Washing your hand frequently with soap and water can prevent the spread of many dangerous diseases. If water and soap are not available, you can use hand hand sanitizers.

What exactly is hand sanitizer? A hand sanitizer is a gel, foam, and liquid solution that kills viruses and bacteria. It is most frequently used for cleaning hands when water and soap are not available. You will find two types of hand sanitizers, alcohol based hand sanitizers and non-alcohol hand sanitizers.

Alcohol based hand sanitizers kill viruses and bacteria due to its alcohol content. You could find different amount of concentration of alcohol a number of sanitizers. Some have as much as 85% of alcohol whereas others have 60%. Many hand sanitizers found in the market contain 62% of alcohol. The most common brands of alcohol based hand sanitizers include Purell sanitizers, Avant, Sterillium, Desderman and Allsept S.

Some hand sanitizers are produced with extra ingredients including natural products and essential oils. These hand sanitizers don’t just contain alcohol that is necessary to kill germs effectively and safely, however they also contain additional substances that could moisturize and condition your skin. Hospitals use sanitizer dispensers equipped with elbow controlled mechanism to prevent any contact while using the pump.

Non-alcohol based hand sanitizers use small quantity of benzalkonium chloride or triclosan to kill gems.

Alcohol is known as a preservative. As they do not contain alcohol, the non-alcohol based hand sanitizers. are succeptible to contamination.

Correct Way of Using Hand Sanitizer

Everybody knows that hand sanitizers could kill most bacteria and viruses. How do we use it properly and when should we use it?

The proper way of using hand sanitizer is as shown below:

• Apply enough sanitizer gel to wet your hands
• Rub your hands together. Cover both hands and fingers with the solution. Keep rubbing until your hands are dry.
• If your hands are visibly dirty, you should wash them with soap and water.
• When to apply the sanitizer gel? It would be a good idea to sanitizer your hands:
  • before and after food preparation.
  • before meals.
  • before and after touching patients.
  • after using the toilet.
  • after changing a diaper.
  • after coughing or sneezing into your hands.

Benefits of Hand Sanitizers

Despite common perceptions, alcohol-based hand sanitizers dries skin less than hand washing with soap and water.

Hand sanitizers kill viruses like flu virus, the common cold virus, and HIV and a lot of bacteria for instance antibiotic resistant bacteria and TB bacteria. Hand sanitizers also kill fungi too.

The Risk

Alcohol based hand sanitizers can catch fire because of its alcohol content. However, hand sanitizers with high concentration of water or moisturizing content may not produce this effect. Rubbing your hands until dry could minimize the risk of fire. This is because it only takes few second for the flammable alcohol in hand sanitizers to evaporate into the air. Your hands are dry means that the alcohol is gone.