Purell Hand Sanitizer

I spent Autumn 2005 conducting disaster relief in New Orleans , Louisiana . We were living under Spartan conditions, with very little clean water to be found. What clean water was available was needed for drinking water. I learned to brush my teeth using small amounts of drinking water. There was running water to be found, but it was declared unsanitary and could not be used for any purpose, not even to wash your hands if you had soap available. You can imagine the conditions that we were living in. No clean clothes, no baths, nothing to wash the filth off your hands that was everywhere.

Next to fresh bottled water, Purell Instant Hand Sanitizer was a commodity. We were provided monster bottles of this product, which quickly disappeared. There were other hand sanitizers available, but it quickly became evident that the Purell sanitizer was a superior product. There was a green hand sanitizer that dried my hands out after a single day of use. I was concerned that cracking skin would invite infection, which was the purpose of constant hand sanitizing. It is probably not recommended to use this product in the volume that we were using it, almost incessantly rinsing our hands. However, the conditions dictated the need for the best sanitation available. This was pretty much it.

I managed to get my hands on some Purell Hand Sanitizer. The label indicated that this sanitizer was infused with moisturizers and Vitamin E. Because my skin was already drying out, I switched over and managed to secure a small stockpile of the Purell brand sanitizer. Water, PowerAde and Purell could be found in abundance in my inventory. They were used in abundance as well. After switching to the Purell Hand Sanitizer, I noticed that my hands were not getting any worse. The dryness stopped being an issue shortly thereafter. The volume of use did cause my hands to lose a little bit of sensitivity…it felt like I had a thin layer of film over my hands. I am not certain why that happens, but I still experience that issue when I use this product a lot (which is not uncommon for me).

Purell Hand Sanitizer claims to kill 99.99 percent of common germs. This is a pretty strong claim. 99.99 Percent is virtually any common germ on your skin. What exactly a common germ would be considered is unknown. I don’t know if uncommon germs would resist this cleanser, but I have a feeling that the wording on the label is nothing more than legalese. I would suggest that this product would kill most germs you come in contact with, common or not. It also claims to reduce the risk of infection, which only naturally follows. If the germ is dead it certainly isn’t going to be capable of festering. The fast acting sanitizer claims that it acts in as little as fifteen seconds, which is pretty quick. It also claims that it will not cause stickiness or residue, which I would disagree with. I have experienced residue when I have used this product excessively.

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