Clean Freakishness

Discussion in 'Human Science' started by superstring01, Aug 13, 2010.

  1. superstring01 Moderator

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    Why are people clean freaks?

    I ask this because, on a personal note, were it not for time constraints and the dangers of killing myself, my boyfriend and my pet titty-tats, I'd have the house sanitized daily with boiling vats of Clorox.

    It's not the germs that bug me (I'm not germaphobic), I just need shit cleaned.

    Was there such a thing as clean freakishness a hundred years ago? (out of curiosity, since knowledge of germs is sorta' new, what did germaphobes do before they knew germs existed?)

    ~String
     
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  3. InTheFlesh77 Set the controls... Registered Senior Member

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    Did 'germaphobes' exist before they knew of all these new strings (see what i did there?) of germs were known?.

    Over the top cleanliness amazes me along with OCD.
     
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  5. superstring01 Moderator

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    Not sure I qualify as OCD. Maybe. Maybe not.

    Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not.

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    I neither obsess (as in, when I'm home all day or when at work, I don't think about it a great deal until I'm home for the first hour) nor do I compulsively clean (once a day at home, almost never at work, my desk is perpetually messy and I inherited my phone from a previous lady who's lipstick is still on the receiver).

    It's the house. The motha' frakkin' house. I need it neat and orderly and "fresh" smelling (I happen to enjoy the lingering scent of bleach).

    ~String
     
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  7. InTheFlesh77 Set the controls... Registered Senior Member

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    Nothing wrong with a neat and tody house, isn't that normal? - Hang on, let me ask the wife

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  8. superstring01 Moderator

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    LOL

    Indeed.

    In Spain I'd be normal.

    Here in the USA where everybody is a slob (okay, that was a total ad hom, but I find my people to be slobs), I'm the exception.

    ~String
     
  9. Emil Valued Senior Member

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    2,801

    I think chasing rituals of Evil turned in rituals to drive out the germs.
    Also depends on who advances the fashion.View mad cow, bird flu, swine flu, etc. .. etc. ..:wallbang:
     
  10. InTheFlesh77 Set the controls... Registered Senior Member

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    Is bullshit classed as an official disease...? - Some folk here need something for that :spank:
     
  11. GeoffP Caput gerat lupinum Valued Senior Member

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    Given that the majority of the population lived covered in shit, I'd say no.

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    Group pose: King on far left not covered in shit.

    Ignore American in front row. Clearly a confused tourist.
     
  12. quadraphonics Bloodthirsty Barbarian Valued Senior Member

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    By the time it reaches the level of "freakishness," cleanliness really isn't based in any scientific premise about health or hygiene. Whether clean freakishness was less prevalent prior to there being a scientific concepts like "germs" and "disease" to provide rationalization, or whether clean freaks simply manufactured some other justification, would be an interesting bit of historical psychology.

    The question of what, exactly, even constitues "cleanliness" changes a lot over time and space, and there's probably a lot of insight to be found there as well. For example I have personally witnessed - on multiple occasions - heated arguments between Westerners and Chinese over which culture is "cleaner," and they always end up talking right past each other. Turns out that Western notions of cleanliness are more about personal hygiene, while Chinese notions are more about housekeeping. So you end up with a white guy whose kitchen is incubating new strains of botulism arguing with a Chinese guy who apparently doesn't believe in deodorant, laundry, toothpaste or regular showers. This usually ends with both of them getting mad and calling the other one racist for disrespecting their cultural norms.

    But the point is that being a clean freak has always had a lot more to do with questions of control and order than anything to do with legitimate hygiene or health concerns (certain rare people with insane allergies or whatever excepted, of course).
     
  13. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    Being a clean freak is just one of many varieties of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
     
  14. Light Travelling It's a girl O lord in a flatbed Ford Registered Senior Member

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    Clean shit is good shit!!!
     
  15. Light Travelling It's a girl O lord in a flatbed Ford Registered Senior Member

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    I find myself getting so stressed about something not being done on time /cleaned on time. In the larger scheme of things it doesn’t matter. Relax take a breath and leave it till tomorrow it really is not that important……….. easier said than done though, I know
     
  16. keith1 Guest

    There's different schools of thought in what constitutes a "once-over" cleaning, a "deep and thorough" cleaning, and a "clinically effective sanitizing" clean.
    Chlorine is effective at concentrations of 1000 to 1 (water).

