For Proper Hygiene: Wash Your Hands and Your Purse

Many diseases and conditions can be spread as a result of not washing hands. Hands should always be washed:

• before and after preparing food
• before and after eating food
• after using the washroom
• after changing diapers/cleaning a child that is potty training
• before and after tending to someone who is sick
• after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing
• before rubbing your eyes
• after handling an animal or its waste
• after handling garbage
• before and after treating a cut or wound

Hand washing is critical to interrupting the spread of infectious diseases, such as the cold, flu and other gastrointestinal illnesses.

To be effective, lather your hands with soap for a minimum of 20 seconds then rinse under running water. Twenty seconds is equivalent to singing the ABC song in its entirety once or the Happy Birthday song twice. I challenge you to try this. You may be surprised how long you should be taking to wash your hands for proper hygiene.

If using a public washroom, it is best to use a disposable towel to dry your hands. Use the same towel to close the tap and to open the door that exits the washroom.

Clean hands won’t be for long if handling a purse that has germs on it. A woman takes her purse everywhere and puts it down on many unclean surfaces. For example on the floor of public washroom stalls and/or on the counter by the sink as we wash our hands.  It makes sense that a woman’s purse would be covered in germs yet we almost never think to clean it. With a soapy disposable towel, give your purse a quick clean/wipe before leaving the washroom and on a regular basis. 

Moral of this story/blog: wash your hands and purse often. When soap and water isn’t available, use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol content. Use proper hygiene and stay well!