Just when I was ready to celebrate the end of cold and flu season, there they were–two posts on Facebook from friends saying their boys were down and out with sneezes, sniffles and a cough. WHAT?!? In May? Isn’t this the time we kick all those horrible winter germs to the curb?
Those posts were a wake-up call to me and a reminder to keep up the handwashing lectures for my kids as they head out the door for the last few weeks of school – full of parties, assemblies and outdoor fun. I’m also telling them to wash their hands when they come in from playing outside, when we return from soccer and baseball games, and before we sit down at the dinner table.
Now, they have a new product they are reaching for at the sink. The PURELL® brand, the name you automatically associate with cleaning hands and fighting germs, has introduced new HEALTHY SOAP® products!
The inventor of PURELL® Hand Sanitizer has hit another home run with families. Their new HEALTHY SOAP® products not only remove dirt and germs, but they also have natural moisturizers to keep your hands healthy AND clean. The products are Triclosan and paraben free, and come in your choice of three scents: Clean and Fresh, Fresh Botanicals, and Soothing Cucumber (my personal favorite!).
As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports, up to 80 percent of all infections are transmitted by our hands, so keeping them healthy and clean is always important. Suggested steps for good hand hygiene are to either wash your hands with soap and water or to sanitize your hands, when soap and water are not available, with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol at key moments such as:
• Before and after preparing food;
• Before eating;
• Before and after caring for someone that is sick or around someone who is ill;
• After using the bathroom;
• After sneezing or coughing; and
• After touching anything that is in a high-traffic area that may have been touched by many different hands, such as the grocery cart handle, a phone, or a handrail.
Next time you’re visiting the store, look for PURELL® brand HEALTHY SOAP® products and grab a bottle for every sink in your house.
Warmer weather and summer fun await, so let’s keep our kids healthy!
