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Hygiene Tips for the Holiday Hordes

Here are eight common misconceptions, from Cintas Corporation, about restroom cleanliness and hygiene to help keep holiday shoppers healthy.

1. It doesn’t matter how long I wash my hands as long as I use soap – False
   Evidence suggests you should scrub your hands with soap for a minimum of 15-30 seconds to effectively remove germs. However, many other countries and global organizations have adopted recommendations to wash hands for 20 seconds.
2. Hand sanitizers can replace washing your hands with soap and water – False
   Washing hands with soap and water is the best and most effective way to reduce the number of microbes and germs on hands. Although alcohol-based hand sanitizers can quickly reduce the number of microbes on hands in some situations, they are not as effective as soap and water when it comes to removing and inactivating gastrointestinal illness-causing germs such as Cryptosporidium, norovirus and Clostridium difficile.
3. The hotter the water used for handwashing, the better – False
   Studies show that water temperature does not affect microbe removal. In fact, there is no research to prove that higher temperatures improve hand-washing at all.
4. You don’t have to dry your hands after washing them – False
   Studies show that germs can be transferred more easily to and from wet hands.
5. Hand dryers are more hygienic than paper towels – False
   Research shows that paper towels can help remove bacteria, unlike air dryers which can increase bacteria counts. Paper towels are also less likely to contaminate other restroom users as air dryers have also been shown to spread bacteria between three and six feet from the device, increasing the chances of cross contamination.
6. Hand dryers work faster – False
   Studies indicate it takes approximately 10 seconds to dry hands using a paper towel while air dryers require 40 seconds to achieve similar dryness.
7. I need to squat, hover or use a seat protector to stay safe from germs – False.
   Contrary to popular belief, toilet seats are one of the most often cleaned parts of a restroom.
8. The stall furthest from the restroom door is the least used and therefore the cleanest – False
   People tend to skip the first stall in favor of stalls farther back to have a little more privacy. Because the first stall is used least often, it’s most likely the cleanest.

Even if customers practice proper hand hygiene, it’s important for facilities to plan for additional cleaning and disinfection during winter months to keep restrooms clean.

For more information about Cintas’ solutions for facilities, please visit http://www.cintas.com/facilityservices/.

More From 12/18/2017 on FacilitiesNet