How long does hand sanitizer keep sterile?

Our efforts to prevent the risk of infection are ongoing. It is important to clean your hands properly to avoid the deadly coronavirus. Soap and water are the best way to clean our hands. However, soap and water may not be available everywhere. In that case we rely on hand sanitizer. Do you know how much time we have on this hand sanitizer? Surprisingly, hand sanitizers do not last very long. That is what the Times of India reports.

Two minutes! Yes, the chemical disinfectant that you rub on your hands keeps you germ-free for only two minutes.

Hand sanitizer does not give you prolonged protection and needs to be reused after two minutes if you want to be sterile. According to experts, sanitizers are only needed when you go out and soap-water is not available to clean your hands. However, the best way to keep your hands germ-free is to wash them with soap and water. To avoid infection, the mouth should not be touched and food should not be eaten without washing hands.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least 60 percent alcohol hand sanitizer should be used. Rub the palm of the hand for at least 30 seconds to kill the germs.

What are the benefits of using hand sanitizer?
As with the CDC, alcohol-based hand sanitizers can be an alternative to soap and water in emergencies. However, this should not be the only option. Sanitizers cannot kill all germs. However, as a result of its use, the number of germs on the skin is significantly reduced.

What to do?
To protect yourself from infection, clean your hands properly before eating or touching your face. It doesn’t matter if you sanitized your hands ten minutes ago. It has to be done again.

If you use a hand sanitizer, rub well on all parts of the hand for thirty seconds.
However, the best way to keep your hands germ-free is to use soap and water. Rub your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds. Before washing with water you rub it well in the fingers, on the back of the hand and under the nails.