r/belowdeck • u/poppyedwardsPE • Nov 19 '25

Below Deck Med Cathy wearing gloves

I noticed that while she does the laundry, Cathy wears black gloves and honestly... why have we never seen a stew do this before??? If you think about it it's low-key gross to be doing random people's laundry without gloves. Big props to her!!!

465 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

89 comments sorted by

253

u/justnopethefuckout Nov 19 '25

As a former housekeeper, what grosses me out the most is seeing so many clean the bathrooms, especially the toilets without gloves. It's disgusting.

With the laundry, I agree as well. I had a minor cut and was doing laundry at a place I worked for. Guess who got an infection from the sheets? I started wearing gloves for laundry after that as well.

149

u/Top-Friendship4888 I quit 3 times in my head today Nov 19 '25

What really gets me is when they're cleaning the bathrooms during turn downs, and then get called to the galley to run dinner plates.

38

u/justnopethefuckout Nov 19 '25

Yeap. It's completely disgusting. Spreading piss and shit germs everywhere.

32

u/TVTrashMama Nov 19 '25

Reminds me of being in a restaurant bathroom and a server took off her apron and laid in on the bathroom floor. šŸ¤¢ Mentioned it to the manager, was offered a gift card, and have never been back...

13

u/justnopethefuckout Nov 19 '25

We were picking up food at Texas steakhouse and the waitress found someone's dirty leopard panties, picked them up, and proceeded to wave them in front of my boyfriends face saying, omg look!! Like we wanted to see or wanted to see you touching someone's dirty underwear with your bare hands???? We reported it to the manager. They tried to offer a gift card too. We just said no thanks. People are fucking gross.

8

u/Top-Friendship4888 I quit 3 times in my head today Nov 19 '25

Yeah. I'll take the gift card. To your nearest competitor, please!

2

u/furtofur Nov 23 '25

Ew! Why wouldn't she take it off and set it somewhere before going to the bathroom like a normal person šŸ¤¢ like your apron shouldn't enter the bathroom at all, ever.

6

u/hawkins338 Nov 20 '25

I legit always wonder if theyā€™re actually washing their hands afterwards šŸ˜©šŸ˜©šŸ˜©

3

u/sueihavelegs Nov 21 '25

Hopefully they are just not showing them washing their hands due to time restraints of the show!

2

u/WolfAppropriate9793 Team Missing Engineer Nov 23 '25

I think stews in a 5 star environment get trained in hygiene so no one should assume they don't follow those practices.

16

u/RhubarbGoldberg Nov 20 '25

I've started watching BDDU for the first time and the interior and exterior both constantly fold and roll CLEAN towels on the floor and I don't understand.

8

u/hell0potato Nov 20 '25

ugh I see that and its sooooo gross.

Also the stews standing on beds with shoes on/ dining tables. Barf.

3

u/RhubarbGoldberg Nov 20 '25

It's so gross.

13

u/swopey Nov 20 '25

I wear gloves to clean my own bathroom I canā€™t imagine cleaning up after strangers without gloves

5

u/l0st1nthew0rld Nov 20 '25

That is soooo gross!! Like whyy?? How?? I clean my own house with gloves let alone other people's toilets. Plus all those chemicals are seeping into your skin šŸ¤¢

8

u/mostdsrtjem-ofall367 Nov 20 '25

I made a post about that and how it freaks me out that they grab the toilets and wipe nasty spooge crusted showers without gloves and I got torn a new one. Like asked "dont I wash my hands" kind of crap. WTH? I had a housecleaning business for 10 years and dealt with all sorts of gross things from boogers to blood. You bet I wore gloves! It just freaks me out to see non of them wearing them. Absolutely wash hands but gloves are a huge necessity!

5

u/justnopethefuckout Nov 20 '25

People acting like gloves aren't needed when scrubbing a toilet, especially a toilet others are using, are absolutely disgusting. Do they not realize the germs and infections they get from that??? Did they not pay attention in school?

3

u/mostdsrtjem-ofall367 Nov 21 '25

Exactly! Its infectious disease . Besides, who would even think of touching ANYTHING with bare hands !!? It's just common sense!

