Hand sanitizer kills germs on non-porous surfaces which hands are not, obviously. On hands, it kills some germs but many of the viruses that cause colds and gi illnesses are not affected *at all* by hand sanitizer. It is drying which can cause tiny cracks in the skin, an open doorway for pathogens. Hand sanitizer was initially promoted for health care workers who wash their hands multiples times an hour anyway. If you google "hand sanitizer effectivness" and ignore the commercial sites that are selling it, you'll find lots of mainstream articles stating that it doesn't prevent infection. Anti-bac soaps don't either. Another thing to remember is w/ h/s you have dead pathogens on your skin--they don't get rinsed away. Some pathogens are just as toxic when dead--when they die they spill their cellular contents and can make you sick.
So, obviously I don't think it's worthwhile at all.
. I do like wipes to use on shopping carts during flu season--the cart is a non-porous surface and the wiping action will remove much of the crud that's on there.
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