    Care should be taken not to kill off all the "good" bacteria that live in our digestive system. (Replenish those with yogurt).

    Viruses cannot live long outside of a host. So cleaning leaves the cleaner with clean hands, exercise, and a healthy house.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 15, 2010
  17. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    People are just disturbed, that's all.
    OCD comes to mind..

    Good luck with that!

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  18. Gremmie "Happiness is a warm gun" Valued Senior Member

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    I'm new to SciForums... So, I guess I'm just talking out of my ass.. But, after reading all the posts in this thread, my opinion is this...There is nothing wrong with being a clean freak. Hell I am one. ( Don't think I suffer from OCD though) But as to the 1 comment, or maybe it was a question, as to how many clean freaks there were 100 years ago, I am sure there were many. But, I do believe there are many more germaphobes now. Science has come farther now. Let's face it, science is a blessing , and a curse at the same time. A catch 22. But, in my opinion, better to be a neat freak, than a slob... Just sayin'
     
  19. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    I don't think this is a description of an actual clean freak then, per se.
    A true clean freak would want everything equally clean - home, car, workplace ...

    If the obsession with cleanliness is focused on one area, then this could be a sign that the person is not happy about that area, with what is taking place in that area, or with how the person behaves or feels in that area.

    Perhaps the smell of bleach is connected to a particular painful or happy memory, or an important value.

    Perhaps cleaning the house feels like one is doing some important work for oneself, physically as well as pyschologically/spiritually.
    If you don't meditate, don't engage in any regular spiritual practice or some regular relaxing activity, an obsession with cleaning the house could be an indirect attempt to get those other needs met.
     
  20. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    I think the O.P. describes someone who is on the borderline between merely a "clean freak" and OCD.

    Most people in western society have an order of magnitude more free time than their counterparts a hundred years ago. That gives them time (and energy) to devote to all kinds of idiosyncratic or downright eccentric behavior, from civilization-building volunteer work to educational hobbies to mind-numbing vapid passive entertainment... to obsessive-compulsive behavior.

    I suppose it's only a problem if it's a problem. It's not hard to get along in modern society with a whole catalog of tics. But the writer of the O.P. seemed to think it has reached the point where it might start to be a problem. That's a good enough time to talk about it.

    It is possible to clean too much. You can scrub the finish off of many common household items and surfaces, even with the softest cleansers. Your hoover can loosen up and suck out the fibers from your carpets, wearing them out prematurely. You can really damage your skin by washing it too hard and too often.

    You could start bathing and grooming your own dog. That can take hours and it will make the whole house cleaner.

    Every town needs volunteers to help clean up parks, community centers, animal shelters, nursing homes, etc. I would suggest diverting that impulse into one of those worthy causes.

    Or start a dog grooming business and make some money. There probably aren't fifty dogs in the whole country who couldn't use a bath right this minute.

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  21. superstring01 Moderator

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    I have to agree with you.

    The rare friend from work who comes to my house is always stunned by it's cleanliness as compared to my desk. I always rationalize my messy desk with them in that four different managers have access to my office and the stuff therein and often times use my office for meetings, reviews or just some privacy to do their own work (they have cubicles). Since my office is never truly "mine" and that there is always somebody else's mess in there, I just don't really bother (which, isn't altogether true: on Friday's before the weekend, the whole room gets a once-over, spritz of Windex and a brief visit from the Hoover. . . otherwise, it gets trashy and I usually refuse to care).

    ~String
     
  22. superstring01 Moderator

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    It might be.

    I'm not sure.

    To be certain, it isn't life disrupting at present (well, except for me dragging my boyfriend out of bed to clean).

    I'm not a stranger to unique near personality oddities which mostly come and go depending on my stress level (I'll scratch behind my right ear or above my lip/below my nose until it bleeds unless I consciously stop myself, which itself causes me to expend a lot of mental energy--at times--in controlling).

    ~String
     

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