Thread: Do you use hand sanitizer?

just an interesting question i ask most people and am wondering what the general consensus is. i DO NOT use hand sanitizer because i (1) don't think it works, (2) believe that spreading petroleum based products with 60-90% alcohol on my skin can't be good for me and (3) believe that if you are healthy it is actually a good thing to expose your body and immune system to bacteria on a regular basis.

these are just my opinions so please post yours and reasons, etc.

They gave us bottles of it at work because of this H1N1 outbreak. I've used it a few times but the bottles sitting there gathering dust now.

I only use it occasionally when a customer looking like walking death comes in and complains about how sick they are and they hand over money, etc and touch the doorknob. Since most people have their kids in daycare and since I believe day care centers are the petri dishes for super bugs, I grab the sanitizer.

I hear that kids are drinking the stuff for a buzz now.

Chris L

IMHO the small germs we encournter day to day keeps us healthy by keeping our imune system running strong. Killing those decrease our ability to fight off the bigger ones.


As a fun side note, put a lighter/match to a line of sanitizer and you get low grade make shift napalm.

I work in hospitals every day, and I see a lot of sick people. I use them a lot, and I have recently noticed a big reduction in my illnesses too. Seriously, I used to have a whole lot of colds and viruses every year, and since becoming more OCD about hand using sanitizer and washing obsessively (almost) the are much less frequent.

Now if they had one for RAD, HAD, and SBAD.

Originally Posted by chee16

just an interesting question i ask most people and am wondering what the general consensus is. i DO NOT use hand sanitizer because i (1) don't think it works, (2) believe that spreading petroleum based products with 60-90% alcohol on my skin can't be good for me and (3) believe that if you are healthy it is actually a good thing to expose your body and immune system to bacteria on a regular basis.

these are just my opinions so please post yours and reasons, etc.

+1. I've read that too much anti bacterial use can create super bugs. OTOH, whenever I shake hands with anyone I always go wash my hands with regular soap and water. TBH I would rather never shake hands with anyone but whaddaya gonna do ?

Originally Posted by ChrisL

I hear that kids are drinking the stuff for a buzz now.

Chris L

Any idea which brand ?

^^That is true. It's all a matter of balance: regular soap will work for most occasions, antibacterial for when you suspect higher microbial "content" and alcohol solutions for when you know you handled possibly infected content (raw meat - chicken, bathrooms, etc...).

For cleaning, a solution of water and vinegar will work for most things and doesn't contain harmful chemicals.

My best friend's brother was a (nearly) OCD germaphobe for quite some time. He was very careful about washing his hands and such. He didn't get sick often, but when he did, he got very sick. And no one else around him, not even his family, got very sick when he did. Nothing like that had ever happened to him before (where he got very sick but his family did not). While it is not very strong evidence, nor is it scientific, I believe that it was because the lack of exposure to bacteria and the like weakened his immune system and left him more susceptible to bugs that a normal immune system would be able to fight off without incident.

Interestingly, it seems that all parties concerned experience the same amount of "sick," it's just a question of duration and severity. Personally, I think I'd rather be a bit under the weather for a while than incapacitated for a few days.

It's close enough to never that I'm happy to put never. I used it in Kenya because the water is supposed to be pretty crappy (although it occured to me about 5 days in I was brushing my teeth with it lol)

I have not used it since and felt no great desire to. We're supposed to use it in work when we go into the cantene but frankly, it dries out my skin like a SOB.

I would use it around hospitals etc as I think they're used to prevent cross contamination and are pretty effective doing it, for my day to day life, how ever, it's not an issue.