Can hand sanitizer be washed off with water? Where does the dirt on hand sanitizer go?

The COVID-19 pandemic has made many people develop the habit of carrying hand sanitizer with them, which is convenient to use. We know that hand sanitizer, as the name suggests, does not require water to wash. So, can hand sanitizer be washed off with water?

Can hand sanitizer be washed off with water?

Can. Although hand sanitizer brings some convenience, it also brings some hidden dangers. After using hand sanitizer, some disinfectant will remain on your hands, and the stains on your hands cannot be removed. Sometimes it may enter the human body through the hands, causing a certain impact on the human intestinal flora, thereby affecting human health. Therefore, hand sanitizer is usually used when there are no stains on your hands, or if conditions permit, try to rinse with running water after using the hand sanitizer.

Where does the hand sanitizer dirt go?

The dirt from the hand sanitizer still remains on your hands. The main function of hand sanitizer is disinfection, and its decontamination ability is relatively weak. Its main ingredients are water, alcohol and some organic solvents. After using the hand sanitizer, the organic solvents in it will evaporate by themselves, and the stains on the hands cannot evaporate together, so the dirt from the hand sanitizer will continue to remain on the hands. Therefore, if there is a lot of dirt on your hands, it is recommended to wash with running water and soap or ordinary hand sanitizer.

Hand sanitizer cannot replace hand washing

It is only best to use hand sanitizer when there is really no need for cleaning. But the preferred method of washing hands in daily life is still using running water and soap. The prerequisite for using hand sanitizer is that there are no obvious stains visible to the naked eye on your hands. Hand sanitizer focuses on sterilization and disinfection, and washes hands without water, but its cleaning power is average. Using running water, soap and traditional hand sanitizer is still the most basic and effective way to clean your hands. Hand sanitizer should not be used as a daily method of hand disinfection.

Is hand sanitizer safe?

It is relatively safe. Generally speaking, the hand sanitizers that are available on the market have undergone rigorous inspection and testing. As long as they are used under normal operations, they generally will not cause harm to human health. Alcohol is a disinfectant ingredient commonly used in the medical field. It is highly volatile and has little irritation to the skin. The benzalkonium chloride content in hand sanitizers containing benzalkonium chloride is very small and the concentration is extremely low, so it generally does not cause irritation to the skin. In addition, hand sanitizers usually contain skin care ingredients such as glycerin and lipids, which can protect the skin to a certain extent after cleaning. Therefore, the use of hand sanitizers generally does not cause damage to the skin. But be careful to avoid buying counterfeit and shoddy products without any quality assurance. Such hand sanitizers are not good for human health and are generally not recommended for purchase.