Before the meal, after the meal: don’t forget to wash your hands, the educators rhyme for their little apprentice. Washing hands frequently with soap during the flu season is one of the most important measures to prevent the uncontrolled spread of flu viruses from person to person. It works provably and reliably, regardless of whether they are pathogens of seasonal flu or coronavirus in winter.
How to wash hands properly
You should always wash your hands when you come home, before cooking and eating, after going to the toilet, after blowing your nose, sneezing or coughing, and after contact with animals.
It is better to avoid conventional soaps. They have a very high pH and attack the skin. Therefore, it is better to use washing lotions. They do not contain soap, they contain other washing active substances called syndet and adjusted according to the pH value of the skin. In addition, liquid soaps often contain moisturizing and caring agents.
Cold or warm water?
Many believe that the only way to really keep hands clean is to wash them with hot water. When washing hands, the water temperature has no effect on whether the hands are free from bacteria, fungi and viruses. The duration of hand washing and the thorough soaping of hands are much more important. It takes a while for our hands to get really clean.
This is how hand hygiene works
- wet your hands under running water
- take enough liquid soap to cover the entire surface of the hands,
- lather the liquid soap thoroughly by rubbing your palms together first,
- now distribute the foam on the wrists,
- rubbing the back of the left hand with the right palm and vice versa,
- also by rubbing their palms together,
- now clenched your fists as you rub the backs of your fingers into the palms of your other hands,
- now take your left thumb in your closed right hand, rotate it around your thumb and then switch sides,
- then close the fingers of the right hand and on the left palm circle the fingertips and vice versa,
- then carefully rinse your hands and dry them thoroughly with a disposable towel.
- If the tea towels are loose, use them to turn off the faucet. Otherwise, turn off the tap before drying. A minimum of 20 to 30 seconds is recommended for the entire wash cycle. (aponet)