I worked in the healthcare field for 9 years and learned how important it is to wash your hands and to do it correctly. Most people will just wash their hands after using the restroom or before preparing food, but you need to be washing them a lot more than that!
Any time that you come into your home, you should wash your hands. Any time you’ve changed a baby’s diaper, touched the garbage, after blowing your nose, coughing, sneezing, doing household cleaning, handling any type of chemical, handled a wound or cared for someone who is sick, you need to wash your hands!
When it comes to washing your hands…you don’t always need to use anti-bacterial soap! Regular bar soap, eco handwash, or liquid soap will do. Matter of fact, it’s best that you alternate the types of soaps that you’re using. Just like medications, your body & skin can get used to you using the same product over & over..
To properly wash your hands you’ll want to turn on the water and get your hands nice and wet. Apply the soap and scrub your hands for a minimum of 20 seconds. Make sure you get in between your fingers, underneath your nails and up to your wrists. Work up a good lather!
Rinse your hands under cool or warm running water and if possible, use a disposable towel to turn off the faucet. Once done…dry your hands with a towel or let them air dry.
Don’t have soap and water? You can use an anti-bacterial hand sanitizer that contains a minimum of 60% alcohol content (the alcohol is what kills germs & bacteria). Just a piece of advice: alcohol is very drying to your skin and can cause irritation, so use it sparingly.
If you have children or grandchildren, it’s important that you teach them how to wash their hands properly at a very young age. In addition, you need to teach them to wash them frequently!
* This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, we may or may not receive a small commission which helps to support this site. Thank you!
I find it hard to understand why so many people don’t realize how important it is to wash one’s hands frequently and thoroughly. Thank you for this article.
I wash My hands all the time.I always worry about Germs..Thankyou for sharing the correct Tecnique in washing them. We also have hand sanitizer in each bathroom plus the soap. I do both a lot of times especially if I have been doing something like touching meat or anything that has a lot of Bacteria.
Although I’m coming a little late to this post, I’m glad I read it. I used to have a part-time job in a clean room at a genetic research laboratory, and you can bet we learned the right way to thoroughly wash our hands, even though we wore gloves over our clean hands. Still, I sometimes forget to head to the sink when I come into the house. Thanks for this reminder on the importance of proper handwashing.
Great post. Most dont realize it isnt just their health but others if you dont practice good hygiene. There is so much international travel nowdays, and honestly, just grabbing onto a grocery cart makes me cringe. I have noticed there are more stores who have wipes available for their carts now which is nice. I am a hand washer constantly. I rarely even catch colds my husband has,!
My first nursing job was in the OR so I learned how important keeping your hands clean and not touching things is. I keep hand sanitizer in my car and clean my hands after touching door knobs etc. It can drive you a little nuts at times, but I rarely get sick. I hate shaking people’s hands, needless to say.
Such an important true post and great rules to follow. While we know them, we always can use the refresher and reminder. It’s one of those things that if you haven’t washed your hands in awhile, they probably need it. We do it when we take out the trash, get the mail, do recycling. All those things carry germs you don’t always think about.
I love this post and want to thank you for sharing it. I wash my hands several several times per day. I keep in mind the happy birthday song because I heard that’s how long you should wash your hands. I like that you mentioned to use different types of soap I didn’t know that. Also I don’t think I have been washing up to my wrists but I will start doing that. I am super careful in public restrooms and I use a towel to touch everything.
I make sure to wash my hands all the time. At home and when I am out I use hand sanitizer so I do not get sick! These are great tips to make sure to keep my hands clean.
This is good information, and could help keep people from getting sick. I did read somewhere that bar soap was better than liquid, but who knows.
I just sing (to myself) the Happy Birthday song when I wash my hands. I do not use antibacterial soap.
It’s amazing how many people don’t know this, or for some reason just don’t care. In truth, my step son (a grown man supposedly) doesn’t have a very firm grasp on the rudiments of this and it’s a touchy are indeed to talk to hi about.