Last Updated on March 25, 2025 by Giorgia Guazzarotti
I never thought I’d be writing a post about how to wash your hands, because, isn’t it pretty obvious? We all can already do it, right?
Well, apparently, yours truly couldn’t. Not all the time, anyway. You know when you’re in a rush, and you just rub your hands with soaps for a few seconds? Well, it seems that ain’t enough to remove all bacteria from your hands.
And, if you don’t remove them all, you may catch a bug or something. Eww!
So, what’s the proper way to wash your hands? Here it goes:
1. Wet Your Hands With Lukewarm Water
I know, hot water is nicer, but it will dry out your skin. Cold water can work too, but it’s way less comfortable in winter. Let’s be honest, if it’s freezing, you’re more likely to rush through it, which kinda defeats the point. Lukewarm is the sweet spot.
2. Apply Soap
Just use your favorite. Any will do as long as it doesn’t dry out your skin. Oh, avoid anti-microbial soap. They make bacteria more resistant to the anti-microbial agent in the long run, which is crappy news should you fall ill. The medicines may not work anymore, turning an once-easy-to-cure disease into a deadly one.
Also, fancy or basic, it doesn’t matter. The key thing is to use enough. A tiny drop isn’t gonna cut it. You want enough to get a good, thick lather going so the soap can actually trap and lift all the stuff you don’t want living on your skin.
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3. Lather Well
Don’t just swipe and rinse.A lot of people skip this step or do it too quickly, which kind of defeats the whole point. Take a second to make sure every inch of your hands is covered before moving on.
4. Rub Your Hands Together
Vigorously. Scrub all parts (both sides, between fingers, the nails…) for about 15/20 seconds. If you wear rings, take them off, or scrub underneath them, too. Don’t forget thumbs and wrists. And if you’ve got longer nails, make sure you’re getting under there. So much stuff hides in there it’s honestly kind of gross when you think about it.
5. Rinse Off With Warm Water
Make sure you rinse off every last bit of soap. Residue can cause irritation!. Plus, it’s kinda pointless to leave soap behind when you’ve gone through all that effort scrubbing.
6. Pat Hands Dry With a Towel
Clean towel, always. It might seem harmless to grab that towel everyone’s been using for days, but those things can hang on to bacteria like nobody’s business. If you’re in a public place, paper towels or even air drying is better than nothing. And don’t rub. It could irritate skin.
7. Moisturise
If you wash your hands a lot during the day, always apply moisturizer afterwards. Frequent washing can dry out skin. A good lotion will avoid that and keep your hands soft and smooth. Look for a moisturizer with ingredients like glycerin or shea butter if your hands are cracking or super dry. Also, pro tip: keeping a small hand cream in your bag or next to your sink makes it more likely you’ll actually use it.
The Bottom Line
Hand washing might seem basic, but turns out even the simplest stuff has a “right way” — who knew? Honestly, I thought I was nailing it until I paid attention. Now I’m scrubbing like a surgeon and my hands are squeaky clean and still soft. Anyway, that’s my random hand hygiene PSA for the day. Hopefully it saves you from picking up some gross bug.
washing hands seems really easy….but i am one of the lazy guilty ones of not doing it properly. my hand-wash is usually a quick one.. oops!
Xin, I agree, it seems easy and yet not everyone does it properly. I usually do but every now and then I also am guilty of washing them too quickly.. guess we all do it at times…
This reminds me of the time when I had to wash my hands in front of a nurse before oral surgery in hospital – she was not impressed with my hand-washing skills. Oopsie. Nowadays, I use a lot of hand rubs in the surgery
Ling, oops! And that’s good, it’s so important to have really clean hands, especially in those situations. 🙂
Oh how I wish everyone did that! I always remember to clean my nails because I do grow them out a bit.
Janessa, me too! Under the nails is an often neglected spot, unfortunately. It’s good that you always remember to clean there too. 🙂
It really makes me cringe when people go to the bathroom, run their hands under water for 2 seconds, and call that ‘washing their hands.’ Good tip about the soap!
Makeup Morsels, me too. And unfortunately I see that happening quite often. ewww