Types of Hand Sanitizer and Effectiveness

Our hand comes in contact with a wide spectrum of microbes and bacteria. Since most of us may not be using spoons to eat, these microbes likely enter into our internal systems. Since contact with dirty hands turns our mouth and nose into carriers of infection, it is necessary to keep hands clean. Nowadays a sanitizer is the apt solution to keep a regular check on these microbes. Given that choosing the right sanitizers is also important. Most of us use sanitizers without attention to their content. Because it is available as over-the-counter (OTC), that is, without prescriptions. There are many types of sanitizers based on their compositions. So it is difficult to generalize them. Even though this is correct, we can broadly classify sanitizers into alcohol hand sanitizer, and non-alcohol types.

This blog will give you an idea of these types, enabling you to make an informed choice.

Alcohol Based Hand Sanitizer(ABHS) 

The major content of Alcohol Hand Sanitizer is alcohol in the form of ethanol, isopropanol, and n-propanol. These forms might be there in isolation or as combinations. Hydrogen peroxide can also be there in the composition. There are ABHS with alcohol concentrations ranging from 20 percent to 95 percent. However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has made it clear that ABHS with 60 to 95 percent alcohol content are the only effective ones. The remaining part of these solutions will be glycerine, fragrance, or colorants.

The working of ABHS: These solutions destroy the protein coating of microbes which is necessary for their survival. Even though these alcohol hand sanitizer gelare effective in this way, they are ineffective to a broad spectrum of microbes causing diseases. These include protozoa and some non-enveloped viruses.

Alcohol-Free Hand Sanitizer                       

They use chemicals with antiseptic properties. These chemicals like Iodine compounds, chlorine compounds, and peroxygens work in unique ways. Unlike alcohols which denature proteins into plasma membranes these solutions either oxidise cellular proteins or penetrate the cell membranes of pathogens giving fatal blows. If you have children at home or you require a relatively safe solution in low concentrations alcohol-free hand sanitizer will be the right choice. They are also non-flammable. ABHS solutions can also be classified into alcohol hand sanitizer gel, liquid, and foam. Even though the liquid type gives more cleaning the other two are often chosen by customers if a study published in the National Library of Medicine under the US Government is to be believed. Another option is to look for sanitizers that come as a combination of alcohol and other chemicals. This will help you to have resistance to a wide variety of microbes. The antiseptics available in the market could confuse you with their variety. In this case, you can use a list published by the United States Food and Drug Administration. If you can search for this list, that will aid you in navigating the best choice of sanitizers.

Now you’re enabled to make an informed choice. Also, make sure that the brands that you go for have a reputation for quality. Reputable brands like Swish are provided by the e-commerce company Hygiene For All. We will provide you with a variety of alcohol hand sanitizer to choose from. Our alcohol hand sanitizer gel is very reliable as far as quality and effectiveness are concerned. Before leaving this blog, here is one more thing to choose an effective hygiene solution. Remember that these hand sanitizers are highly volatile and won’t work with dirt. So make sure that you use enough quantity of sanitizer on a dirt-free hand for better effectiveness.