Why Is It Important to Wash Your Hands?

Keeping your hands clean is a fundamental part of battling any cold or flu season. However, with the recent emergence of COVID-19, it’s more important than ever to get real about washing your hands. Germs can get into the body through our eyes, nose and mouth, and think about how often you touch your eyes, nose and mouth without even realizing it. You’re probably touching your face right now. So, washing your hands often can really help prevent the transfer of germs.

Soap is a great way to cleanse the skin as it enables oil to mix with water, meaning grease and dirt can be washed away under the tap. Why? A soap molecule acts like a little tiny magnet. One half of it repels water and attaches itself to the oils on the skin, while the other half does the opposite and binds to water. The oil is then suspended in the water, allowing it to be rinsed off easily, whisking dirt and grease away with it. This kind of deep cleansing leaves hands feeling squeaky-clean.

But why bar soap? Why not liquid? To start, the excess plastic from liquid hand soap packaging isn’t necessary and it’s not great for the planet, either. Also, many of the myths around bar soap being filled with bacteria or hard to use are overblown. When you wash with soap it lifts away impurities, dirt and grime. Which means that the same dirt that’s been washed away from your skin is also washed away from the soap. Luckily, we’ve already dispelled many of the myths surrounding the mysterious world of soap. Now you can go forth and make the decision to go packaging-free with your clean, happy hands. Win-win.

Here’s the important bit: how do you wash your hands? It’s all about getting the perfect technique down pat. And we’re here to help with that.

Step one: Rinse your hands with water.

Step two: Grab your fave bar soap and lather up, rinse off the soap and put it back in its draining dish.

Step three: Interlace your fingers by putting one hand above the other. Palm to the back of the other hand and rub.

Step four: Next, lock your fingers together by putting one hand on top of the other and twist your hands back and forth.

Step five: Show those thumbs some love by rotationally rubbing them against one-another.

Step six: Rinse off again.

Step seven: Dry with a paper towel, turn off tap with the paper towel and discard it in your compost or recycling bin.

It’s important to wash your hands for around 20 seconds to get them truly, properly clean. We’ve heard that if you sing Happy Birthday to yourself twice in a row, you’ll hit that 20 second mark every time.

With that, we wave goodbye and wish you clean, healthy and happy hands.

For more tips, soap and handcare suggestions and more, reach out to our dedicated Customer Care team.