Are You A Clean Freak? How Much Hand Cleaning Is Too Much

Are you a clean freak who is constantly washing their hands? Do dirty hands really cause so many problems that many of us grew up with an inclination to be obsessively compulsively clean? The simple answer is no. Generally speaking , the only times you need to wash your hands are:

  • after going to the toilet,
  • changing a nappy,
  • blowing your nose,
  • handling pets,
  • before handling or eating food.

It is also advisable to have more frequent hand washing if you are living with a sick person. Otherwise the basic good hygiene that your mother and grandmother taught you, washing your hands thoroughly with warm water and soap, is normally enough.

In the kitchen alcohol cleaners are useful but in reality does not replace good food-handling practices such as:

  • proper preparation,
  • refrigeration,
  • no cross-contamination,
  • thorough cooking.

Using alcohol cleaners or wipes in the kitchen does not mean that if your hands are clean you can eat what you like without a risk of food poisoning. In fact the only guaranteed method for killing bugs in food is cooking the food correctly.

These days cleaning products are purely marketing exercises with many well known brands being watered down chemicals that smell clean but achieve very little. Even the humble cake of soap comes in numerous colours, flavours, sizes and textures plus also as liquid soap which has become a mainstay of bathrooms everywhere with high tech dispensers. The now trendy alcohol gel comes in a handy travel pack or a pump everyone is free to use at home and even in their favourite restaurant in the belief that this is a clean environment that is germ free. All of these products are for the most part unnecessary and are turning people into clean freaks with no discernible benefits.

Simple household cleaners are no longer just soap cakes, powders, liquids, or paste as they have morphed into disinfecting gels, sprays, wipes and timed dispensers with many of them promising magical anti-bacterial powers. Once again many of these products have no discernible benefit and all of them can be replaced by multi purpose enzyme cleaning technology from Enzyme Wizard.

Enzyme technology is a natural part of our world and enzymes play an important role in everyday life. They are found in every living organism and life is not possible without enzymes. Enzymes are catalysts – not living organisms. That is why all household cleaners can be replaced with Enzyme Wizard products as the enzymes used are plant based sterols, and all natural, and effective at accomplishing the specific job targeted. Enzymes are environmentally friendly and in certain cases, actually help the task of cleaning the waste and toxic by-products of manufacturing and everyday life. In contrast, chemicals are not limited to the task intended and often cause harm to the environment.

What seems to be forgotten in in this hand cleaning frenzy is that bacteria are not always bad. There are good bacteria and bad bacteria, and a growing amount of scientific evidence points to the fact that keeping these in the right proportion is more important than killing imaginary nasties on every inch of our skin and surroundings.

Bacteria are linked to our immune system, so much so that overcleaning is thought to be responsible for a rise in allergic asthma and conditions such as rhinitis. Exposure to certain microbes, including some from faeces, may help regulate the immune system. That is not to say we should let children roll around like dogs in whatever smells bad. In reality we need to ignore the hype and concentrate on what we need to be better informed on of the risks of doing nothing and, even more critically the risks of doing something.

The overuse of antibacterial cleaning products, including disinfectants, is contributing to the rise of multi-antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These so-called superbugs are an emerging public health threat, with chemicals in the environment - often residual chemicals from household cleansers - combining with the misuse of antibiotics to create a new generation of bacteria that even our most powerful drugs cannot kill.  At home you do not need your floor to be cleaned with a disinfectant, only detergent and water such as Enzyme Wizards, No Rinse Floor Cleaner which leaves all floor surfaces cleaner and safer plus best of all it is mop and go technology.

There is no disputing in the kitchen and bathroom the toilet seat, door handles and taps should be cleaned regularly, but detergents and warm water are still all that is required with Enzyme Wizard products such as Bathroom & Kitchen spray which attack mould and mildew and eliminates all odours at their source. In the kitchen and bathroom washing your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water is far better thanusing antibacterial soaps.

Finally you should avoid using antibacterial cleaners in the home as these are combining with the widespread use of antibiotics to produce super-bugs, resistant to drugs that are creating a scientific and medical time-bomb.