A Tip or Two- Washing Your Hands in a Public Restroom

I know this seems like a silly post. Of course you all know how to wash your hands, but think about what you're really touching in there:

You use the restroom and touch the handle on the toilet or urinal, then, you touch the faucet. You wash your hands and touch the same faucet again. You touch the handle on the paper towel dispenser and then touch the door handle.

If everyone does that same procedure, we're all touching the same germs we just washed off, right? So let me fill you in on how the health department instructs us to wash our hands in the school kitchens.

First, if there is a paper towel dispenser with a handle, press the handle on it a couple of times, but don't tear the towel off. Leave it hang there until you have clean hands.

Second, wash your hands for 30 seconds. Sing the Alphabet song twice to yourself to time yourself. Do NOT turn off the water.

Third, tear off your paper towel and dry your hands. Using same paper towel, turn the faucet off. In a public restroom with doors, use the same paper towel to open the door, hold the door open with your foot and throw the towel away.

Now your hands are clean!

Before you start in about hand sanitizer rather than washing hands, think about the bottle it is in. That bottle can be just as icky as the faucets. Save it for times when you really can't get to a sink to wash your hands.