Soap and Water

• Washing your hands with soap and water removes 90 percent of bacterial microbes, according to a study by microbiologists at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
  
  

Time

• Just ten seconds of handwashing is enough to remove troublesome microbes. Teaching children a song or verse to say while handwashing helps them wash for the appropriate length of time.
  
  

Handwashing is Best

• Soap acts as a surfactant, actually lifting bacteria to be washed away from the hands.
  
  

Hand Sanitizers

• Hand sanitizers that contain at least 60 percent alcohol are a good choice when hand washing is not an option. But sanitizers do not necessarily kill whatever specific germs are on your hands. Removing the germs with washing is the best option.
  
  

How to use Sanitizers

• Apply enough sanitizer to completely wet hands. Rub all over hands for at least 25 seconds. Do not touch anything until sanitizer is dry. When hands are visibly dirty, use soap and water. Sanitizers work best under conditions where hands are already relatively clean, such as between washings.
  
  

Washing With Water

• Researchers at UNC also found that when soap or sanitizers are not available, washing vigorously with plain old water alone works nearly as well. It is better to wash with something than not at all.