I never thought I’d be writing a post about hand washing, because, isn’t it pretty obvious? We all can already do it, right?
Well, apparently, yours truly couldn’t. Not all the time, anyway. You know when you’re in a rush, and you just rub your hands with soaps for a few seconds? Well, it seems that ain’t enough to remove all bacteria from your hands.
And, if you don’t remove them all, you may catch a bug or something. Eww!
So, what’s the proper way to wash your hands? Here it goes:
1. Wet your hands with lukewarm water. I know, hot is nicer, but it will dry out your skin.
2. Apply soap. Just use your favorite. Any will do as long as it doesn’t dry out your skin. Oh, avoid anti-microbial soap. They make bacteria more resistant to the anti-microbial agent in the long run, which is crappy news should you fall ill. The medicines may not work anymore, turning an once-easy-to-cure disease into a deadly one.
3. Lather well.
4. Rub your hands together vigorously and scrub all parts (both sides, between fingers, the nails…) for about 15/20 seconds. If you wear rings, take them off, or scrub underneath them, too.
5. Rinse off with warm water.
6. Pat hands dry with a towel. Don’t rub. It could irritate skin.
7. If you wash your hands a lot during the day, always apply moisturizer afterwards. Frequent washing can dry out skin. A good lotion will avoid that and keep your hands soft and smooth.
How do you wash your hands? Let me know in the comments below.
washing hands seems really easy….but i am one of the lazy guilty ones of not doing it properly. my hand-wash is usually a quick one.. oops!
Xin, I agree, it seems easy and yet not everyone does it properly. I usually do but every now and then I also am guilty of washing them too quickly.. guess we all do it at times…
This reminds me of the time when I had to wash my hands in front of a nurse before oral surgery in hospital – she was not impressed with my hand-washing skills. Oopsie. Nowadays, I use a lot of hand rubs in the surgery
Ling, oops! And that’s good, it’s so important to have really clean hands, especially in those situations. 🙂
Oh how I wish everyone did that! I always remember to clean my nails because I do grow them out a bit.
Janessa, me too! Under the nails is an often neglected spot, unfortunately. It’s good that you always remember to clean there too. 🙂
It really makes me cringe when people go to the bathroom, run their hands under water for 2 seconds, and call that ‘washing their hands.’ Good tip about the soap!
Makeup Morsels, me too. And unfortunately I see that happening quite often. ewww