Antibacterial soap vs hand sanitizer

Practice social distancing; avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth; and more importantly, regularly and thoroughly clean your hands. These are the recommendations of the World Health Organization in order to protect people from the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, as well as prevent the spread of the disease.

This begs the question: should I clean with antibacterial soap or hand sanitizer. Well, you don’t really have to choose. The recommendation is to frequently and thoroughly clean your hands. The best way to clean your hands is through soap and water—granting you are doing it the right way! This is because there is scrubbing involved when you wash with soap and water. It comes to no surprise that anti-bacterial soaps are flying off the shelves as the world faces a health crisis.

But you don’t always have access to soap and water. A washing area is not always available wherever you are. This is why it is also good for you to carry without you a hand sanitizer at all times. Make sure that the alcohol content of your sanitizer is at least 60% ethanol or 70% isopropanol in order to inactive viruses.

So, you see—there is actually no need to choose between the two. You need both to ensure that your hands are always clean.