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  1. Home
  2. Individual and Family Health
  3. Hand Hygiene
  4. Choosing and Using Your Soap
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Choosing and Using Your Soap

  • Using Your Soap Home
  • Which Soap is Best?
  • Hand Hygiene How-To Poster
  • Clean Your Hands! Poster

Hand Hygiene

  • Hand Hygiene Home
  • Soap and Water
  • Hand Sanitizer
  • Why and When
  • Choosing and Using Soap
  • Teaching Hand Hygiene
  • For Schools and Child Care
  • For Food Handlers
  • For Health Care Professionals
  • Posters and Print Materials

Related Topics

  • Food Safety
  • Cover Your Cough
  • Infection Control

Choosing and Using Your Soap

  • Using Your Soap Home
  • Which Soap is Best?
  • Hand Hygiene How-To Poster
  • Clean Your Hands! Poster

Hand Hygiene

  • Hand Hygiene Home
  • Soap and Water
  • Hand Sanitizer
  • Why and When
  • Choosing and Using Soap
  • Teaching Hand Hygiene
  • For Schools and Child Care
  • For Food Handlers
  • For Health Care Professionals
  • Posters and Print Materials

Related Topics

  • Food Safety
  • Cover Your Cough
  • Infection Control
Contact Info
Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Prevention and Control Division
651-201-5414
IDEPC Comment Form

Contact Info

Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Prevention and Control Division
651-201-5414
IDEPC Comment Form

Clean Your Hands! Poster

This 11x17 poster shows the steps for washing hands with soap and water or cleaning with alcohol-based hand sanitizers.

  • Download a print version of this document:
    Clean Your Hands! Poster (PDF)

Image of Hand Hygiene How-To Poster.

How to wash your hands with soap and water:

  • Use soap and warm, running water.
  • Keep fingers pointing down.
  • Rub hands vigorously for 20 seconds. Wash all surfaces:
  • Backs of hands
  • Wrists
  • Between fingers
  • Tips of fingers
  • Thumbs
  • Under fingernails
  • Dry vigorously with paper or clean cloth towel.
  • Turn off faucet with towel and open door with towel.

How it works:

  • The soap suspends the dirt and soils.
  • The friction motion helps pull dirt and greasy or oily soils free from the skin.
  • Warm running water washes away suspended dirt and soils that trap germs.
  • Final friction of wiping hands removes more germs.

How to clean your hands with a alcohol-based handrub:

  • Apply a dime sized amount of handrub gel to the palm of one hand or use a alcohol- based handrub wipe.
  • Rub hands together covering all surfaces of hands and fingers until handrub is absorbed.

How they work:

  • Act quickly to kill microorganisms
  • Reduce bacterial counts on hands

Wash your hands with soap and water when your hands are visibly soiled. If soap and water is not available, use alcohol-based handrub (wipes or gel).

Food handlers in restaurants, schools, delis and grocery stores must wash their hands with soap and water before applying hand sanitizers.
[Minn Rules Chap. 4626.0070 - 4626.0085]

Tags
  • hand hygiene
Last Updated: 10/20/2022

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