Disinfectant is important for our daily lives, especially today as the number of the coronavirus cases is still increasing. Washing your hands isn’t always the option since water and soap is not always available, that is why most people rely on using hand sanitizers as their disinfectants when they go outside. The Central for Disease Control (CDC) suggests, “Hand Sanitizer when you can’t use soap and water.” But how sure are you to your hand sanitizer’s effectiveness?

How do you know if my hand sanitizer is effective?

There are two kinds of hand sanitizers, the one that is alcohol-free hand sanitizers and the one with alcohol based hand sanitizers. You should ignore the alcohol-free hand sanitizers and go to the alcohol based one. Why? Ingredients of hand sanitizers vary across products and are not created equally. The CDC standards hand sanitizers which have at least 60% to 95% alcohol, whether it is ethyl alcohol, ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, or isopropanol. All hand sanitizers that go below this alcohol content standard reduce its effectiveness on killing germs and bacteria. Drying your hands and having it wet will also reduce the efficacy of your hand sanitizer.

Will the alcohol content of the hand sanitizer affect my skin?

People have different skin sensitivity, that is why there are variations of alcohol content in the hand sanitizers. You should also be aware of what are the other ingredients of the hand sanitizer you are buying. With most skin-friendly products like Nixod Hand Sanitizer, a hand sanitizer shouldn't be harmful to your skin, regardless of its frequency. 

How to properly apply hand sanitizer for better effectiveness?

Although applying hand sanitizers is an easy thing to do, people still doing it the wrong way so here is a quick guide on applying hand sanitizers:

1. Make sure your hands are not visibly dirty. Sanitizers may be inefficient on greasy and visibly dirty hands.
2. Apply a squirt of hand sanitizer to your one palm.
3. Rub content over both hands. Make sure it covers the entire palm, fingers, back of the hand and wrist.
4. Continue until the hand sanitizer is visibly absorbed.

Use hand sanitizer even after washing your hands with soap and water. There can be microorganisms still sitting on your hands that cannot see with bare eyes. 

Recommendations?

Pharmacies and retail stores always sell hand sanitizers, but with great demand for sanitizers, stores are getting out of stock. Fortunately, you can find and buy it online. Arishine Beauty offers travel-size Advanced Hand Sanitizer with 70% alcohol content and great effectiveness.