Hand Washing Put to the Test

What’s the Most Effective Way to Wash Our Hands?

Proper hand washing is central to stopping the spread of COVID19. But which works best – warm or cold water? Hand gel or soap?

Morgan and Tilly put it to the test in a special Chilled Education handwashing experiment. They used items found in the store cupboard. Why not try it yourself?

First add the ‘bacteria’

The girls put a small amount of cooking oil and edible glitter on their hands and rubbed it in. The edible glitter represent bacteria and we wanted to see which method of washing works best to get it all off.

Follow the instructions

Following the hand washing instructions on the free poster Morgan and Tilly washed their hands in cold water with soap, warm water with soap and using hand gel. Timing is important so they sang  ‘Happy Birthday’ to make sure they washed with soap and water for the right length of time.

What works best?

As you will see warm water and soap works best to clean your hands. Don’t worry if you can’t get any hot water though – cold water also works, as long as you use soap and wash for the correct length of time. Of course, warm water is more comfortable to use meaning you’re more likely to wash your hands properly if you use warmer water. But not too hot! Water has to be too hot to wash hands with for it to have any effect on viruses or bacteria – it’s all about how you wash and for how long.

Morgan and Tilly also checked out the cute Washy Washy and Crawford the Cat videos to get more tips. They’re aimed at younger hand washers but that tune will definitely get into your head!