• Use an alcohol-based hand-rub when your hands are not visibly soiled.
• Wash your hands with soap and water when your hands are visibly soiled.

Alcohol-based hand-rubs provide several advantages over hand washing with soap and water:

• require less time than hand washing
• act quickly to kill microorganisms on hands
• more effective than hand washing with soap and water
• more accessible than sinks
• reduce bacterial counts on hands
• do not promote antimicrobial resistance
• less irritating to skin than soap and water
• can even improve condition of skin

When decontaminating hands with an alcohol-based hand-rub use an amount of alcohol-based hand-rub sufficient to cover all surfaces of hands.

1. Apply hand-rub to palm of one hand.
2. Rub hands together covering all surfaces of hands and fingers.
3. Rub until hand-rub is absorbed.