S/O- Suitcases on a bed

Bnei Berak 10

Wed, Nov 24 2021, 7:12 am

amother [ Oak ] wrote:

My exterminator said not to put suitcases on a bed because suitcases pick up bed bugs and other insects when they are with other checked in luggage in an airplane.

He is right. Preferably to freeze the suitcases in a deep freezer for a few days.

DustyDiamonds

Wed, Nov 24 2021, 7:53 am

I’m guilty of putting suitcases on a bed. Sorry. I’d rather not, but I’ve been a guest in less than luxurious homes where there was no other space, and if the suitcase was not on the bed, the only place for it would be standing up near the bed, and I can’t access my things without laying it down!! (My MIL’s linen is long stained (freshly laundered tho) and DH used it as a kid in the 80’s, so no worries there!)

This makes me wonder: if you ride a bus or a train, will you not sit on your bed later in the day? On your couch?! Imagine the germs on your dress! And your coat! The places it goes in the winter, and I doubt you wash it every day! The subway, doctors waiting rooms, the DMV chairs (ugh!) and more! Do you always change when you get home to eliminate germs? If your skirt was dry clean only, and you sat down at a doctors office, will you send your skirt to the cleaners or freeze it right away?

All of this is probably just a feeling, not an actual health issue, because I rarely get sick, despite this habit you claim is terribly unhygienic.

watergirl

Wed, Nov 24 2021, 7:59 am

amother [ Lightgreen ] wrote:

I hosted someone recently (for a simcha, not my own guest). It was just one man so I only made up one bed in the room and the other bed had just the mattress protector and unmade blankets and pillows. He put his suitcase on the unmade bed and I was not happy. Yuck.

Just out of curiosity, how did you know where he put his suitcase? Did it actually leave marks?

Those of you who are hosts, how do any of you know when guests put suitcases on beds if there are no marks left?

amother

Viola

Wed, Nov 24 2021, 8:03 am

DustyDiamonds wrote:

This makes me wonder: if you ride a bus or a train, will you not sit on your bed later in the day? On your couch?! Imagine the germs on your dress! And your coat! The places it goes in the winter, and I doubt you wash it every day! The subway, doctors waiting rooms, the DMV chairs (ugh!) and more! .

You got it. And park benches.

amother

Marigold

Wed, Nov 24 2021, 8:49 am

DustyDiamonds wrote:

clothing I wear outside is changed especially if I went to a dr, plane or high crowd area.

amother

Stone

Wed, Nov 24 2021, 8:52 am

DustyDiamonds wrote:

Putting a suitcase on a bed is equivalent to standing on a bed with shoes on or putting a stroller on a bed. Clothing does not get dragged on the ground & pick up dirt like a suitcase does.

DustyDiamonds

Wed, Nov 24 2021, 2:45 pm

Wow.

I also think about germs, but I realize that’s why Hashem makes them microscopic, so we don’t worry about them nonstop!

Imagine this: You have to wait a while at the doctor’s office on an upholstered chair, which many sick people may have sat on that morning. Then you go home and change (do you send your skirt/coat to the dry cleaners???) in case their are any germs on your clothing.

Prior to going home, you sat in your car. After changing at home, you go back into your car, wearing fresh clothing, to pick up your child from preschool. Now your fresh clothing is touching the seat of the car, which had touched the clothing that sat at the doctor’s office earlier.

Now, are these fresh clothing full of germs? Do you change again when you get home because you sat in the car? Do you make your kids change every time they come inside, as they may have sat on the grass and then come inside and sat on a chair in your home?

How can you deal with life like this, constantly changing and doing laundry for yourself and your kids, to eliminate the chance of germs entering your home?

amother

Orchid

Wed, Nov 24 2021, 3:57 pm

I never gave this much thought before this thread. Now thinking about it, yes I do put a suitcase on a bed. Not the wheels though. Mine or at a host's house. If the bag looks dirty, then I wouldnt and would first clean it. And if it looked dirty I would also clean it before I put it away in the first place. But just regular germs that it may pick up along the way are the same (to me) as an germs you may get on your clothing and I would totally sit on a bed in my clothing (and expect a guest to as well). I wouldnt stand on a bed in my shoes (shoes anyways come off at the door in my city).
But as seen on here some people are much more germ-phobic than others.

amother

Lightgreen

Wed, Nov 24 2021, 4:28 pm

watergirl wrote:

I actually haven’t been in the room since he left so I didn’t check but my DH had been talking to him from the hallway and noticed the suitcase on the bed.
And for those who are curious, no, I don’t sit on my bed in my clothes either.

SixOfWands

Wed, Nov 24 2021, 4:47 pm

amother [ Opal ] wrote:

If you have ever been to a hotel. EVER. You know what a luggage rack is. Just maybe if English isn't your first language you don't realize what it is.

Please don't tell people what they do or do not know. Especially when hiding behind anonymity.

Poster, this is a luggage rack

They're usually folded in the closet of most hotels I've been to.

amother

Viola

Wed, Nov 24 2021, 5:00 pm

DustyDiamonds wrote:

My clothing is washable and gets washed after I use public transportation or sit in a park/public bench/waiting room. My children come home on a school bus. Clothing that was worn in school/shul/park doesn't get worn in bed. We vacuum our couch often.