A Few Seconds of Rubbing and I'm Done (Cuticura Original Hand Hygiene Gel)

Member Name: plipplop

Product:	Cuticura Original Hand Hygiene Gel
Date:	09/02/09 (278 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Portable, economical and no waste from tissues/wipes etc

Disadvantages: No substitute for hot water, not good for sensitive skin

I don't have OCD, but I could, you know. I find that as I get older, I'm just that little bit more stringent about keeping things clean than I probably ought to be. Public environments are my worst nightmare come true. I often come out of public toilets grimacing in recognition of those dirty individuals who come straight out of a cubicle and don't wash their hands. News reports tell me that computer keyboards are hoarding more than a million different types of bacteria. Door handles and filing cabinets are breeding grounds for deadly germs. It goes on and on and on and, like any self-respecting metrosexual, I'm rather fastidious about anything that goes in my mouth (ahem). This is where Cuticura Hand Hygiene Gel comes in.

These little 100ml bottles of goodness are a gift from heaven. My view is that anyone who ventures outside their home for a period longer than, say, four minutes would do well to carry a bottle of this in their handbag or manbag. I simply wouldn't be without it.

My "routine" (if that's the right word) comes before I eat anything. If you work in an office or other shared environment and think about what you're touching all the time, it's not hard to see how germs are so easily spread. It's almost impossible not to touch door handles, desks or keyboards, solid objects that might (or might not) get cleaned regularly but still get handled between cleans by hundreds if not thousands of hands. Those hands have been in pockets, handling filthy coins, picking noses and probably holding bits of the body we probably shouldn't mention. You wouldn't eat a sandwich if it had had direct contact with one of these things, so why would you accept indirect contact? I know I don't. My routine therefore dictates that I always apply this gel to my hands before I touch food.

I keep a bottle on my desk at work and at home and another one in my bag for when I'm out and about. At around £1.25 a bottle, it's hardly an extravagance and used sparingly (which is easily done) one bottle can easily last me a month or more. The liquid gel is easily dispensed, although caution is advised to the heavy-handed. The gel is fairly runny and shoots out of the bottle with only a slight amount of pressure. It's worth noting that if you get this stuff on trousers or other dark fabrics, it stains, leaving a salty-looking tide mark that needs to be washed out and (in the wrong place) can look a bit suspect. Trust me; I'm the voice of experience.

Recommended usage is a dollop about the size of a pea. I have big hands and this is entirely adequate. Simply deposit the blob in the palm of your hand and then get rubbing. Cover both hands in the gel, ensuring that you work the gel between your fingers, over your knuckles and around your fingertips and cuticles. It's far better to apply in two, small dollops than one big one. Excess gel can drip off or can prove far harder to rub into the skin properly. The beauty of this gel is that you can use it on your hands at any time, without either water or cloth, as the gel is absorbed entirely into the skin. It doesn't hang around either. A few seconds of rubbing and you'll find that the gel is absorbed, leaving your hands feeling clean, refreshed and smooth. More importantly, there is no feeling of tackiness as the gel is completely absorbed.

There are, that I'm aware of, two fragrances currently available on the market. The original one (listed here) has a fresh, cucumber-based smell. The other variety has a sharper, citrus smell. The citrus smell probably smells "cleaner", if that makes sense, but I like the freshness of the original variety and I find the smell of cucumber very refreshing. I don't believe for one second there is any real cucumber in this stuff, and the artificial odour occasionally reminds me of mayonnaise, but my friends and colleagues vigorously dispute this.

The bottle boasts that this hygiene gel kills 99.99% of bacteria almost straight away and this is good news where kids are concerned. If I'm looking after my nieces and nephews, I find it really difficult to get them to wash their hands properly before food or after the bathroom, as the whole water, soap, towel routine seems to be too time-consuming for them. This is a good alternative, particularly because children so frequently put their fingers in their mouth and this stuff might, at least, provide some protection from nasty germs. Of course, this shouldn't lure a false sense of security. This is no substitute for hot water and soap where physical dirt is concerned, nor can it protect against viruses (entirely different to bacteria). It is, however, a better cleanser than I would have expected. If I get sticky fingers from fruit or ice lollies, a dollop of gel cleans the stickiness off my hands perfectly.

Hygiene gel has no moisturising properties and as such, offers no protection or support for the condition of your skin. Some of my colleagues use this stuff before eating at their desks but complain that after regular usage they need to moisturise their hands with a hand cream also. This is not something that I've experienced, but I don't suffer from particularly dry skin so am unlikely to be affected by this.

The convenience of this gel is enormous. The bottles are tiny and will fit in pretty much any sized bag or even a large coat pocket (bit bulky for me, that). There is no waste or litter as you would get from hand wipes and I find that the gel is much more economical to use than anti-bacterial wipes. That means that you can use this stuff at work, on public transport (definitely), eating out or whilst you're driving. This is one of few hand products that I've used in the car that doesn't come off on the steering wheel or leave any traces.

The product is not, however, perfect. There is no confirmation available that this product has not been tested on animals and one must assume, therefore, that it has. Cuticura anti-bacterial soaps have been around in one guise or another since for over 100 years, but there is no evidence that the active anti-bacterial agent used is any more effective than normal soap. Don't be fooled, therefore, into thinking that this is a "super soap". What you're really paying for here is the convenience of having instant cleanliness and freshness when you can't get to water and towels or when you can't get to your food without touching lots of surfaces. It contains alcohol too, so it's almost certainly not suitable for sensitive skin, and if you have any cuts or abrasions, it stings like hell.

For convenience and effectiveness, I strongly recommend this as a handy, hygienic gel, but I think it's vital that people don't see this as some super bug killer, when hot water and soap remains equally effective, where possible.

Summary: A handy little pot of stuff to keep the nasties off your sarnies