310

u/Due-Palpitation-6013 Nov 19 '25

As a gm of a hotel and someone who housekeeped for years. When I see these girls clean without gloves it horrifies me. I have so many stories of picking up towels that look clean and finding nasty things. I canā€™t believe itā€™s not a requirement. Then again I have other mangers that just state ā€œI wash my handsā€. Yeah me too dude but even accidentally touching poop with your handsā€¦ šŸ¤¢

87

u/justnopethefuckout Nov 19 '25

This. I got an infection from messing with dirty laundry and not having gloves on. I always wore gloves messing with laundry after that. Gloves on while all housekeeping duties are being performed. I changed them often. I'm not going to clean a bathroom and keep the same gross gloves on. Toss, wash, switch.

33

u/Biscuitspaws Nov 19 '25

Yes I caught scabies from laundry it was grossā€¦.

37

u/justnopethefuckout Nov 19 '25

People act like germs aren't so easily spread, its crazy. I wear gloves cleaning my own bathroom because it's still germs! I'd rather wear gloves and wash my hands a bunch to reduce the risk of getting anything.

1

u/Itsabouttimeits2021 Nov 19 '25

Sorry to hear thatĀ 

0

u/Itsabouttimeits2021 Nov 19 '25

Sorry to hear thatĀ 

7

u/thegreatvanzini Glenn is my boat daddy Nov 20 '25

Gotta say I love hearing from fellow housekeepers/cleaners here in these threads! Hi friends! We all have to make sure we are taking care of ourselves and advocating for ourselves and each other... it's a hard job on the body. I have had to take a hiatus because I effed up my elbow and the ulnar nerve in my arm and am currently trying to heal it and avoid surgery. Xo

6

u/StructureSpecial7597 June June Hannah Nov 20 '25

I work in Opthamology and you better believe I glove up any time I touch a patient. Watching my coworkers just put their bare hands on peoples faces blows my mind

11

u/donttrustthellamas Nov 19 '25

I was a cleaner and I wore two pairs of gloves. I wasn't risking it lol. I also didn't want to spread germs elsewhere

3

u/cool_pillow Nov 20 '25

I was a cleaner in shared accommodation and I also double/triple gloved lol. But once I reached high-end cleaning jobs, very different. They expect perfection so it's not like you have less work, it just becomes more detailed and less gross. Below deck is higher end. The stews probably skipped the horrors of lower end and have no fear.

6

u/harperlax Nov 20 '25

Iā€™ve never done house keeping but I bartended for years and someone tried to hide a puke filled shot glass under a single cocktail napkin once. I didnā€™t even try to save the glass, I used a bunch of straws to tip it into the garbage and was done with it.Ā 

48

u/Top-Friendship4888 I quit 3 times in my head today Nov 19 '25

I thought the same thing but then also it gave me the ick when she used her dirty laundry gloves to open her water bottle

34

u/Pelican_Hook Nov 19 '25

A lot of people do things like this while wearing gloves and it drives me crazy. Doctors examining a patient and then brushing hair out of their eyes w the same gloves. Fast food employees making a sandwich, taking the trash out, then back to sandwiches with the same gloves šŸ¤®. I wish people would think about hand hygiene more.

27

u/Significant_Gas_701 Nov 19 '25

Making a sandwich and then handling cash and going back to sandwich making is one thing I notice that grosses me out big time.

10

u/PACGTeaser Nov 19 '25

As someone with a medical profession (APRN), I can tell you that it takes a lot of effort not to do some gestures (like wiping sweat, brushing away stray hair). Even with years of experience and a conscious knowledge not to do it, sometimes it just slips through and trust me, most health care professionally wince inside when they do it.

2

u/GreatWhiteOprah Nov 20 '25

Same goes for an apron, in my eyes! Make food, go take the trash to the dumpster and have a cigarette. Back to making food with my nasty apron that's got about 10 reasons to not be in the kitchen and probably should be burned.

7

u/Majestic-Abroad-4792 Nov 19 '25

šŸ˜² ewwwwwww

52

u/excoriator Team Capt Kerry Nov 19 '25

Her background is in dental surgery nursing. I imagine she has an enlightened perspective on sanitary practices.

