like a stretch.. but it's really not. Our skin is the biggest organ in our body yet we often treat it quite frankly like shit. We don't protect it for the most part when we are doing a lot of things that it really should be protected from, cleaning products especially. We should always be covering up our hands and skin when we are using bleach and other caustic cleaning products. If the products can kill all kinds of germs and bacteria, why is it a difficult thing to believe that we should also protect our body from those same things?! Lol.

I will admit that I've not been the best at it but it's like anything. When we start to get into a habit of putting the gloves on and keeping them nearby when we are doing to do some deep cleaning with tough chemicals, it's incredibly easy to just keep it going! I've made it a point to wear gloves when I'm washing the dishes now as well. The dish soap we use is on the healthier and cleaner side but it still doesn't hurt to keep your hands out of the water, since it is often warm water. We know when our bodies encounter warm water, our pores open right up! Lol So I started to do the best thing and just put on the thick rubber gloves when I'm getting into cleaning. I don't know if I can say I notice that I feel any "better" because thankfully my body is in decent shape, in that it's not overloaded with toxic burden. I can say for sure though that being mindful of it has helped me be more aware of small things that we completely ignored and took for granted before!

Have you cleaned with gloves on, or do you not even think about it? I'd love to hear what people have to say on this one!