Have you ever wondered whether or not hand sanitizer is effective? There are usually all kinds of claims on the front of the bottle, but you might notice that they never say that it is 100% effective. This is because there is a chance that the hand sanitizer fails to kill some of the bacteria or viruses on your hands. One of the shortcomings with hand sanitizer compared with handwashing is that they will leave the contamination on your hand after it dries up. This is why handwashing is much more efficient. Soap will prevent viruses from attaching to your hands and make it so they can be washed off with hot water. Soap also kills viruses, so it works as a two-pronged attack.

When you are in a bind and you really want to clean off your hands, of course, hand sanitizer might be the best alternative available to you, but if at all possible, go for the sink.