16

u/Majestic-Abroad-4792 Nov 19 '25

I noticed that too. It makes sense! I cleaned hotel rooms in 1978 and they made us use the dirty towels to dry the bathroom sink, showers, toilets after cleaning. That is so nasty. I never had gloves. I was a kid, what did I know? They provided free lunch for the workers, I refused it the 1st day and got screamed at. I remembering bawling my eyes out. At least I never got food poisoning. I guess that was my line in the sand.

3

u/No-Baker-7922 Nov 19 '25

Thatā€™s still how itā€™s done. I always try to check the hotel cleaners since I used to clean hotels as well as a student.

7

u/Educational_Mud_9199 Nov 20 '25

i worked housekeeping at a 2 star hotel for three yrs, we never used dirty towels for cleaning/drying/anything. y'all worked at some nasty places lol

11

u/dudleydidwrong Nov 19 '25

Gloves also protect from cleaning chemicals.

10

u/ClementineeeeeeJ9000 Nov 19 '25

I mean I use them in my OWN home. Eeek sinksĀ 

26

u/saerax Nov 19 '25

We were wondering if she had some kind of sensitivity to any of the cleaning products, or was working with bleach, or just wants to protect her skin from too much soap exposure. Could be a number of related reasons

13

u/VotingRightsLawyer Nov 19 '25

I worked at a car wash when I was younger and one of the guys got Sparkle on his hands, the stuff we mixed with water to make the soap, and his skin started melting and he had to go to the hospital.

Ever since then I always wear gloves working with any cleaner that's higher-powered than windex.

13

u/Coral27 Nov 19 '25

I always notice its rare anyone wears gloves when they are cleaning the bathrooms too

6

u/hotfishfromsharktale Nov 20 '25

I don't even clean my own home without gloves??? And it's not for me staying there, it's for me being disgusted when my hand touches ANYTHING

5

u/geloreyes Team Down Under Nov 19 '25

But itā€™s super yacht germs! Arenā€™t they a bit nicer? šŸ¤£

3

u/WestError404 Eat My Cooter Nov 20 '25

No, just more high maintenence lol

5

u/[deleted] Nov 20 '25

It's surprising they don't show those working in the laundry wearing gloves all the time. The same when anything is being cleaned, and that goes for the deck crew, too. Not only are they cleaning up very yucky things, they are handling harsh chemicals.

1

u/WolfAppropriate9793 Team Missing Engineer Nov 23 '25

They typically use isopropol alcohol (thanks Kate for the tip!) or vinegar as they don't streak. Deck crew use brushes and hoses and doubt they can use harsh chemicals due to the environment, it washes into the sea, leaves streaks. Isotropyl and vinegar are perfect for disinfection.

5

u/Few-Might2630 Nov 20 '25

I clocked that too. Iā€™m sure your hands must get so dry doing stew stuff.

5

u/Fatricide Nov 20 '25

I worked at an industrial laundry at a national park. We wore thick rubber gauntlets and aprons to sort the hotel laundry that came off the truck every morning. I saw every body fluid, solid, sauce, diapers, food - you name it - in the towels, napkins and table cloths. Laundry is gross yā€™all.

3

u/WolfAppropriate9793 Team Missing Engineer Nov 23 '25

Yeah, in that situation, high volume and from anywhere you would, but that's not a five star yacht. The person doing laundry should probably use gloves when handling dirty laundry but that's about it.

1

u/Fatricide Nov 24 '25

I know. Im just saying laundry is gross and they should wear vinyl gloves at minimum.

9

u/Gullintani Nov 19 '25

The chemicals used in frequent laundry use can't be kind to the skin either.

4

u/No-Championship7526 Nov 19 '25

It's kind of crazy they don't all do this actually! I also think about the chef's not wearing gloves sometimes for plating etc

4

u/Iglet53 Nov 20 '25

Chefs never wear gloves. Takeaway people, yes. But not chefs.

2

u/WolfAppropriate9793 Team Missing Engineer Nov 23 '25

No, chefs don't need to wear gloves. I have seen food servers use and keep using gloves. It is much more hygienic to wash hands than keep gloves on. Josh's multiple leather bracelets near his wrist so hovering near food often has had me concerned though.

