Germ-laden handles

SIR – Dr Charles Essex is right to say we should wash our hands after using the lavatory (Letters, October 9) – but in most public places this is a waste of time, because to exit the washroom you must grab a door handle.

If even one person has not washed, all those who follow will have germ-covered hands.

Motorway washrooms have a chicane as you leave (no doors), and in the United States washroom doors open outwards so that you can push them with your foot or arm. (They’re inset, so you can’t hit someone walking past outside.) Why do building codes in Britain still permit inward-opening doors? Mike Wells

Ickwell, Bedfordshire

SIR – I have asked numerous people how they open the exit door of a lavatory after washing their hands.

The answers include using the little finger, elbow or bottom of one’s jacket. All see it as a problem.

This difficulty usually arises when there are no paper towels. Patrick Wroe

Felixstowe, Suffolk