by charby

Created on: July 05, 2009   Last Updated: July 08, 2009

There seems to be a lot of panic and a furore about Swine Flu nowadays (even though more people die of normal flu), and so unsurprisingly the government and health officials have been advising that we all try to stop spreading germs whenever we can. While I believe that the media has blown swine flu out of all proportion, I do agree, however, that people should be more hygienic and careful to avoid spreading illnesses. Since I have hay fever and spend most of the summer months sneezing onto my hands, I do feel a bit guilty and worried that I am passing quite a lot of germs onto things that I touch, which in turn get passed onto other people. I do try to wash my hands with soap or antibacterial hand wash whenever I am able and think that I need to, but there have often been times when I am out shopping or whatever, and there is no sink available nearby. After spotting this Carex Hand Gel with Aloe Vera in Boots one day, I decided that it would be the perfect thing for cleaning my hands when going to a bathroom was awkward or impossible.

Carex Hand Gel is designed to kill '99.9% of bacteria without having to use water. The gel comes in a small 50ml plastic bottle with a pump, and claims to contain enough for 100 applications. You use the gel by pumping some onto your hands, and then rubbing the gel over your palms and the backs of your hands quickly. The gel then dries instantly, leaving you with clean, bacteria-free hands. I've found that this gel is easy to use, and since it does dry instantly it is very convenient to use while out and about. While I can say that this gel is very good at drying quickly and is convenient to use, unfortunately I cannot really comment on how well it kills bacteria, as not having done any scientific tests I can't tell if the bacteria content of my hands does significantly reduce after using this gel or not. Since this is also the case with normal hand wash, however, I'm just going to have to trust that it does make your hands clean.

Although I didn't get a microscope out or consult a biologist (I do apologise), I did carry out one mini experiment to test how well this gel works at cleaning you hands. I was putting Sudocrem on a bit of my arm that I had sunburnt (I know, stupid careless me), and so ended up with some cream left on my hands. Not being one to waste an opportunity, I tried using my hand gel to clean the cream off instead of going straight to the bathroom. On using one application of the gel, I actually found that most

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