this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2026
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You can hold the tip of your finger on the upper one and can thus control the flow by blocking the airflow.
I do this when putting it onto wings. This way I can apply it individually rather than splashing it all over.
I agree with the other responses. The thought of someone's finger there is rather unpleasant. But then again: you can never know who sat on your table before you. Could be a family with small children - the sticky ones who touch and lick everything. :D
One should trust the own body to protect himself from germs. Or bring wet wipes with you.
Please don’t put your fingers on the holes of public dispensers, that’s just fucking disgusting for everyone else. You can pull bacteria back into the container, but it also just makes the hole dirty regardless.
You might like to know that those dispensers are likely never washed. Same with any condiment containers in any restaurant, at the most occasionally wiped down with a dirty rag.
I’ve been to restaurants where they collect and wash the condiment dispensers every day.
We actually washed ours on a regular schedule when I worked at a hibachi place.
This sounds no more reassuring than the guy admitting to putting his dirty finger on restaurant dispensers.
You don't know they haven't just washed their hands. In fact, since they're about to eat, it's likely they did. Especially since they specified wings, which are finger food. Are you saying you eat with dirty fingers? It's never occurred to me to use the airhole to control the flow, and I haven't eaten in a restaurant for several years, but I'm aware other people have touched any food I didn't cook myself and it doesn't put me off.
You have a lot more faith in people's hygiene than you should.
An alarming number of people routinely don't wash their hands even when they really, REALLY should. Stomach flu for example is almost solely transmitted by people who touch something with contaminated faeces on it, then bring their hand to their mouth. And that something is usually a bathroom door handle.
Judging by how common stomach flu is, it's statistically safer to assume nobody washes hands. But even if 99.9% did, all it takes is one idiot coming out of the bathroom and using the soy sauce dispenser to ruin your week.
As for restaurant staff "cleaning" things, I've seen more cleaners using dirty rags to spread dirt around and make surfaces look clean than actually cleaning anything. Even in my company, I refuse to let the cleaning lady in, because each time she comes, she uses the same rag she used in the bathroom to wipe my desk.
Yep, that’s why I use packets when I can, even though they aren’t the best for the environment. People need to stop treating public stuff like it’s their own personal crap.
I hate to break it to you, but that's the intended design and expected use. Everybody's doing it because that's how the dispenser works. It's really no less disgusting than any other public access surface in a restaurant. Also, it's soy sauce, which isn't exactly a breeding ground for most common bacteria given the high salt content in the final product.
For home use sure, not for public dispensers, and yes I avoid them when possible. It’s shitty for the environment, but I’ll get ketchup packages instead for example. Some of my family is immuno compromised, and it’s hard enough without people treating public stuff like it’s their own.
That sounds rather unhygenic considering that you can't tell which side someone has put their dirty finger on.
Potenttially so - just doesn't consider me as the only user of said bottle. Also, it might be a bit salty environment for bacteria.
in restaurants I’ve always wiped the spout first just in case this has happened
With what? Do they provide antibacterial wipes?
with a napkin
doesn’t kill bacteria but kills cooties
Thankfully I've had my cootie shot.
If you think that's gross, I've seen baby roaches in the parmesan cheese shaker that's on a pizza hut table before. Any of the condiments out on a table at a restaurant are most likely a wee bit questionable. Once I left my last food service job, I made sure to tip better, and rarely went to restaurants for a long time.
Yeah the back of many restaurants make me not want to go back there. I used to do inspections for strip mall type places. All access. Mice droppings above ceiling tiles are far too frequent.