Our hands are probably the most common medium of transporting microorganisms and can cause infection to us and the people around. It is critical to note that 58% of people around the world have a habit of washing their hands at least five times a day. The increased sense of hygiene is primarily related to the pandemic.
Increased demands for maintaining hygiene have spiked the demand for hand wash and protective hand gloves. As contamination is more likely to spread by our hands, it becomes impermeable to keep our hands germ-free. Healthcare workers can get thousands of germs on their hands while performing tasks like putting patients up in bed, taking blood pressure, touching a patient’s hand, and touching various equipment, including beds, side rails, and much more.
Our contaminated hands are at risk of spreading microorganisms that often survive on our hands for different lengths of time, say 2 to 60 minutes. In case of improper hand hygiene action, the longer we wait to take a protective measure, higher be the risk of hand contamination.
This article will help you buy the right quality hand protection gloves and liquid soap to keep your hands free from any contamination.
Why choose a liquid soap and not a bar soap?
Liquid soap with a simple dispense is easier to store as it is not messy and the best medium to keep your hands germ free since there is no need of touching a soap bar. Liquid soaps are naturally more hygienic since you are pumping the soap out of the bottle. A moist soap dish is more prone to bacterial growth and thus avoided by most HCWs (health care workers).
Moreover, good quality medicated liquid soap contains antibacterial properties along with natural ingredients. Apart from their antiseptic properties, a liquid soap also moisturizes your skin and maintains the pH level of your skin.
In general you can find four types of liquid soaps in the market:
- Antibacterial Soap: These liquid soaps are specially formulated with antibacterial ingredients, thus keeping your hands safe. Most of these soaps contain triclosan and other additives that take care of our hands.
- Anti-fungal Liquid Soaps: Made from fungus-fighting components, these liquid soaps contain miconazole and ketoconazole, along with various natural ingredients like olive oil, to help keep our hands clean and safe.
- Deodorant Liquid Soaps: These scented soap solutions keep our hands odor under control. Moreover, they help exfoliate the skin, maintaining its moisturizer levels. Some of the liquid soap variants can even prevent sweating.
- Herbal Soaps: Herbal soaps are made from natural herbs and are extremely beneficial for the hands. They don’t cause any side effects on our skin and are gentle to use.
While going for your non-strategic purchases, you can choose to buy liquid soaps from Berner. It is a company in Finland known for supplying quality washing liquids, hand scrubs, hand sanitizer, and other related products to help keep your hands germ free.
How to choose safety gloves?
Another safety equipment necessary to protect our hands is safety gloves. They keep our hands clean and safe from cuts, bacteria, germs, and infection and ensure proper hygiene. You will usually find the following types of gloves in the market:
- Nitrile Gloves: These gloves offer a longer average shelf life and are an ideal non-sterile option. Nitrile strength makes these gloves tough and resistant to chemicals, oils, and acids. They stay puncture free even when used for an extended period.
- Latex Gloves: Comfortable and inexpensive, latex gloves are suitable for most medical needs. These have a short shelf life, and can be allergic to some.
- PVC Gloves: Made from common synthetic plastic polymer, PVC gloves can be easily produced in masses, so they are the cheapest options available. They are less durable than other glove types and offer limited hazard protection to the users.
Other types of medical gloves
Below are a few other material choices, especially for medical industries.
- Chloroprene Gloves: Made from synthetic monomer, these gloves mimic latex and are resistant to several hazardous chemicals.
- Chemo Gloves: These gloves are primarily used for chemotherapy and protect the user from exposure to chemotherapy drugs.
- Aloe vera Gloves: These gloves help keep the wearer’s hands moisturized.
Conclusion
Hand hygiene is the basic step toward the prevention of the spread of microorganisms, and is considered the single most important practice. While going through your indirect purchases for maintaining hand hygiene, you can buy your supplies online. Some unique platforms allow you to purchase different products from different companies under a single invoice. It helps streamline your purchases and require less time.
