Hand sanitizers... Pointless or Not?

aardvark said:
working in a microbiology lab at the moment and i use 70% ethanol to clean my hands - those gels that use a similar amount of ethanol are pretty effective. depending on the bacteria they can be >99.999999% effective. forget soap and water - that hardly kills anything, bacteria are very resistant to surfactants (except cationic ones, which won't be in your soap anyway).
it depends if you come in contact with a lot of bacteria - the only 2 instances where you would want to sterilise your hands is if you are working with dead flesh or faeces. all the other bacteria around are pretty harmless.
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oh crap thats me screwed then, twice.
 
Absolutely agree that they are completely pointless if you are washing with hands with soap and water anyway. C. Diff spores are only removed by soap and water and thorough hand washing with a good technique. Plus they dry your hands out, I find and are a nightmare if you have contact dermatitis or eczema. In clinical or hospital settings when there is a need to take extra precautions then yeah fine, but com'on not at home, never!
 
For the most part I just wash my hands before eating food, but I am in the habit of doing it after using the toilet too, I guess in practical terms because of lifting the seat or whatever but really just a habit.

I tend to think public items (handles, handrails, coins, any surface on any public bus!) are likely to be covered in cold a flu germs and possibly more, so it'd be wise to wash your hands after handling them (if you must touch them at all) as you may infect yourself while inadvertently touching around your nose or eyes. I'm not sure how true this is, but I'm fairly sure most cold and flu germs are spread by touching rather than through the air?
 
Wouldn't use them day to day.

I took one to Gamescom which was good to use after playing on keyboards and controlers that thousands of sweaty gamers have touched.

It was quite handy for camping as well.

I went on a cruise recently and they had it at the entrances to all their restaurants. Also if you went into the main dining hall then there was a guy who stopped you and put the lotion on your hand for you to make sure you used it. Simply to keep germs at bay as much as possible.
 
Khaaan! said:
That's not the point though. Hand sanitizer is best to be used after you've done some dirtywork and cannot get to a sink etc.

I keep one in my car boot, I use it when I've checked my car's tyre pressures at the petrol pump as an alternative cleaner to remove brake dust off my fingers which would otherwise get lodged into my leather steering wheel.

I also use it randomly just because the smell is fresh and is relaxing.

Lately though I've been using it after exiting an Urban Exploration site!
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Sorry, I meant in day to day life. I.E after handling money, touching handles, going to the toilet etc.

I always keep hand wipes in my car for stuff like this, never leave my hands dirty.
 
aardvark said:
c. deficille is certainly harder to kill with ethanol but only the spores. 70% ethanol (and it has to be between 60-80% - 100% is not as good) will kill all bacteria, simply by dissolving the membrane. but of course thats not something you can buy, because all those tramps would just drink it!!
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You can buy almost pure alcohol such as Everclear from the supermarket...
 
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My 4 year old is still alive after 4 years of truly disgusting behaviour. The body is a pretty hardy thing.

Wash your hands after the toilet and before meals and you'll be fine.

Hand sanitiser indeed.
 
I wash my hands after going to the loo and when i go to prepare food.

Kids these days live in tiny bubbles and parents are spending millions on cleaning products that they just don't need!

These kids are going to grow up without a decent immune system!
 
Casdawer said:
I wash my hands after going to the loo and when i go to prepare food.

Kids these days live in tiny bubbles and parents are spending millions on cleaning products that they just don't need!

These kids are going to grow up without a decent immune system!
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yep - they're the only situations to wash your hands, anything else is probably doing more harm than good.
 
[FnG]magnolia;17322752 said:
This people, this.
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It's fine if you do so... but it doesn't stop the fact that other people don't and thus spread their germs around to door handles and anything else you might communally touch.

For instance, where I used to work, we shared an office building with the head office of a rather large chain of Chinese/Japanese fusion restaurants, who I won't name publicly, but I'm sure you will no doubt guess. I often used the shower on their floor when getting changed after cycling, as it usually worked better. The shower cubicle is right next to the toilet stalls and while I'm showering, I obviously heard people using the toilets. What shocked me was the sheer number of staff who came in for their morning number 2, then left without washing their hands.

It's seriously put me off eating in any of their restaurants, knowing that the managers and people responsible for designing the food can't maintain a decent standard of personal hygiene.

Finally, I should add that the main reason I first thought that sanitizer was probably a good idea was when the whole swine flu thing started, as that looked like the tube would be deadly for picking it up.
 
meghatronic said:
Funny you should say that - my hands don't feel 'clean' unless I rinse them with cold water after washing them with hot water + soap. :D

(I appreciate this somewhat defeats the point)
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I'm the same. It's especially bad with liquid soaps, they leave a perfumed/moisturizing residue all over your skin. Some of them you've got to scrub your hands to remove it.
 
Of course they work!

Useful if you don't have access to soap and water and you want to clean your hands..
Or if you work with children :p
 
I once touched a public toilet door handle and within a couple of days my hands had withered, went black and dropped off.

I now always clean my stumps with those alcohol gel rubs, better safe and sorry!
 
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