Keeping your hands clean is the first step in preventing any bacterial infection. Before you take a meal, you have been asked to clean your hands since childhood. That time it was a bit irritating to hear it all the time from your mother's mouth. But, Now in this Covid-19 situation apart from wearing a mask, cleaning hands all the time is one of the few methods that prevent Coronavirus from affecting you and your family. When you are at home or the sink is near you. It is best to clean your hands with water and soap.
We are surrounded by germs. There are moments when you are not around water and soap. In those moments hand sanitizers help you in getting rid of the germs. Hand sanitizers are the best alternative to water and soap. In this article, we are going to help you choose the best hand sanitizers and we will also guide you when to use it or not.
Pick alcohol based hand sanitizers.
Hand sanitizer that contains alcohol 60% or more is the recommended hand sanitizer. Alcohol kills the virus or makes the bacteria ineffective. Ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol are the main ingredients of alcohol-based hand sanitizers. It is necessary to have a mixture of all the mentioned ingredients but research also states that 85% of ethanol in alcohol-based sanitizers is good to reduce the bacteria. The best thing about alcohol-based hand sanitizers is that you need no water or any other facility like a dryer to kill the germs.
At what time you should use hand sanitizer.
You must use hand sanitizer if you are touching any objects that have been touched earlier by many people. Especially if you have touched door handles, lift buttons, or visited the crowded place where you may touch many things unknowingly. Using hand sanitizers are simple. You need to drop it on your palm then rub it with both hands gently for the time till the liquid dries up. Hand sanitizers are more effective when the liquid dries up. While coughing or sneezing if you put hands on your mouth, it is necessary to use hand sanitizers. In daily life, if you are attentive you will get to know the instances where you must use sanitizers for overall safety.
When not to use hand sanitizers?
Hand visibly dirty – You should completely avoid using hand sanitizers when your hands are visibly dirty. If you are cleaning your house or doing any work that requires you to put your hand in soil then it is highly recommended to clean your hand with water and soap rather relying only on hand sanitizers.
After Completing your meal – Most of the time people after completing lunch/dinner in a restaurant prefer to wipe their hands in tissue. It is not a good practice. It would be best for you to clean your hands with water and soap. The greasiness of your hand won’t go away with hand sanitizers.
After using pesticides – If you use pesticides for farming or use any chemicals in your garden. Hand sanitizers will be ineffective in this case. In this situation, you should clean your hands with water and soap because pesticides are poison.
Alcohol-based sanitizers also have some demerits. Using it many times in a day may cause skin dryness or itching. It depends on the skin also. After using sanitizers if you have any skin related trouble then better avoid it and consult a doctor.
In this new normal ( COVID-19 era ) it is better to carry hand sanitizers all the time. By any chance, if you are using someone else's sanitizer it would be best if you ask him to drop on your palm rather than touching the sanitizer bottle.
