How to Properly wash your hands with sanitizer or soap

Hand washing is something you learn from a young age, but how do you know you are doing it correctly? Keeping your hands clean is one of the best things you can do to keep others and yourself healthy. In this tutorial, Memorial Health will teach you the best way to wash your hands and prevent the spread of germs. There are two ways to clean germs from your hands: soap and water and alcohol-based handrubs. Watch this video to find out how to use both effectively. The video will show you how a doctor or health care professional performs hand washing, but you can certainly use this method in your own home.

So, how do I properly perform hand hygiene?

For alcohol-based handrub:

• Apply product to palm of one hand

• Rub hands together covering all surfaces

• Keep rubbing until dry

For soap & water:

• Use warm running water

• Wet your hands before applying soap

• Rub hands together for at least 15 seconds

• Wash the back of the hands, between fingers and under fingernails

• Rinse with warm water

• Pat hands dry

• Turn off faucet using a paper towel