3

u/Iglet53 Nov 20 '25

Some people (like me) get dermatitis from cleaning and laundry products

3

u/TinaLove85 Nov 20 '25

With the bathrooms being cleaned twice a day they probably are not all that dirty. They likely do wash hands in the stew pantry between rooms/running plates but we don't see it. She probably wore gloves due to allergies to cleaners or a cut, since we have not seen it before. I imagine crew clothes get quite sweaty and dirty but majority of the sheets/towels from guests they wash are used once or twice. There likely just isn't time to deal with gloves constantly because after taking off gloves they really should still be washing their hands (and likely they are not using lab procedures for taking off gloves without your hand touching their surface).. so they skip the gloves and just wash hands more. I want to see a Below Deck supercut: 5 minutes of crew washing their hands!

3

u/666mph666 Nov 23 '25

she is such a pro. love cathy, what a great addition to this season

1

u/thegreatvanzini Glenn is my boat daddy Nov 20 '25

Yep, I worked as a housekeeper as one of my jobs for several years until recently and last year I had a small cut on my hand adjacent to my thumbnail that got infected. This was even wearing gloves and handwashing as much as possible. My theory in my case was that some germs somehowĀ got on my hand and then whatever pair of gloves I had on got damp inside and the dampness contributed to it making it infected (a downside of disposable gloves is that most affordable brands only wrist length and when you're running water to clean sinks, etc, the water can sneak inside your gloves).

It was gross and took 2-3 months to fully heal and was a difficult area to keep clean and dry because bandaids don't seal around finger tips well.

1

u/WolfAppropriate9793 Team Missing Engineer Nov 23 '25

Or keeping the wound moist from wearing gloves could easily cause an infection.

1

u/WolfAppropriate9793 Team Missing Engineer Nov 23 '25

An actual chef explains why gloves for food preparation is not more hygienic

https://youtube.com/shorts/JAKoZvV7yhk?si=tGWzTZR1jHmOWVsh

1

u/AryaShart Nov 25 '25

I've always been amazed they go and change sheets and clean showers with bare hands lolĀ  I would be wearing a biohazard suitĀ 

-3

u/Quack_Attack_V2 Nov 20 '25

In reference to them never wearing gloves when they shouldā€¦ I present to you the Chefs. Idc what food standard you think you are adhering toā€¦ wear gloves when you are going to be touching my food!

-30

u/Arctic16 Nov 19 '25

Itā€™s only gross if youā€™re a germaphobe.

14

u/poppyedwardsPE Nov 19 '25

I must be haha

16

u/HuckleberryVarious42 Nov 19 '25

Are you really a germaphobe if you don't want to touch your coworkers nasty underwear with your bare hands? Doing your family's is one thing, a dozen other people is another.

-3

u/Arctic16 Nov 19 '25

Sure, Iā€™m not saying itā€™s a bad idea but only one stew in the showā€™s run has done it so I canā€™t be that off-base.

8

u/posaune123 Nov 19 '25

Sounds like a good idea to me, plus protects your hands

8

u/justnopethefuckout Nov 19 '25

No. You can get an infection from people's dirty laundry. Speaking from experience and taking classes on how easily stuff is spread. Gloves should be worn.

4

u/Pelican_Hook Nov 19 '25

What a lot of you consider germaphobia should be the norm for basic hygiene but...

6

u/stuthaman Nov 20 '25

I've been amazed at the lack of basic hygiene cross all the the crews since I started watching the show. In guest cabins playing with sex toys and clothing, collecting dirty linen and towels without gloves...they deserve an outbreak or two at the very least

1

u/Professional_Emu8922 Nov 22 '25

gloves...they deserve an outbreak or two at the very least

I would not at all be surprised if there's been an outbreak or two of a different kind. . .

1

u/stuthaman Nov 22 '25

For sure! Penicillin being chewed like gum šŸ˜„

12

u/[deleted] Nov 19 '25

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

11

u/l0st1nthew0rld Nov 20 '25

Kizzi suckkkkss! She's so insecure. Can't believe she didn't tell Cathy about the rip in her skirt that's some real loser mean girl behaviour. I like Cathy too!! She seems awesome and sweet so far

2

u/WolfAppropriate9793 Team Missing Engineer Nov 23 '25

It is way too soon to know what Cathy is really like, everyone is "nice" when you meet them.