Do You Use Handkerchiefs? - Page 3

Your own handkerchief isn't going to hurt you, so I don't really understand the hygiene concerns.

If you are sick, you should probably use tissues, but you'll still have to wash your hands frequently to avoid spreading it.

& to learn to sneeze or cough in your elbow not hands!

why so you get your suit jackets all slimed up?

PS

where do you get those horizontal stripped socks from, they're pretty cool.

I think they're gross for anything other than mopping up sweat. I don't carry one however. I don't want to blow my nose and then fold it up and put back in my pocket.

I carry one for weddings and funerals.

I keep one in my back pocket usually. Use that to dry my hands after a visit to the rest room. Some dudes now a days don't wash hands. I got tired of trying to use my elbow to push the paper towel dispenser down after taking care of business after I tore a shirt on a sharp edge.

- OK I should have been clearer, obviously not when it a snotty of phlegm cough
- germs are exchanged via hand shakes etc.

Most everybody in Japan carries a handkerchief; there are very few restrooms that provide paper towels and so you carry a handkerchief in your pocket... even my younger students have them. As for me, when I'm there, I use one... of course heavily scented (depending on the handkerchief in question and the season). Usually, I'll douse it in a light, citrus eau de Cologne like Berdoues or Cologne Sologne, in winter, something dry and leathery (Knize Ten works pretty well)... They are also very easy/convenient things to give as gifts... so by now I've probably received a few dozen of them, everything from the usual Japan-favorite Euro brands (Burberry, Fendi, YSL, etc.) to some much more interesting ones made in various traditional Japanese textiles and patterns. Some are so nice I couldn't imagine drying my hands on them or blowing my nose in them...

I usually keep one on me whenever I can. Although, usually it's a bandana to dry the sweat off of my forehead during swing dancing. Apparently ladies don't like sweaty leads... Though, I never thought to use them to dry my hands. Guess I'll have to get more then...

Yeah, I do use hankies. I keep one in my back pocket most of the time.

Ditto.

+1 for offering to others. Of course, if I have to sneeze, that's what an inside jacket pocket is for!

Carrying a handkerchief for the benefit of others is a gentlemanly touch, not unlike carrying a penknife or a pack of matches. I find them handy for cleaning my glasses as well, at least more so than the end of my tie or a packet of paper tissues.

I always have one. I get them relativly cheaply in india, so I don't care what happens to them, I probrably have more than 100 identical white cotton hankerchiefs now, and so it is no great loss if I get blood or something else on one and throw it away.