Have you been washing your hands wrong all this time?
It’s something we do several times a day but that few of us really pay attention to – washing and drying our hands. Whether it’s after a trip to the loo or before preparing food, a new study has found that just 5 per cent of people are washing and drying their hands correctly every time.
As reported by the BBC, the study of over 3,000 people found that staggering 10 per cent left public toilets without washing their hands, and of those who did, 33 per cent didn’t use soap. And this is a problem for all of us, since physical contact (whether person-to-person or person-to-surface) is one of the most common methods of spreading germs and bacteria.
Studies have also found that the temperature of the water in which we wash our hands has no significant effect on the number of remaining bacteria, and that anti-bacterial soap was no better than regular soap when it comes to killing germs.
As for drying your hands afterwards, unless you’re in a hurry and don’t plan on touching anything while leaving the bathroom, wet hands are fine. However, bacteria are spread and picked up more easily when the hands are wet, so it’s best to dry them if you can.
And, the ultimate question – hand dryer or hand towel? Those jet dryers might be fast and effective at drying hands, but a study last year found they spread 1,300 times more germs than paper towels, blasting bacteria as far as three metres across the room. So, if you can, stick to paper towels.
Are you guilty of any of these handwashing mistakes? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.