The Washington Post - 20.02.2020

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the

washington

post

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thursday,

february

20

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2020

Wellness

BY TEDDY AMENABAR

You’re standing in a grocery
store hygiene aisle, facing a wall
of liquid hand soaps. Some just
clean, others moisturize. Every
plastic bottle promises a two-
word aroma — crisp cucumber,
warm vanilla. The soaps cost less
than a dollar or as much as $10,
but you just want something that
will clean your hands.
When it comes down to that
simple factor — how well soap
cleans — the product you choose
is much less important than how
you wash your hands, and when,
because common hand soaps are
all powered by the same ingredi-
ents.
What you’re paying for in a
plain soap are surfactants — a
short term for “surface active
agents,” or the ingredients that
send harmful microbes off your
skin and down the drain. Two
common surfactants a re cocami-
dopropyl betaine and sodium lau-
reth sulfate. Both are often com-
bined with salt to create that
gelatinous quality in a pump of
soap, according to Chris Boone, a
technical expert at Univar Solu-
tions.
Jim Arbogast, a vice president
at Gojo Industries (the company
that invented Purell), explained
that the people tasked with
f ormulating a good soap are try-
ing to strike a balance: washing
off the germs while leaving the
“good stuff” for the skin. If the
soap uses harsher surfactants,

like you might find in some indus-
trial cleaners or even dish soap,
you’ll remove the germs, but your
skin will feel dry after you rinse.
And removing germs doesn’t
mean killing them; only hand
sanitizers and antibacterial soaps
do that. Hand-washing physically
removes the bacteria, both when
you rub your hands under the
faucet and then when you dry
them off with a towel, said Elaine
Larson, a professor at the Colum-
bia University School of Nursing.
“The whole point of washing is to
not kill the bacteria, just get them
off your hands,” Larson said. “It’s
such a simple thing, but I don’t
think people realize it.”
The Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention recommends

using soap and water, but you can

fall back on hand sanitizer if

there’s no running water nearby.

At home, you don’t need the

antibacterial soap found in hospi-

tals, Larson said, or the fanciest,

most expensive option. Plain soap

gets the job done. Larson said the

only reason to buy a top-of-the-

line soap is for the experience —

to make your hands smell or feel

great. But don’t t ry t o stretch your

dollar by watering down a bottle

of soap. Adding water to a soap

can ruin the preservatives and

contaminate the bottle. Bacteria

may start to grow, and you could

wind up with more germs on your

hands than you had at the start,

Larson said.

It should be noted: Your hands

are often covered in bacteria.

That’s normal. Put simply, “our

skin is not sterile,” according to

Laraine Washer, a professor for

infectious diseases at the Univer-

sity of Michigan Medical School.

We live in a homeostasis with

bacteria.

The reason we wash our hands

is to remove the harmful bacteria

we come across, especially during

cold and flu season, Larson said.

The concept of hand-washing

was first presented by a

H ungarian doctor named Ignaz

Semmelweis. In the mid- 1800 s,

Semmelweis recommended

washing with a chlorine solution

before interacting with patients.

Some doctors found the notion

offensive, because the recom-

mendation implied that the doc-

tors inadvertently infected pa-

tients.

We’ve come a long way since

then, but chances are, you’re still

washing your hands the wrong

way. In a 2018 study from the

Agriculture Department, 97 per-

cent of people failed to properly

wash their hands before a meal.

Not surprisingly, Americans rush.

The participants failed to spend

20 seconds washing their hands,

the recommended amount of

time from the CDC.

So, what’s the correct way to

wash your hands?

1. Start with clean, running
   water. The temperature of the
   water doesn’t matter, according
   to a Rutgers study from 2017. Use
   what’s most comfortable.


2. Apply soap and lather your
   entire hand (not just your palm).
   People often forget their finger-
   tips, according to Larson.


3. Clean your hands for
   20 seconds. The CDC recom-
   mends singing “Happy Birthday”
   to yourself, twice. (Happy birth-
   day!)


4. Rinse your hands and dry
   with a clean towel. The friction
   applied by drying goes a long way
   toward physically removing any
   germs.
   You don’t need to turn on the
   faucet every hour. The CDC advis-
   es washing your hands at key
   moments in the day, including
   while preparing a meal, after you
   sneeze or cough and after using
   the restroom. It’s better to build a
   habit around your daily life.
   “It’s really about when, when
   you clean your hands,” Arbogast
   said.
   [email protected]

Why it’s not necessary t o splurge on those pricey hand soaps

getty Images

You don't need a fancy, expensive soap or antibacterial goop to keep your hands clean. Instead, focus

on how — and when — you wash.

“The whole point of

washing is to not kill

the bacteria, just get

them off your hands.”
Elaine Larson, a professor at the
Columbia University school of Nursing

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