OCD/Cleaning/Mysophobia coupled with glove fetishism

Talk about gloves here

Moderators: Jake, mrs uni

Post Reply
User avatar
Jake
The Only Gay in the Village
Posts: 1804
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 5:18 pm
Location: London, UK
Has thanked: 41 times
Been thanked: 119 times

OCD/Cleaning/Mysophobia coupled with glove fetishism

Post by Jake »

Hello all, it's been a while. Hope you're all staying safe out there :)

So here's a question for those of you who believe you have some form of obsession, compulsion, or desire for cleanliness, and/or a fear for germs and infection (and primarily those who enjoy the use of household/medical gloves) :
Do you think you are compelled to wear gloves when you perform certain tasks (cleaning, handling raw meats or other food, general tidying, washing up) because of your fetish, or because of your OCD?

As a man who is constantly plagued by the fear of germs and touching anything which might be contaminated, the above has personally merged into a blur; I no longer know whether I *need* to wear gloves or *want* to wear gloves. I don't know whether I've told myself so many times that washing dishes without gloves on will harm my hands and all the dirt will get lodged in some way on my hands, or whether I just want to wear them because it's slightly exciting. I don't know whether I tell myself to wear them when tidying up around my flat because there's a possibility of germs and other nasty things getting on my hands, or whether I just want to wear them for the thrill.

Admittedly, psychologically, I have reached the point now where I can't touch cloths or sponges without gloves on, even if they've only been used once. This is most probably due to understanding the habits of my flatmates whom I have lived with for the last four years, and knowing that my procedures and rituals are not followed when I'm not in the room to oversee them. Incidentally, my flatmates are understanding of the cleaning compulsion to a point. They know I am very particular about how things should be cleaned, and they've noted my fondness for wearing gloves to do almost anything (though I do not have any suspicion that they see it as anything more than a (what they might consider to be 'extreme') safety precaution). They've both told me outright that they've become more aware about their cleanliness since living with me, but still neither of them wear gloves for any task in the flat, except for cleaning the shower drain (but not the toilet?? Thankfully we have separate bathrooms!)

When I ask people "How are you comfortable with touching that with your bare hands?!" I usually get a response along the lines of, "I'll wash my hands afterwards." This does not wash for me (wahey). The moment I've touched something, I am acutely aware of exactly which areas on my fingers are no longer clean. I have a real hard time at work disguising my continuous avoidance of touching other people's stuff as normal behaviour. I work with computers and IT infrastructure all the time so there's a lot of germs knocking about, and plenty of people who don't practice any kind of hygiene while using their computer that I then have to interact with. I don't want to use hand sanitiser too much because of the long-term damage it'll do to my hands (completely undoing all the work I've been doing to keep them clean and healthy all these years).

So ultimately, it seems like the thrill of wearing household/medical gloves while doing whatever I'm doing is now just a by-product of my mysophobia. However, I know that my fetish developed years before my fear for germs. How about you? Do you think the OCD might have developed psychologically as a result, or is it just a happy coincidence?
User avatar
pond
Senior member
Posts: 275
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:43 pm
Been thanked: 31 times

Re: OCD/Cleaning/Mysophobia coupled with glove fetishism

Post by pond »

I am not OCD when it comes to this topic but i do wear medical gloves while doing dishes, cleaning the house and putting away raw meat/ cooking. It started out as a good reason go wear gloves but has morphed into, comfort in saving my hand when washing dishes. Not wanting to destroy my hand when cleaning with chemicals. My mom never wore gloves when using bleach and other products and her hands have suffered for it. I also work construction. So even though i wear work gloves, they take a beating there as well. So i protect my hands now as much as possible. Now when it comes to meat, after wearing gloves to handle it, i really just can’t stand the feel of raw meet now. Pork and chicken can be Slimy.

But this all being said, it is a preference and not a necessity.
User avatar
MyHandsAreHidden
Regular poster
Posts: 82
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2015 2:24 am
Has thanked: 28 times
Been thanked: 21 times

Re: OCD/Cleaning/Mysophobia coupled with glove fetishism

Post by MyHandsAreHidden »

last edited by
Last edited by MyHandsAreHidden on Thu Jun 17, 2021 8:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
Image
countrylatexglover
VIP
Posts: 1211
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2015 7:39 pm
Has thanked: 501 times
Been thanked: 236 times

Re: OCD/Cleaning/Mysophobia coupled with glove fetishism

Post by countrylatexglover »

I did have a bit of a problem with germs before all of this. Germs from humans that is natural dirt and machine grease don’t bother me. But now I have grown a fear of germs more than I had I don’t want to touch anything bare handed anymore unless I know I’m going to wash my hands. Problem I have is washing so many time that my hands become raw which stopped when I wear gloves.

