Before late 2019, leading into 2020, no one would have looked twice at a bottle of hand sanitizer, unless it was flu season. However, with the emergence and spread of the Coronavirus, hand sanitizers have become one of the necessities of everyday life, as much as toilet paper, bread, and other staples.
In many countries around the world, when Covid-19 reached a pandemic status, hand sanitizer sales were up by 300% and many areas suffered periods of shortage, caused by people panic-buying.
However, fortunately, the supply of hand sanitizer started outweighing demand, with more suppliers emerging to offer hand sanitizer for sale around the world.
In South Africa, there were even a few alcohol producers and manufacturers such as the South African Breweries stepped in to help in the production of hand sanitizer in 2020.
When considering that we still find ourselves in the Covid-19 pandemic, it is important to explore some things that you should know about hand sanitizer.
It kills germs but will not clean your hands
Soap and water are the best solutions to remove germs, but they cannot kill them while hand sanitizer can kill germs but does not clean your hands of dirt or grease.
When you wash your hand, you rub and scrub soap between your palm and fingers. This creates friction that breaks down the bacteria’s structure and loosens germs from your skin.
When you rinse your hands with water, you wash those germs down the drain. However, with alcohol-based hand sanitizers (of 70% and up), germs present on the skin are killed.
For the most effective solution, wash your hands with soap and water while also using hand sanitizers to ensure that germs have been eliminated.
Hand sanitizer is better than soap and water – but only in some situations
Handwashing, when it is done effectively, can get rid of germs and grime, and hand sanitizer should be used as additional measures to soap and water. Hand sanitizer is the first line of defence in most situations, such as before and after visiting the store.
However, when you encounter grease and harmful chemicals, hand sanitizer is ineffective.
Not all hand sanitizers are equal
For most disease-causing germs such as the coronavirus to be killed effectively, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the use of at least 70% alcohol.
It is important to read the labels on hand sanitizers to ensure that it contains alcohol and not benzalkonium chloride, which is typically used instead of alcohol.
How you sanitize also matters
To effectively kill germs on your hands, you must use hand sanitizers correctly. This can be done by applying the correct amount to the palm of your hand, distribute the sanitizers over your hands, between your fingers, top of your hands, wrists, and to your fingertips.
Rub the hand sanitizer in until it is completely dry, depending on whether it is liquid or gel sanitizer, which can take between 10 to 20 seconds.
Homemade hand sanitizers can be dangerous and ineffective
Hand sanitizer is toxic and can cause extreme health complications, and even death when ingested. Even though there are many recipes to make your hand sanitizer at home, buying an approved hand sanitizer that has been tried and tested is the most effective.
There are also reports of people who have sustained injuries when trying to make their hand sanitizer, which can be avoided by buying the tested product in-store.
