Hand Washing Safety Tips

How to wash your hands

First wet your hands with water. Then cover your hands with soap and rub your hands together vigorously for 20–30 seconds. Be sure to cover all of surfaces your hands and fingers and clean around and under your nails. Then rinse your hands with water and dry them completely. If possible, it’s always best to use a dry paper towel to turn off the faucet.

You should remember to wash your hands when they’re visibly dirty, before you eat or handle food, after you go to the bathroom, after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing, and after handling trash. You should also wash your hands after you change a diaper and before and after you help someone who’s sick.

Hand washing instructions:

  1. Wet your hands with water
  2. Cover your hands with soap
  3. Rub your hands together vigorously for 20–30 seconds
  4. Cover all of surfaces your hands and fingers and clean around and under your nails
  5. Rinse your hands with water and dry them completely
  6. Use a dry paper towel to turn off the faucet

How to use hand sanitizer

Hand sanitizer works best if your hands aren’t obviously dirty. You can use it in class, when you’re on the bus, after petting an animal, after using the computer lab, and just generally when you want to clean your hands but there’s no soap and water available.

To clean your hands, just put one pump — about a dime to a quarter sized amount — of hand sanitizer in the palm of your hands and rub your hands together. You want to cover all of your hands and fingers, including around and under your nails. Keep on rubbing your hands until the alcohol dries. If you used the right amount, it should take about 10–15 seconds for your hands to dry.

Hand sanitizer instructions:

  1. Apply quarter-sized amount to the palm and rub hands together
  2. Cover all surfaces of hands and fingers, including around/under fingernails
  3. Continue rubbing hands vigorously until alcohol dries
  4. If you applied the right amount, it should take at least 10–15 seconds before hands are dry

Source: University of Michigan School of Public Health.

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