Alton Brown explains the science of why handwashing works better than hand sanitizer

Under normal circumstances, hand-washing would make a boring topic for a video, but in the age of pandemic hyper-hygiene simple soap and water scrubbing has taken on a whole new pertinence. Add in a taste of Alton Brown’s entertaining way of educating, and suddenly a video about something we’ve all (hopefully) done every single day…

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Photo credit: Alton Brown/YouTubeArray

Under normal circumstances, hand-washing would make a boring topic for a video, but in the age of pandemic hyper-hygiene simple soap and water scrubbing has taken on a whole new pertinence. Add in a taste of Alton Brown’s entertaining way of educating, and suddenly a video about something we’ve all (hopefully) done every single day of our lives becomes downright fun and informative family programming.


The “No Cleaver!” reference in the title apparently alludes to a previous version of this video, which involved a cleaver and some sort of grizzly ending. No idea. But this version is excellent, highly informative, and yet simple enough for anyone to understand. I’m not sure that I’ve ever learned these details about how basic soap and water work to destroy and remove viruses from your hands, despite spending four decades of my life soaping up and rinsing off, so even if you know you’re supposed to wash your hands, this video helps drive home exactly why and how it works.

He also shows a helpful 30-second hand-washing demonstration. Show the kids. Tell them it’ll turn them into a life-saving superhero. (Which might actually be true right now.)

Enjoy:

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