‘Tis the season for germs, germs and more germs. Not to mention, the flu is currently surging throughout various areas of the country, making it seemingly impossible to avoid the bug. This winter, as events continue filling up your calendar, make sure you can RSVP "yes" to every single one of them with health and cleanliness at the top of your mind. Carrying some hand sanitizer can help.
Whenever possible, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend washing your hands with soap and water to reduce all types of germs and harmful bacteria, including flu A and flu B strains.
But when you’re away from a sink and just need to wash up quickly, hand sanitizers are a great second option you can pick up at the drugstore.
Hand sanitizers have certainly gotten more popular over the years, all thanks to their ease and convenience — but if you spot a bottle of hand sanitizer near a sink with soap, you might ask yourself a few questions. Should you take the hand sanitizer route, or should you wash your hands as your normally would? How effective are hand sanitizers, anyway?
To learn more about using hand sanitizers routinely, we tapped doctors who can break down everything you need to know. Plus, we’ll be sharing a few expert- and editor-approved picks along the way.
Best sanitizing wipes$14.40$14.40
Best hand sanitizers and alcohol wipes
Forever favorite:
The scented hand sanitizers from Bath & Body Works are fun choices if you need to sanitize your hands in a flash. I [Leitner] love the Bath & Body Works PocketBacs because they come in fun scents that match the seasons, making hand sanitizing just a little more fun.
Kamari Stewart-Jackson, an associate editor at Shop TODAY, recommends the brand's moisturizing version. She says, "I still love Bath & Body Works sanitizers after all these years. I try to reach for these moisturizing ones instead of the regular formulas, but I’m not sure there’s really a difference. Or if there is, I haven’t noticed it yet. I just love the scents and the fun holders you can get for them."
Expert and editor pick:
Did you know there’s a right and wrong way to use hand sanitizer? According to Dr. Annie DePasquale, MD, a board-certified family medicine physician, you should make sure to “apply enough sanitizer to cover the palms and rub hands together thoroughly, ensuring all surfaces are covered until the product dries.”
That means you might need to apply more hand sanitizer than you think. Sprays like the Touchland sanitizer series can help you cover the entire surface area of your hands with ease.
Many editors on the Shop TODAY team reach for Touchland hand sanitizers, including Stewart-Jackson. She says, “My sister gifted me one of these for Christmas and it was my first time owning one because I refused to pay $10 for a singular hand sanitizer.”
She continues, “It is, however, pretty solid! I like the scent and the square shape is aesthetically pleasing. I’m not sure I’d ever repurchase at full price because $10 is still crazy to me but I can’t say I wasn’t excited when I got it.”
Moisturizing formula:
The vitamin E included in the Germ-X hand sanitizer formula can help replenish the dryness that alcohol naturally causes on your hands, which can be especially helpful during colder months. Benge recommends this brand as a simple favorite that meets the CDC’s requirements.
Soothing with aloe:
These Honest Company wipes are recommended by DePasquale, and they contain 65% alcohol. They’re also free of synthetic fragrances and parabens and are packed with aloe to soothe dry, irritated hands.
Tried and true:
Benge says that Purell Advanced hand sanitizer checks all of the CDC’s requirement boxes — and it's fragrance-free, making it a great choice for a routine hand sanitizer to store in your car, in your purse or in your gym bag.
Extra-large size:
At 75% alcohol per wipe, these sanitizing wipes keep out all of the extra ingredients and focus on the main ingredient that Benge and DePasquale recommend: alcohol.
Plus, they come in an extra-large size (7.9 by 5.9 inches) so you can truly get every inch of your hands and wrists.
What alcohol percentage is best for hand sanitizer?
The CDC recommends using hand sanitizers that contain at least 60% alcohol (60% to 95%, to be exact).
Benge tells us that “this concentration is considered effective at killing most pathogens, including many bacteria, viruses and fungi, on the hands."
Is using hand sanitizer as effective as washing your hands?
Unfortunately, no — it's not.
NBC News medical contributor, Dr. Natalie Azar, once told TODAY, “Hand sanitizer shouldn’t be used as a substitute for hand-washing, which is still the recommended form of hand hygiene.”
According to the CDC, using soap and water is more beneficial when it comes to eliminating different types of germs (as well as chemicals) from your hands. Plus, using alcohol-based sanitizer as your main source of hand cleansing can cause your hands to get dry, irritated and cracked.
Benge knows this all too well. “I developed irritant contact dermatitis as a result of frequent hand sanitizer use,” she tells us. “It was very painful and I did not recognize the symptoms for months; it felt like shards of glass were being pushed into my skin every time I used the hand sanitizer. I switched to washing my hands with soap and water for a while, and now it’s not as bad,” she says.
In all, experts recommend using hand sanitizer as a backup option when soap and water washing is not available.
Frequently asked questions
Benge doesn’t recommend using a fragranced hand sanitizer if you have sensitive skin or easily irritated skin.
How we chose
While choosing the best hand sanitizers, we took a few things into consideration including the alcohol percentage and ingredients within the formulas. We also asked our experts and editors about their favorite hand sanitizers and added them to the list.
Meet the experts
- Dr. Annie DePasquale, MD, is a board-certified family medicine physician and founder of Collaborating Docs.
- Dr. Lizzie Benge, MD, is a sleep medicine physician and a faculty member at Harvard Medical School’s Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders.
