Jeanette,

I think those of us who have been around ETS long enough know that Pete knows what he's talking about when it comes to germs. However, I hope you realize that Pete's approval of that particular brand does not mean that you end up with squeaky clean, sterile hands. I hope I don't come across too strongly because I know you said you're kind of phobic about this and sometimes factual arguments rub people the wrong way when it comes to these habits, but I don't want you to come away from this thread with incorrect information either.

In real world use, all hand sanitizers are going to leave behind a lot of critters, including the same critters that you seem to be worried about cross-contaminating yourself with from the bottle. At best, the hand sanitizer will reduce the number of bacteria. Worst case, the alcohol is ineffective at killing the particular strain of "bad" bacteria on your hands, and repeated use of hand sanitizers can increase the bacteria count on your hands.

As Pete was mentioning, you're killing off the trillions of so-called "good" or benign bacteria that cover every square inch of our bodies with the hand sanitizer. Those bacteria physically crowd out "bad" bacteria or create an environment (like a certain skin pH) that is not conducive to the growth of "bad" bacteria. It's like when you take a course of antibiotics. It wipes out "good" bacteria along with the "bad" ones in your gut, leaving yeasts or stray antibiotic-resistant bacteria a wide open field to multiply in unchecked.

Hand santizer also strips the protective skin oils which also normally traps bacteria underneath it (the oils can also inhibit the growth of bacteria).

Ultimately, it's a healthy immune system that keeps us from getting sick from these critters. Now, if the thought of any bacteria on your hands is what bothers you, well, I don't know what to say about that. You can't avoid them. Like I said, it's normal that we're totally covered in them.