National Handwashing Awareness Week is December 6-12, and it has never been as important as this year.  With not only the usual cold and flu season, but a national pandemic, washing your hands is one simple way to keep you and your loved ones safe.  This event seeks to bring attention to the importance of washing one’s hands. 

Not only can it keep you safe, it can keep everyone around you safe by limiting contamination.  Germs can live on your hand for 3 hours and the number of germs on your fingertips doubles as soon as you touch a toilet. Henry the Hand, the friendly mascot of National Handwashing Awareness Week, wants to remind you of the 5 Steps of Handwashing and the Four Principles of Hand Awareness.  In order to insure you are keeping your hands as clean as possible, you should follow these 5 steps: 

Wet Your Hands

Wetting your hands can help the soap lather and reach the entire surface of your hands

Lather

Making sure the soap foams and bubble ensures that it is properly coating your hands

Scrub

This doesn’t just mean rubbing your hands together… you should be going between your fingers and under your fingernails, and even up to your wrist to make sure you are thoroughly cleaning your hands

Rinse

Make sure to once again scrub as you rinse 

off the soap

Dry

Remember, you can spread 1,000 times more germs with damp hands than dry hands

Henry also reminds us of the Four Principles of Hand Awareness.  These tell us not to cough into our hands, not to sneeze into our hands, to avoid touching our face, and to wash our hands when they are dirty or before eating.  While these may seem like obvious suggestions, it is important to be conscious of these principles.  Did you know on average people touch their face 16 times an hour?  Especially in a global pandemic, this is a big issue.  Touching your face- or your mask- in public should be avoided to the best of your ability.  Doing so could transfer any germs that your mask is protecting you from onto your hands.  If you do accidentally touch your face or your mask, make sure to wash or sanitize your hands before continuing your day.  Remember, always wash your hands before putting on or taking off your mask!

While hand sanitizer has really come to thr forefront of the hygiene discussion in recent months, it is important to remember that hand washing and hand sanitizer have different roles in keeping us safe.  If your hands are visibly soiled, or you have the option of washing your hands, opt for washing your hands.  Its gentler on your skin and can clear away any dirt or grime.  Hand sanitizer is great as an on-the-go option: after grocery shopping, pumping gas, or before eating if there is no sink available.  Remember, just like with washing your hands, it is important to scrub your hands until they are dry for hand sanitizer to 

be effective.

Remember to visit HenrytheHand.com to learn more about National Handwashing Awareness Week!