March 12th, 2020 by Sarah Miles

Washing your hands is one of the simplest, yet most often overlooked, ways of staying healthy and preventing the spread of germs and illness. We use our hands constantly throughout the day which means they are the area of our bodies most likely to come into contact with dirt and germs. Most of us will also then touch our faces and mouths with our hands when eating, applying lip balm or makeup, or simple unconscious mannerisms like itching or biting nails.

A good hand washing routine is, therefore, a habit that we should all adopt – for our own health and that of others.

How to wash your hands

Washing our hands is one of the most basic tasks that we learn to do as children but how many of us really focus on our hand washing technique and make sure it’s fit for purpose? You may think that you wash your hands really effectively but it’s always worth checking that you’re getting it right.

Here’s a guide on how to wash your hands properly:

Wet your hands with water

The first step is to wet your hands before reaching for the soap. The water temperature should be as warm as you can comfortably tolerate.

Apply soap or hand wash

This should ideally be an anti-bacterial product.

Scrub your hands

Lather your hands by rubbing them together. Make sure you rub the backs of your hands and between your fingers. Anyone with long fingernails should pay attention to making sure they get soap under their nails as this is a key area for harbouring germs.

Wash for a minimum of 20 seconds

This is longer than you think! The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests singing Happy Birthday twice through to gauge the time correctly.

Rinse off

Rinse the soap off with clean, warm water.

Dry your hands

The most hygienic way to dry your hands is using an air dryer or a disposable towel. If using a regular towel, make sure it is clean

Keep hands clean with hand sanitiser

Washing your hands using all the steps above will help keep your hands nice and clean but using a hand sanitiser will give you an extra layer of protection and is a good way of boosting hand hygiene in between regular hand washing. The alcohol in hand sanitiser will help to kill any germs that may be present. You should follow a similar method to the hand washing routine above:

1. Apply to the palm of one hand

2. Rub hands together. As with washing, make sure the whole surface area of the hands is covered including the backs of your hands and in between your fingers

3. Rub until dry. This whole process should last for around 20 seconds (use the Happy Birthday method if required!)

When should you wash your hands?

Obviously, common sense dictates that you should always wash your hands after going to the toilet, before and after preparing food, before and after eating, after coughing or sneezing and if they get visibly dirty. It’s also a good idea to wash them periodically throughout the day at other times. We are constantly exposed to potential germs in our day to day lives: shaking hands with people, using door handles, using touchscreens to place orders and handling money. We even need to protect ourselves from our own germs; did you know that one of the main reasons we often succumb to another cold after we’ve recovered from one is because of the transfer of our own germs back to us? This happens by continuing to use the same devices such as a computer keyboard or smartphone without cleaning them.

Does hand washing work?

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), washing your hands in the way outlined here will eliminate viruses on your hands and as the main way germs spread is from your hands to your mouth, this is a highly effective way to limit the spread of disease. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) estimates that washing your hands the correct way at an airport could help curb the spread of an infection, such as coronavirus, by up to 69%. 

This is why it is so important to wash your hands at all times but at a time of concern over infectious disease, it becomes critical that the mass population adopts such high levels of hygiene.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/coronavirus-wash-hands-correctly-photos-black-light-germs-a9384321.html