What are the things to know about the effectiveness of hand sanitizers?
After working long shifts at the hospital, high-fiving strangers at football games, or while getting a bite at that fast food joint, you end up taking out your trusted hand sanitizer from your pocket to ward off the germs. In fact, in light of the current coronavirus situation, the importance and use of hand sanitizers are acutely felt by everyone. But, are the hand sanitizers really as effective in warding off the germs, even something as deadly as coronavirus? Here’s taking a look at those sanitizing gels and sprays you use, and their effectiveness.
The answer to whether sanitizers work
While there is nothing wrong with using soap and water, hand sanitizers are highly effective at germ removal. It can remove at least 97.72% of bacteria if used properly, and in fact, the alcohol-based versions work especially well. Vivo clinical testing in 2017 had shown that hand sanitizers take an average of sixteen seconds to kill deadly S. aureus bacteria that can cause fatal respiratory infections.
The comparison between handwashing and hand sanitizing
Perhaps the longest-running debate is about the effectiveness of hand sanitizing as opposed to hand washing. The truth is that you can choose either of the two ways to eliminate germs, and they are both effective. It depends on how much time you have for the process. Hand washing takes a longer time than using a hand sanitizer, and besides, people might not always have access to soap and water.
The right way to use hand sanitizer
The effectiveness of sanitizers depends on how you use it, and what the contents of it are. Firstly, a sanitizer from a Hand Sanitizer Supplier needs to have at least sixty percent alcohol for it to be effective, which you will know when you read the label. While applying sanitizers, make sure that your hands are not greasy or oily. Apply it to the center of the palm in one hand. Rub it for ten seconds at least around both your hands and between your fingers. Give it another fifteen seconds to dry down completely.
Sanitizers can lose their effectiveness
Just like all other products, sanitizers from a Hand Sanitizer Supplier have their expiry date, and it loses all effectiveness after it gets expired. It usually takes about two to three years for a sanitizer to expire. So, make good use of the product, carry it with you at all times, and do not let it just lie around in the house.
So, you now see how sanitizers are highly effective in killing those pesky bacteria and germs. Just make sure you buy something with over sixty percent alcohol and use it according to the instructions given above.