Hand Sanitizer

[Bichon Barb]

This is following up on the "Stay Healthy" thread, I went to Kinney's Drugs this a.m. and found Purell not only in pump dispenser form, but also in disposable towelettes and in trial sizes.

 

[CanBeGrumpy]

I have found six-packs of little tiny bottles of the hand sanitizer in Target. I think they are intended to be put in a child's lunch box for use at school, but they are also perfect for sticking in your pocket (I usually put it in that little "watch" pocket in my jeans) so that it is always with you. That way, if your child gets into something gross while you are in line for a ride (my son poked his finger into some slob's chewed up, spit out gum) you can instantly sanitize! I'd say the tiny bottles are good for maybe 4 uses, but you can twist off the top and refill from a bigger container so you don't have to spend $$ buying more tiny ones! I find this more convenient than the wipes since with those, you have to find a trash can! Thanks for your good info!!!

 

[CRCrazy]

I also bought the little bottles of hand sanitizers for our Disney trip - but I'm not crazy about the Purell brand - I find it dries out my hands. I really prefer the Bath & Body Works version - smells great, and not as drying! I always wear a waist pack in the parks, so the slightly larger bottle didn't bother me.

 

[eeyore0062]

Just remember that these hand sanitizers are "anti Bacterial", not anti Microbial, so they will do nothing to kill a virus (which a majority of illnesses are caused by). Good old fashioned handwashing for at least 30 seconds with soap and hot water is the only real way to get your hands clean and stop the spread of virual germs!

 

[jwfla422]

I read the same thing last week on the boards, yes they are antibacterial but many of them contain a large amount of alcohol and that will kill many viruses. Purell is one of the brands that is made with alcohol, some are made with other ingredients so I'm not sure how effective they are. But, if alcohol doesn't work to kill germs, why would it be used to disinfect everything especially in hospitals??

I know this is on Purell's website but check it out: http://www.purell.com/works.htm
it also has some interesting information on many of it's links.

 

[gschmerl]

CRCrazy,
I'm with you. I don't like the odor of the Purell,but they are the only one I've found in the really small containers. I bought the Purell, dumped it, and filled the container with my favorite Bath and Body anti-bacterial sanitizer.

 

[SGF]

Germ-X also has alcohol in it, comes in small sample containers and it doesn't seem to dry my hands out. Don't know if that brand is sold elsewhere but we got it at a local discount store near us.

 

[SueM in MN]

Just remember that these hand sanitizers are "anti Bacterial", not anti Microbial, so they will do nothing to kill a virus (which a majority of illnesses are caused by).

That's not correct. Alcohol is the active ingredient in the hand sanitizers that you can buy in grocery and drug stores (and Bath & BodyWorks - I agree theirs is very nice). Alcohol is classified as an antiseptic and has excellent germ killing ability against bacteria, fungii and viruses. Here's a comparison of germ killiing ability from the Center for Disease Control's website. If you go there, you can see that alcohol is the most effective of the skin antiseptics. It is not very good at removing soil though, so if your hands are visibly soiled, the soil needs to be removed before the alcohol can disinfect the hands. But if your hands look clean, hand sanitizers are a good choice for sanitizing them.

Good old fashioned handwashing for at least 30 seconds with soap and hot water is the only real way to get your hands clean and stop the spread of
virual germs!

If your hands are very dirty, you may need 30 seconds of rubbing to remove all the soil. But usually 10-15 seconds are adequate to wash all the surfaces of your hands. (It's actually a pretty long time - sing one verse of "Happy Birthday" to yourself not too fast - that's about 10 seconds). And you don't need hot water. The main purpose of the water is to rinse away the soap and soil that was rmoved by friction when you scrubbed your hands. The water should be comfortably warm. Hand soap is formulated to work best in warm water and too hot or too cold of water will dry out your skin. A last important point: if the water doesn't turn itself off, don't put your clean hands on the dirty handle to turn it off. Use a paper towel or push it off with your wrist or elbow.

 

[ddawg]

I think it was the antibacterial soap that does not kill viruses, just bacteria. The hand santitizers kill bacteria and viruses.

 

[SueM in MN]

Purell is one of the brands that is made with alcohol, some are made with other ingredients so I'm not sure how effective they are.

If you look on the back of the bottle, you will usually see 2 listings of ingredients; one for active ingredients and one for other ingredients. The active ingredient in the hand sanitizers you can buy for home use is alcohol. There are products with other active ingredients (CHG is the name of one), but you will find those in health care facilities. Even then, they will combine alcohol (which is fast acting and works against all kinds of germs) with a product like CHG, which does not work as quickly or as well, but has long lasting activity against germs that live on the skin (something important for health care workers who are wearing gloves that provide a nice warm environment for sking germs to grow).

 

[lilsonicfan]

In order to prevent bacteria from becoming resistant to antibiotics... it's best to use products that use alcohol as the main active ingredient and that DO NOT contain other chemicals formulated to be antibacterial. Just a little note from a former Microbiology major!

 

[Lucky4me]

I used the bath and Body Works hand sanitizer while we were there last week. It was the FIRST time I did not get sick at WDW.

I kept reminding dd not to touch railings, door handles, etc. When she did, out came the sanitizer. we came out of the restrooms and then sanitized our hands. There were a lot of sick people down there, so I think we were very lucky!

B&BWs definitely has a strong alcohol smell to it and dried very quickly without being sticky. Since our trip, I use it whenever I'm out of the house.

 

[SueM in MN]

I think it was the antibacterial soap that does not kill viruses, just bacteria. The hand santitizers kill bacteria and viruses.

The most common active ingredient in the antibacterial (actually antimicrobial) soaps that you can buy in US grocery and drug stores is Triclosan. It is effective against bacteria and viruses, but doesn't work as fast or against as many types of germs as alcohol. The biggest concern is the resistance concern that lilsonicfan brought up (the soap manufacturers don't agree with this. Hospitals are getting away from using these antimicrobial products. The recommendations for US health care workers are to use alcohol hand sanitizers when hands are not visibly soiled, use water and regular soap (not antibacterial soap) when the hands are visibly soiled. If hands need to be sanitized after washing, alcohol hand sanitizers are used on dried hands.

I think some of the confusion about "antibacterial" vs "antiseptic/antimicrobial" comes from the package labels. The companies making the products are saying they are "antibacterial" because it is a selling point for them, not the only thing the product can do.

 

[Bichon Barb]

Wow, I didn't mean to start such a debate over sanitizers! Like I said before, I like good ole Ivory soap, and I think antibacterial products are dangerously over used. BUT, this is vacation, and I don't want to catch anything, especially on the plane rides down to Orlando. I really don't care how Purell smells, I just wanted something small and convenient I could carry in my bag. I was happy to find something in trial size just a few days before we leave.