The Dos And Don’ts Of Handwashing

Washing your hands is an effective way to get rid of germs, bacteria and dust that stick to your hands in the process of performing your everyday chores. Maintaining good hand hygiene is imperative to shield yourself from getting sick. Washing your hands frequently and often ensures that you do not spread germs and other bacterias. You ought to wash your hands before having your meals or even before you proceed to prepare your meals. Throughout the day we touch a million surfaces that are full of germs including railings, elevators, our computers, etc. Whenever you touch any person, or surface or object your hand gathers germs.

If you touch your face, especially areas around your eyes, nose or mouth, you can get infected. Apart from running the risk of infecting yourself, you can also infect others. So handwashing should be an indispensable hygiene factor of your life. Thus, only by adding this simple yet important habit of washing hands, you will be playing a very important role in keeping yourself and others safe. There are certain dos and don’ts when it comes to washing your hands the right way.

Do: Wash For At Least 20 Seconds

It is recommended that you wash your hands for at least twenty seconds.If it feels difficult for you to keep a track of twenty seconds, simply sing the happy birthday song in your mind twice, while you’re washing your hands. Washing your hands thoroughly for twenty seconds ensures that you get rid of all the bacterias that were sticking to your hands. Make sure that you are cleaning your nails as well. Be it at home or while travelling, you should keep washing your hands every once in a while to keep your hands germ-free.

Do: Wash The Back Of Your Hands

Don’t forget to wash the back of your hands otherwise it simply defeats the purpose of washing hands. While we are in a hurry, we might want to skimp on washing our hands thoroughly but this is a malpractice that could cost you your health. So make sure whenever you wash your hands, don’t be negligent towards the back of your hands. Scrub your hand thoroughly, be sure to have lathered the soap well on your hands in order to kill the germs sticking to your hands.

Do: Dry Your Hands

One of the easy yet important steps of washing your hands is drying them. It is important to dry your palms post handwashing otherwise it is likely to recontaminate. Wet hands are good carriers of germs and other bacterias. Hence, you must ensure that after handwashing you dry your hands completely using a hand towel. These are just simple ways to maintain your hand hygiene in an effective manner. Amidst the covid-19 pandemic, these safety and hygiene measures have become all the more important.

Do: Use Any Regular Soap

There is no need for you to get those antibacterial soaps. Any regular soap is enough to do the job if you wash your hands thoroughly with it. Don’t fall for the marketing gimmicks of the soap companies, each and every commercial soap is composed of more or less of the same components and a soap’s core function is to kill germs present in your hands. Hence, using any regular soap for the purpose of handwashing is alright.

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Don’ts: Don’t Use Hot Water

Using hot water doesn’t kill more germs, period. There, it has been said. There is absolutely zero need for you to wash your hands with hot water so as to ensure that your hands are clean. All it will do is cause irritation to your skin and make it more dry and scaly. It is a prominent myth that washing your hands with hot water is going to kill more germs. While the fact of the matter is that this is absolutely unnecessary when it comes to handwashing for hand hygiene.

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Don’ts: Don’t Skip Washing Hands If Soap And Water Are Not Available

It is difficult to find soap and water in every place that you go to. That doesn’t mean you have to skip handwashing. If you are travelling to a place, make sure you carry a sanitiser and several strips of paper soaps. It is recommended that you wash your hands whenever you can but if you can’t then make sure you are using a hand sanitizer often. Don’t cut corners when you’re using a hand sanitiser. Half a teaspoon to a full teaspoon of hand sanitiser is enough to give your hands full coverage. For places where water is available, you can make do by using a paper soap which is easy to carry while you travel. Now that you've learnt how to wash your hands properly, you can sit back and relax in peace.

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