I Reviewed Every News Organization’s Hand-Washing How-To

Almost every news organization in the country, from major television networks to small-town newspapers, has published its very own instructional guide explaining “How to Wash Your Hands” within the past week. In the age of coronavirus, they—we!—have done this for the noblest of purposes: public health and sweet, sweet clicks.

 Do You Really Have to Wash Your Hands for 20 Seconds? What if There’s No Soap?

A real doctor answers all our weird questions about hand-washing best practices.

 Hand washing trumps sanitizer when it comes to beating viruses

But the latter still works if you’re in a pinch.

 OK, This Watchmen Hand-Washing PSA Is Pretty Good

If Regina King can't get you to wash your hands, who can?

 The evolution of hand-washing, explained by a historian

A brief social history of hand-washing.

 The Unsung Pioneer of Handwashing

In 19th-century Vienna, Ignaz Semmelweis fought to convince his fellow doctors that washing their hands could save patients’ lives.

How to Wash Your Hands

It’s one of the most important things you can do to protect yourself, your family and your community. And if you’re like us, you’ve probably been doing it wrong.

The Doctor Who Championed Hand-Washing And Briefly Saved Lives

Even today, convincing health care providers to take hand-washing seriously is a challenge. Hundreds of thousands of hospital patients get infections each year, infections that can be deadly and hard to treat.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Handwashing

It’s one of the best ways to avoid infection from the new coronavirus, but most people aren’t very good at it. Here’s expert guidance on how to do it right.

The hygiene hypothesis: How being too clean might be making us sick

Over the past few decades, doctors have arrived at a counterintuitive hypothesis about our modern, ultra-sanitized world. Too much cleanliness may be causing us to develop allergies, asthma, inflammatory bowel diseases, and other autoimmune disorders. The idea is that for many children in the wealthy world, a lack of exposure to bacteria, viruses, and allergens prevents the normal development of the immune system, ultimately increasing the chance of disorders within this system down the road. This is called the hygiene hypothesis.

What Is the Right Way to Wash Your Hands?

Redefining “clean” in an era of the skin microbiome.

After All These Years, You’re Washing Your Hands The Wrong Way

Multiple times a day, every day, for most of your life you performed the act of washing your hands. And if you are like 95% of Americans, you’ve been doing it wrong. According to Michigan State University, only 5% of people actually wash their hands correctly. During cold and flu season this is nothing to make light of.

Are Your Hands Dry From All That Washing?

As you’ve most certainly heard by now, one of the most effective ways to protect yourself against the coronavirus is to wash your hands. Often. And thoroughly. And as you’ve probably noticed by now, washing your hands so frequently can have the unfortunate and adverse effect of drying out your skin. Ironically, if your skin dries out to the point of cracking, those cracks can give bacteria an entry point. When you’re washing your hands this much, it’s imperative to take the additional step of keeping them moisturized.

Handwashing: Clean Hands Save Lives

Handwashing is like a "do-it-yourself" vaccine—it involves five simple and effective steps (Wet, Lather, Scrub, Rinse, Dry) you can take to reduce the spread of diarrheal and respiratory illness so you can stay healthy.

If You’re Not Using the Six-Step Hand Washing Method, You’re Gross

You’re a walking germ.

Show Me the Science - When & How to Use Hand Sanitizer

Although alcohol-based hand sanitizers can inactivate many types of microbes very effectively when used correctly, people may not use a large enough volume of the sanitizers or may wipe it off before it has dried. Furthermore, soap and water are more effective than hand sanitizers at removing or inactivating certain kinds of germs, like Cryptosporidium, norovirus, and Clostridium difficile.

The Long History of the Hand-Washing Gender Gap

Women are slightly better at hand-washing than men. Here’s one theory for why.