If you are like us, you are tired of a lot of things right now, including diligent handwashing. Perhaps back in March, you embraced handwashing with unprecedented enthusiasm. When summer arrived, and the germs lived on, we kept washing our hands, but minus the same mindfulness and gusto.
Unfortunately, with several cooler months ahead of us, the holidays, and general spread of all sorts of germs (not just Covid-19), this is the right time to double down on our hand washing habits.
What does real estate have to do with handwashing?
We’re glad you asked.
We introduce A LOT of germs into our homes and consequently, homes can end up being a breeding ground for illnesses. We spend a lot of time in our homes and with dirty hands, we very easily share germs to the people we share the space with.
Even if you live alone, when you come and go on a regular basis, you are constantly reintroducing germs from the outside in. So, you might deposit germs on a surface and then pick them up again, or a visitor might inadvertently pick them up.
If you are thinking about listing your home, buyers want to know that the surfaces are clean and the best way to keep surfaces clean, is to keep your hands clean. As a seller, YOU want to know that the buyers who tour your home have clean hands before they touch your stuff. To keep our community AND our real estate market literally and figuratively healthy, “clean hands” is a good place to start.
The hands are a gateway for germs to inadvertently enter our bodies when we touch our faces or rub an open wound. Think of how many alien surfaces your hands touch on a given day.
Would you lick that same surface?
Take a look at these germ-spreading stats from the UK (https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/7-steps-of-hand-washing-poster/) from several years ago, long before Covid-19 was part of our vocabulary:
- Globally, only one in five people wash their hands after using the bathroom.
- The average office worker’s hands come into contact with 10 million bacteria per day.
- An estimated 61% of healthcare professionals do not clean their hands correctly.
- Around 50% of hospital-acquired infections can be easily avoided through better hand hygiene.
- Contaminated hands can transfer viruses to more than 5 surfaces or 14 other objects.
- Damp hands spread 1,000 times more bacteria than dry hands.
- Bacteria can stay alive on hands for up to 3 hours.
So, here are the Whens and Hows of proper hand washing:
WHEN you should wash hands:
After using the toilet
After coughing, sneezing, or blowing your nose.
Before and after eating meals or snacks
Before, during, and after preparing food
Before putting in or taking out contact lenses
After coming inside from running errands or being outside
After playing with or feeding animals
After doing chores, such as taking out the trash
Before and after caring for someone else who is ill
HOW to wash: (Did you know that there are more than 7 steps to a thorough hand washing session? )
Step 1: Find some warm water: the correct water temperature will not only make handwashing more pleasurable, but will make it easier to wash for the necessary amount of time AND warm water does a better job of dissolving the bad guys. While you wait for the water to get wam, decide what song you are going to sing while washing your hands.
Step 2: Wet hands and apply soap
Step 3: Create a good lather. As you wash, pay attention to nails, and rings,
Step 4: Rub Palms together in circular motion, both clockwise and counterclockwise
Step 5: Stack hands, and use the palm of one to rub the back of the other. Then reverse.
Step 6: Interlink your fingers and rub palms and fingers together
Step 7: Cup your fingers and link together and rub against palms
Step 8: With each hand, alternately grab the thumb of the other hand and clean, then reverse and do the other one.
Step 9: Rinse thoroughly with that warm water
Step 10: DRY thoroughly with paper towels or a clean cloth. Be mindful of not using soiled towels to dry your hands…this only reintroduces germs to your freshing cleaned skin. Shut off the tap with the towel.
This soaping to rinsing phase should take no less than 20 seconds…you’ve heard the “Sing Happy Birthday” tip, right? That one gets old really fast, so here are some other easy song ideas to help pass the time:
Row, Row, Row your Boat
Let it Go from Frozen
The ABCs
If You’re Happy and You Know It
Baby Shark
Or, if you are so inclined, here are some more “grown-up” ideas…if you remember all the words…
https://www.today.com/health/songs-sing-while-washing-hands-coronavirus-hand-washing-songs-t175755
The whole process is less than a minute, which is an efficient way to prevent ourselves 2 weeks in quarantine, or missed days of work or school, or the discomfort of being sick, or the anxiety of wondering if we are going to get sick.
Washing our hands thoroughly and regularly is the easiest and best way to keep ourselves, our loved ones, and our esteemed colleagues, healthy this winter.
