I watched this video more than five years ago (probably 2013), and I still shake my hands out twelve times every single time I wash my hands. This is a phenomenal, memorable presentation.
As ridiculous as it may seem that this is a TEDx talk, it was incredibly effective for me. After seeing this about 3 yrs ago, I have never used more than 1 paper towel to dry my hands.
As for alternatives to paper towels, here's [0] a review of different studies about drying your hands. It's not clear that alternatives to paper towel hand drying are more effective from a health perspective. But obviously cost and environment are the biggest problems.
It seems most harmful microbes are between your nails on your fingertips and paper towels might be more effective with removing microbes on your fingertips, but there is still some controversy about if this even matters overall and which is more effective in removing them from other parts of your hands. Some are also concerned about air dryers blowing up airborne microbes, and I'm personally concerned with the super loud noises (also mentioned in the research below [0])!
Finally, I only see paper towels in every medical center or hospital I've been to.
Last fall I asked my doctor how I could avoid my annual month of cold/flu downtime, and she said “wash your hands a lot and stop touching your face.”
I bought a container of sanitizer for my desk, I carry a smaller one in the car and another in my jacket pocket, and I try to be conscious of using it any time I come out of a public space (the bathroom, grocery store, restaurants or cafes, the water cooler). When I have to scratch my face (which is frequently because of anxiety and slight dermatitis) I use my sleeve or try to ensure I’ve sanitized my hands since the last time I was exposed. It hasn’t been as difficult as I’m making it sound here, and this is the first winter in a decade that I haven’t been sick, knock on wood. If you catch bugs easily, I recommend trying to be mindful of cleaning your hands for a season to see how it goes.
one of the more striking demonstrations you can do in a biology wet lab is to dust peoples hands with fluorescent powder and then ask them to wash their hands and see what they missed.
Top of the thumbs is almost always poorly washed, even if the rest of the hand is generally clean.
”The temperature of the water does not appear to affect microbe removal; however, warmer water may cause more skin irritation and is more environmentally costly.”
And I always thought warm water is better than cold water for washing hand.
> While some recommendations include using a paper towel to turn off the faucet after hands have been rinsed, this practice leads to increased use of water and paper towels, and there are no studies to show that it improves health.
> However, the best way to dry hands remains unclear because few studies about hand drying exist, and the results of these studies conflict.
One of the most striking aspects of this is how much we don't know about hand-washing and hand-drying. It seems like a topic worth studying until the studies stop conflicting.
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[ 2.1 ms ] story [ 125 ms ] threadIt seems most harmful microbes are between your nails on your fingertips and paper towels might be more effective with removing microbes on your fingertips, but there is still some controversy about if this even matters overall and which is more effective in removing them from other parts of your hands. Some are also concerned about air dryers blowing up airborne microbes, and I'm personally concerned with the super loud noises (also mentioned in the research below [0])!
Finally, I only see paper towels in every medical center or hospital I've been to.
[0] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3538484/
I bought a container of sanitizer for my desk, I carry a smaller one in the car and another in my jacket pocket, and I try to be conscious of using it any time I come out of a public space (the bathroom, grocery store, restaurants or cafes, the water cooler). When I have to scratch my face (which is frequently because of anxiety and slight dermatitis) I use my sleeve or try to ensure I’ve sanitized my hands since the last time I was exposed. It hasn’t been as difficult as I’m making it sound here, and this is the first winter in a decade that I haven’t been sick, knock on wood. If you catch bugs easily, I recommend trying to be mindful of cleaning your hands for a season to see how it goes.
Top of the thumbs is almost always poorly washed, even if the rest of the hand is generally clean.
> While some recommendations include using a paper towel to turn off the faucet after hands have been rinsed, this practice leads to increased use of water and paper towels, and there are no studies to show that it improves health.
One of the most striking aspects of this is how much we don't know about hand-washing and hand-drying. It seems like a topic worth studying until the studies stop conflicting.