I probably won’t stop for a while now. I feel like people will understand for the time being. What no one is realizing once this is over we should stop wear gloves till months after it settles the germ needs time to die and not come back like it did. Or maybe since it’s around now gloves will come back into play. I know some people on here wanted to see gloves come back into fashion but defiantly not like this!

I actually want this to be over really bad even though I love seeing all the gloves out live needs to get back to a better place. It won’t be the norm we are use to but it will be safer hopefully. If the gloves stay in play great if they don’t and we are back into a norm or safer norm then okay great also.
User avatar
Jake
The Only Gay in the Village
Posts: 1804
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 5:18 pm
Location: London, UK
Has thanked: 41 times
Been thanked: 119 times

Re: OCD/Cleaning/Mysophobia coupled with glove fetishism

Post by Jake »

countrylatexglover wrote: Mon Mar 30, 2020 3:46 pmProblem I have is washing so many time that my hands become raw which stopped when I wear gloves.
This is certainly something I was always keen to avoid. I don't tend to moisturise my hands or anything, but my gloves take care of them for me :) I still practise good hand hygiene and wash them when necessary, but I'd much rather wear gloves, dispose of them or take them off, then be done with it. I will admit, I don't wash my hands after removing gloves which have touched raw meats, but I wear nitrile gloves which are thick and non-porous, rather than flimsy vinyl gloves which would be riskier.
pond wrote: Sun Mar 29, 2020 12:39 pmNot wanting to destroy my hand when cleaning with chemicals.
This is always the reason I give (reason, not excuse! :p) when cleaning. Thankfully my flat has a dishwasher so manual cleaning is no longer so prevalent. People who clean with bleach and other chemicals baffle me when they're so blasé about getting them on their bare hands. Especially if the thing they're cleaning is something as dirty as a sink or a toilet. I'm hoping COVID-19 will open everyone's eyes; just because something is invisible doesn't make it safe. A kitchen sink is one of the scariest bacterial hot spots in a home!
countrylatexglover
VIP
Posts: 1211
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2015 7:39 pm
Has thanked: 501 times
Been thanked: 236 times

Re: OCD/Cleaning/Mysophobia coupled with glove fetishism

Post by countrylatexglover »

[Update] I don’t know if I’m going to be able to stop wearing gloves out in public after this. I believe I have developed a bigger germ problem and ocd now with touching public things anymore. Everyone’s in the same boat right now yes but I don’t think I’ll feel comfort transitioning back to not wearing gloves again.
User avatar
Jake
The Only Gay in the Village
Posts: 1804
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 5:18 pm
Location: London, UK
Has thanked: 41 times
Been thanked: 119 times

Re: OCD/Cleaning/Mysophobia coupled with glove fetishism

Post by Jake »

It'll be a more costly affair but certainly kinder on your hands than constant alcohol hand sanitiser exposure. Since the outbreak I've not used any; soap's more effective, and I've got enough gloves to see me through ;)

I'd be more comfortable in public now than before, but oddly only when I've got a coat or other long-sleeved apparel on. I'd think that my arms could still become contaminated while exposed... Although gloves in short sleeves feels pretty cool 👌 This summer will be an interesting one.
countrylatexglover
VIP
Posts: 1211
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2015 7:39 pm
Has thanked: 501 times
Been thanked: 236 times

Re: OCD/Cleaning/Mysophobia coupled with glove fetishism

Post by countrylatexglover »

I will be able to wear them with short sleeves as to make sure I’m still not touching a surface without gloves on. I use to think I had friends who would disagree or think I’ll of me for doing it but not so much now. People in my area and starting to look at you funny if your not wearing anything for protection. I just hope the gloves production picks up soon again and mask production. If it is to be a new norm than we will need more of them. I don’t even want to leave the house with out gloves now The masks till getting use to.

People are also going to need to learn how to either clean them (masks) and or dispose of them properly. Some are less i gotta them in the streets and I don’t want that to give gloves a bad name.

But they do seem to be a new norm for now.
countrylatexglover
VIP
Posts: 1211
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2015 7:39 pm
Has thanked: 501 times
Been thanked: 236 times

Re: OCD/Cleaning/Mysophobia coupled with glove fetishism

Post by countrylatexglover »

So I don’t think anyone who has been wearing the glove should estoppel at all of course. It realistically I don’t honk we should stop for at least a few months after we are really set from this thing. It’s going to take along time to get back to a new normal and to be honest I don’t want to touch a public surface again without them on anymore. It’s going to be hard to let go if the ocd with it. Feel like people might have a different attitude about it and not look at me as weird anymore. I guess you could say my fetish has turned into more ocd and germaphobia as well.
Post Reply

Return to “Glove talk forum”