Governments and global health authorities such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are trying to manage the coronavirus pandemic. As such, people all across the world have been met with a lot of information regarding what they can do to limit the spread of the virus.

Social distancing and wearing face masks are good measures to fight Covid-19 but they are not enough. Proper hand hygiene has been recommended by the CDC and the WHO as a proactive measure to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

When you think about it, our hands are the parts of our body that experience the most contact with objects, other people, as well as our own selves. Therefore, our hands are most likely to host a lot of bacteria and germs from all the touching and holding we do.

What most people don’t realize is we probably touch your face over a hundred times in a day without realizing it and this is one way we infect ourselves with the virus.

So, while full-body hygiene is a priority, there’s a keen focus at this point in time on making sure we clean our hands as much as we can in a day to prevent us from infecting ourselves with coronavirus-causing pathogens or spreading it to others.

That’s why we need to keep hand sanitizer with us everywhere we go and wash our hands with soap and water when we can access a sink. Both are practical approaches that can limit the spread of viruses and bacteria. However, is one measure more effective than the other? Which one is more convenient?

Let’s take an in-depth look at both approaches.

Using Soap and Water

As per the WHO, evidence from scientific research shows that Covid-19 is transmitted through oral droplets that are transmitted from talking, coughing, or sneezing. These droplets can land on any surface such as tables, computer keyboards, or stair railings.

The virus can live on surfaces for hours in a day and if someone was to touch the same surface or the droplets were to land on their face, then they might get infected.

Cleaning your hands using soap kills the bacteria by breaking them down and making them inactive. The coronavirus-causing pathogen is enclosed in a layer of fat. Soaps contain compounds known as amphiphiles that annihilate the fat layer, rendering the virus incapable of infecting you.

How To Clean Your Hands With Soap and Water

Even though washing your hands is something you’ve done your entire life and may seem like a basic task, there’s a correct way of how you should actually do it.

The first step is to get your hands wet with clean, running water. Next, apply soap on your palms and rub your hands together to lather the soap. Make sure you rub between your fingers, the backs of your hands, and your palms. Do this for at least 20 seconds.

Proceed to rinse your hands with running water and dry them using a clean towel. If you rub them on your clothes, you risk making them dirty.

Using Hand Sanitizer

Alcohol-based hand sanitizer has become a common feature in pockets and purses. According to the CDC, hand sanitizer with an alcohol concentration higher than 62% can destroy the fat layer protecting the pathogens.

The vital ingredient in hand sanitizer is alcohol. Therefore, avoid nonalcohol hand sanitizers or products with an alcohol content below 60%. Sanitizers with low alcohol content are not as effective against most bacteria and viruses.

The alcohol content in hand sanitizers should either be propanol, ethanol, or isopropanol. The alcohol destroys the pathogens by breaking apart proteins and altering the cell’s metabolism.

What gives alcohol-based hand sanitizers an edge is that the germs they kill cannot develop a resistance to alcohol. This means they can’t lose their efficacy even with prolonged use.

How To Apply Hand Sanitizer

To use hand sanitizers for maximum efficiency, you should consider how much you use, how well you apply it, and how consistent you are with using it.

Start by applying the right amount of sanitizer for both hands on the palm of one hand. Proceed to rub your hands together and cover your whole hand, including in between your fingers. Do this for about 20 seconds or until your skin is dry.

Make sure you close the hand sanitizer bottle once you’re done. Alcohol tends to evaporate rather quickly and you don’t want to compromise the efficacy of the liquid. Closing it also helps prevent particles from falling in and rendering the hand sanitizer impure.

Challenges of Using Hand Sanitizer

Hand sanitizers are considered more convenient since they are portable and easily accessible. However, hand sanitizer poses certain challenges.

They cannot clean your hands to remove dirt or grease. For that, you need to use soap and water to clean your hands.

They are also not effective against pathogens without the fat layer such as rhinovirus and norovirus. When you rub your hands together with soap, you create friction which helps kill bacteria. Hand sanitizers do not provide this friction.

Hand sanitizer is also known to create skin irritation for some people. This is natural considering hand sanitizer involves rubbing over alcohol with a concentration of 60% or higher against your skin.

Both Soap and Hand Sanitizer Work, but the Former Is Better

Many places that have high human traffic have installed hand sanitizer dispensers for everyone’s convenience. However, health experts recommend using soap and water despite the convenience provided by hand sanitizer.

Hand sanitizers do great work in killing viruses and bacteria but they don’t do the job as well as soap and water. While hand sanitizer will kill germs, soap and water will also do that as well as remove actual dirt and debris from your hands.

Most soaps are effective but you can take the extra step and go with antibacterial soap. However, if the only available option is hand sanitizer, make sure it is an alcohol-based sanitizer with an alcohol content of over 60%.