Hand washing

Hand washing, also called hand hygiene, is the process of cleaning your hands with soap and water to get rid of tiny germs like bacteria and viruses, as well as dirt and other things that might make you sick. Drying your hands after washing is important too, because wet hands can pick up germs more easily. If you don’t have soap and water, you can use hand sanitizer that has at least 60% alcohol in it, but only if your hands aren’t too dirty or greasy.

The World Health Organization says it’s best to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds before and after certain activities. This includes after using the toilet, after helping a child with diapers, before feeding a child, before eating, and before or after preparing food, especially raw meat, fish, or poultry. Good hand washing helps stop diseases from spreading.

Even when you can’t wash your hands or use sanitizer, you can clean them with clean ash and water, though this might not always work as well. It’s important to remember that washing your hands too often can dry out your skin. Using a moisturizing lotion can help keep your skin healthy, because dry skin can get damaged and make it easier for germs to get in.

Steps and duration

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest a few simple steps to keep your hands clean:

1. Wet your hands with warm or cold running water. Running water is best because standing water might have germs.
2. Use soap to lather your hands well, including the backs, between your fingers, and under your nails. Soap helps wash away germs.
3. Scrub for at least 20 seconds. This helps remove most germs, no matter if the water is warm or cold.
4. Rinse thoroughly under running water. Rinsing in a bowl can put germs back on your hands.
5. Dry your hands with a clean towel or let them air dry. Wet hands can pick up germs more easily.

It’s important to wash your hands well at certain times, like after using the toilet, after changing a child’s diapers, before eating, and before handling food. Also wash your hands after touching animals, garbage, or after coughing and sneezing.

Public health

Hand washing is very good for your health. It helps stop the spread of sicknesses like the flu, COVID-19, and other diseases that can make you very ill. It can also help prevent problems like diarrhea and breathing infections, which are big reasons why some children get very sick or even pass away. In places where clean water and soap are not always easy to get, learning to wash hands properly can save many lives.

Sometimes, washing your hands too much can make your skin dry or itchy. But overall, washing your hands with soap and water is one of the best and easiest ways to stay healthy.

Substances used

Soap and detergents

Adding soap or detergents to water helps remove tiny living things from our skin. Soap works by breaking down the outer layers of these tiny living things and washing away oils that hold dirt and germs.

Solid soap

Solid soap can sometimes hold onto tiny living things from past uses. But studies show these tiny living things are usually washed away with the soap foam. The CDC suggests using liquid soap with a hands-free dispenser is better.

Antibacterial soap

Antibacterial soaps are popular, but they may not be better than regular soap. Some contain ingredients that might not work as well as advertised.

Warm water

Using warm water for washing hands does not kill germs better than cooler water. Warm water can irritate skin and uses more energy. The most important thing is to scrub well.

Antiseptics (hand sanitizer)

Main article: Hand sanitizer

When soap and water are not available, like when you’re out in public, you can use a hand sanitizer instead. It should have at least 60% alcohol to work well. Rub it all over your hands until dry to kill germs.

Hand sanitizers are good against bacteria but not as good against some viruses. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say soap and water are best, especially when hands are dirty. Hand sanitizers clean germs but do not wash away dirt.

Wipes

Hand sanitizing wipes can be used when soap and water are not available, like when traveling. They should have at least 60% alcohol.

Ash or mud

In places where soap is hard to get, people sometimes use ash or mud to clean their hands. The World Health Organization says ash or sand can be used when soap isn’t available. But it’s not clear if this works as well as soap.

Technologies and design aspects

Low-cost options when water is scarce

When clean water and soap are hard to find, there are simple ways to wash your hands. For example, you can pour water from a container like a jug or gourd, or use ash if needed, especially in places where resources are limited.

In areas with little water, such as schools or rural villages, people use clever, low-cost tools like "tippy-taps." A tippy-tap is a jug hung by a rope with a foot lever that lets you pour a small amount of water over your hands with soap.

Advanced technologies

Companies have created new tools to make hand washing better. Some devices save water and soap, using up to 90% less water and 60% less soap than regular hand washing. Other tools use light to check if hands are clean after washing.

