Description

How long should you spend washing your hands with soap and water after using the bathroom? Find out more in this video.

Transcript

Jon: My name is Jon and I am from Dallas, Texas and I was wondering what is the proper length of time to wash your hands after using the bathroom? Steven Johnson: Jon, that's a common question about handwashing amd what is the proper duration of time and I think it depends on the situation you describe your question relates to how long to wash your hands after using the bathroom and I think referring to some of the CDC recommendations on hand hygiene I would recommend 15 to 20 seconds at least that with soap and water. I would mention that in a healthcare setting we tend to use antiseptic soaps and we tend to wash our hands for a longer period of time and an extreme example of that would be surgeons preparing for the operation where they may wash their hands with a very strong antiseptic soap for over 5 minutes.