Mouthwash as a hand - disinfectant

gavney

Hi,

Maybe I should be posting this in Health Sciences or Dental section, but I'd prefer a chemist's undertanding if possible.

I keep a bottle of mouthwash at my desk just in case I need a quick rinse after eating fish or something.

But a couple of times, I've quickly rinsed my hands with it, thinking it might actually do a half-decent job as it contains alcohol - is that just crazy? Am I just wasting mouthwash - is mouthwash completely useless at killing bacteria on your skin?

craggles

Yeah that would work but it wouldn't be as effective as a proper alcohol hand sanitiser since it's a lower concentration. Wouldn't it make your hands sticky too?

gavney

cheers craggles.

actually, no, it doesn't make my hands sticky - but they do smell minty fresh!

Michael Collins

But remember the act of drying your hands with a towel is very important since alcohol or other anti-bacterial substances may not completely 'kill'* viruses, but the towel can mechanically remove them.

*Assuming you call viruses 'alive'!

gavney

^ that's interesting.

Does that mean that by wiping my hands really vigorously with a dry towel, with no liquid of any sort - that I'm killing a good few bacteria/ viruses?

Michael Collins

Hmm it might help slightly, but a wet towel would be far better as some of the bateria / viruses would cling to it better. A soapy, wet towel would be better still as soap makes soapy water, which is even clingier so the pathogens are more likey to be dislogded and suspended in the mixture, then the final rinse of your hands and drying using a towel should remove everything that was in the mixture.

Note that this means that those automatic hand dryers are not the most hygenic method as some people may think, simply becuase they don't actually remove the mixture completely at the end.