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There are many misconceptions about alcohol-based hand sanitizer gel;   it is formulated to kill germs on the skin and is thus found to be extremely useful and effective especially in medical applications, and food handling/processing.

Why?

Because ethanol (another term for the more commonly-used "alcohol") kills most known bacteria and viruses that can cause sickness, especially when there is a risk of passing on such germs, such as by hand. Other types of alcohol used in hand sanitizers may be isopropanol, or n-propanol - examples of items which are classed as "secondary alcohols". Additional ingredients in alcohol gels generally include a non-active thickening agent such as polyacrylic acid, glycerin, propylene glycol, and essential oils. 
 
It has been shown that using a hand sanitizing gel with more than 30% alcohol content is effective in killing bacteria and viruses - such as Swine flu and the Norovirus - and bacteria; but a question that we still get a lot here at Hand Sanitizer Direct is, are hand sanitizer gels better than soap and water?
 
Alcohol based hand sanitizers are more effective than soaps at killing germs, and do not dry out hands to the same extent. Clinical studies have shown that a properly formulated alcohol-based hand sanitizer with emollients is actually better tolerated by skin than soap-and-water hand washing by as much as 20 times. The effective alcohol content in an alcohol hand gel can vary from about 35% to more than 70%, and even as much as 85%, depending on the specific function of the gel (e.g.: being used in hospital or healthcare environments). However, the higher the alcohol content, the less "room" there is for non-active agents - such as glycerin - to moisturise the skin.
 
Even the experts within the field of Virology - the study of viruses and virus-like agents - say the same, as Professor - and leading Swine flu expert - John Oxford of Queen Mary's School of Medicine in London explains: "If I had a choice , I'd always go for the antibacterial hand gel."
 
"A gel is effective because they contain alcohol," explains Professor Ron Eccles of the Common Cold Centre at Cardiff University.  "It damages the shell of the virus, inactivates it and prevents the illness from developing.  Studies show gels are effective against regular flu, so they are almost certain to be sucessful against the swine flu virus too" he says. 
 
How do illnesses/viruses spread?

An illness or infection such as Swine flu or the Norovirus spreads virally, which means they get passed on via people coming in contact with one another; this type of transmission is derived from the word virus - the Latin word for "poison." The most common way in which these illnesses transmit virally is hand contact. If you sit back and think about it, your hands come in contact with a whole host of items - and indeed people - over an entire day, and there's no telling if anything you touch is infected...
 
Breaking the chain of the transmission
 
An obvious solution to stopping the viral spread of illnesses - and indeed stopping yourself from becoming ill - is to clean your hands regularly and thoroughly; we here at Hand Sanitizer Direct believe that implementing our top of the range sanitizing products around six times a day is the key to stopping illness in its tracks.