One of the best and easiest ways of creating a more hygienic world is by regularly and thoroughly washing your hands with high quality antibacterial soap. But why is hand washing important? And how can washing your hands help to greatly benefit society as a whole? In this article, we will discuss how hand washing can greatly reduce the spread of harmful diseases, as well as how to make sure that you are washing your hands correctly and ensuring that you are washing your hands every time you should be.
Hand washing and preventing the spread of diseases
Of course, the main importance of washing your hands is to help stop spreading germs and bacteria, as well as keeping yourself protected from the very same germs and bacteria. Now more than ever it has become imperative that you wash your hands in order to stop the spread of coronavirus, but, even once the pandemic has ended it is still incredibly important to prevent other harmful bacteria such as E. coli, salmonella and norovirus.
Our fingertips can contain between two million and ten million individual bacteria at a time, to put this into perspective most antibacterial handwashes kill 99% of these. This means that of those two million, a single hand wash will kill 1.98 million of these potentially harmful germs. The hands are the most tactile parts of our body and see the most use throughout our day-to-day lives. We are constantly going to be picking up microscopic germs and bugs from everyday contact door handles, computer mice and keyboards and objects passed between one another.
But why is hand washing important not only for you but also for everyone else? If you have a harmful bacterium on your hand and you hand somebody an object you have been holding, the chances are some of those germs will be transferred to their hands which could subsequently lead to them becoming ill. People will regularly put their hands to their face touching their eyes, nose and mouth, it is often hard to even notice you are doing it. Transferring germs to your eyes, nose and mouth is giving the harmful bacteria a direct route into your body, so the importance of washing your hands cannot be understated to stop the initial spread at the source.
How to wash your hands correctly
Making sure that your hands have been washed correctly is a great way of killing bacterium and stopping the spread of harmful viruses. In recent times the question of what is the best way to actually wash your hands has come to the forefront of discussion.
It is recommended by the NHS that you first wet your hands with hot water. You then apply enough antibacterial soap so that your hands are covered. You should rub your hands together, using either hand to make sure that you get enough soap in between all of your fingers and even under your fingernails. Once you have done this rinse your hands with warm water and then dry with a disposable, recyclable hand towel. Effective hand washing should take around 20 seconds and this can be timed by singing ‘Happy Birthday’ through twice as it roughly takes 10 seconds to complete.
If you do not have an appropriate amount of time to thoroughly wash your hands you can use alternative methods of cleansing your hands. Hand sanitisers have become a regular fixture in everyday life and are a good way of maintaining good hand hygiene. Similarly, antibacterial hand wipes also provide you with the protection you need.
When should you wash your hands?
It is recommended that you should wash your hands:
- After using the toilet
- After changing a nappy
- Before and after handling raw foods
- Before and after eating
- After blowing your nose, sneezing or coughing
- Before and after treating a wound
- After touching animals or pet cages
- In any healthcare environment
Why is hand washing important after all of these situations? They can all generate harmful bacteria. It is important that you use antibacterial hand wash products in order to effectively kill germs. If you feel that you need to wash your hands, for example, if you have been handling a lot of door handles etc, simply wash your hands thoroughly to keep yourself and those around you protected.
For our range of antibacterial products such as soaps, sanitisers, dispensers and wipes browse online with us today. Our products are all high quality and are designed to provide the answers as to why hand washing is important. If you have any questions, simply get in touch with our team today.
