Washing your hands: You're doing it wrong

(Image credit: The New York Times)

published 20 April 2016

Step one: Apply hand sanitizer to palm. Step two: Rub your palms together. Step three: Rub the sanitizer across the rest of your hands until dry. Badda bing, badda boom, hands are clean. Right?

Wrong, according to a study published in the Journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. Apparently the traditional 35-second three-step method for washing your hands that we all know is not actually the best way to reduce the median bacteria count on your hands, despite being promoted by the CDC.

The real best method for eliminating bacteria, used by the World Health Organization, takes 42.5 seconds to complete comparatively. It is also so complicated that nearly one-third of health-care professionals who were shown the technique couldn't actually do it properly.

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Oh — and there are 11 steps. Here is the abbreviated six-step version, which was tested by the researchers:

Step One: Rub palms together.Step Two: Rub each palm front to back over the back of the other hand, interlacing fingers.Step Three: Twist palms with fingers interlaced, and rub between fingers.Step Four: Interlock your fingers, (thumbs should be on opposite sides), and twist again, this time, backs of fingers against palms.Step Five: Clasp your left thumb in your right hand and move thumb in circular motion — then switch thumbs.Step Six: (Still with us?) Press your right fingers together and rub them in a circular motion on your left palm, then switch. You're done! [The New York Times]

Did you catch all of that? If not, you're not alone. Watch below for a demonstration — and happy scrubbing. Jeva Lange

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.