In places where staying healthy is very important, like hospitals or food factories, special washing cycles help make sure hands are washed well. With computer help, these tools can track hand washing and give tips to improve.

Drying with towels or hand driers

Further information: Hand dryer

Drying your hands properly is very important after washing. Both paper towels and hand dryers work well for drying hands. Health groups like the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that drying hands completely helps stop the spread of germs, such as during illnesses like COVID-19.

Some people think paper towels are cleaner than electric hand dryers, especially in places like hospitals. Studies show that paper towels may spread fewer germs than some hand dryers.

Accessibility

It’s important that everyone can use hand washing tools, no matter who they are. This includes thinking about things like age, whether someone has a disability, weather conditions, and where the tools are placed. Good placement of taps, soap, and paths can help make hand washing easy for everyone.^: 27

Medical use

Doctors and nurses often forget to wash their hands, which can spread sickness. In hospitals, washing hands is very important to keep everyone healthy. Special machines can remind people to wash their hands.

Washing hands in hospitals should take at least 15 seconds with soap and water. It’s important to clean everywhere, including under the fingernails. After washing, dry your hands well and use a paper towel to turn off the water. This helps keep hands clean.

There are five important times to wash your hands in hospitals: before helping a patient, after touching things in a patient’s room, after touching blood or body fluids, before doing clean medical work, and after helping a patient. Washing hands helps stop the spread of germs and keeps people safe.

Developing countries

In developing countries, washing hands with soap is known to be a cheap and important way to stay healthy and even improve nutrition. But, many places lack clean water, soap, or places to wash hands at homes, schools, and workplaces. This makes it hard for everyone to wash their hands regularly. In rural Africa, for example, there are very few places to wash hands near toilets, even though it is possible to build simple washing stations. Sometimes, people just don’t wash their hands because it’s not a habit, even if they have soap and water.

Washing hands is part of a big global goal called Sustainable Development Goal 6. This goal aims to make sure everyone has clean sanitation and can wash their hands with soap and water by 2030. It especially focuses on helping women, girls, and people in tough situations.

Promotion campaigns

Encouraging people to wash their hands with soap can help leaders make better rules, teach others why it’s important, and change habits over time. To do this well, we need to watch and check how it’s working. Studies show that working with whole communities helps people wash their hands more, but ads and marketing campaigns are not as effective.

One good example is the “Three Star Approach” by UNICEF. This helps schools take simple and cheap steps to make sure students wash their hands with soap. When schools meet certain standards, they earn stars — from one to three. Building places to wash hands is part of campaigns to fight diseases and help children stay healthy.

Global Handwashing Day is another campaign to raise awareness and change behavior. There is also World Hand Hygiene Day on May 5th every year. This day was started by the World Health Organization in 2009 to teach people how important hand washing is, especially in hospitals and clinics. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF encouraged people to wash their hands using a hand washing emoji.

To make sure people use hand washing places, they should be easy to find, nice-looking, and well-kept. Small reminders and cues can also help people remember to wash their hands.

Cost effectiveness

Not many studies have looked at how affordable hand washing is in developing countries compared to how much it helps people stay healthy. But one review shows that encouraging people to wash hands with soap is much more affordable than other clean water and sanitation projects.

History

The importance of washing hands for good health was understood by many doctors and nurses in the 1700s and 1800s. They realized that washing hands could help prevent sickness, especially for new mothers and injured soldiers in hospitals. At that time, many people thought sickness came from bad smells instead of germs.

Later, during outbreaks of diseases like swine flu in 2009 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many countries encouraged people to wash their hands with soap. This helped protect people from getting sick. Today, washing hands is a common habit around the world.

Society and culture

The phrase "washing one's hands of" something means saying you don’t want to be responsible for it or involved in it. This idea comes from a story in the bible where a man named Pontius Pilate washed his hands after making a decision.

In a play by Shakespeare called Macbeth, a character named Lady Macbeth keeps washing her hands because she feels guilty about bad things she and her husband did.