No Runny While Soapy
July 9, 2008 by Peggy
Ever wondered why you leave the water running away while you scrub your hands? It’s probably just habit.
The American Red Cross recommends washing hands with soap for at least 15 seconds. If you wash your hands seven times a day, that’s 105 seconds of clean, wasted water added to your water bill. If you have a family of four, that’s 420 seconds of running water down the drain each day.
Some tips on turning off while scrubbing:
• Wet hands, apply soap, then use your elbow to turn off lever-style or long-handled faucets. Those are my favorite faucets for that very reason. You can easily turn them back on with your elbow again.
•If you have the type of faucet you have to turn, wet hands, then turn water off before you begin scrubbing. Yes, you may get a bit of soap on the faucet handle when you turn it back on to rinse, but you can always wipe that away with a towel.
Turning water off while you scrub may actually have another benefit besides saving water. Running water may make you rush through hand washing, and that’s not always a good thing. Scrubbing the top of your hands and between fingers is also recommended.
Do you turn off the water while scrubbing?
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So timely! I just started thinking about this (and turning the h2o off while soaping) last week. Got any other lightbulbs for me? I am all ears!
MamaBird, thanks! I’m going to talk about dish cleaning tomorrow.
I am still trying to get hubby to turn the water off when he brushes his teeth, lol.
Our boys (2 and 4) were making a habit of running the water full-blast when washing, so we’re teaching them to stop the sink and put a little water in. It saves even more water if they tandem wash. Two-year-olds tend to do everything full-throttle, though. If we don’t get to the sink ahead of him, he turns the faucet on full blast and quickly fills the sink to the brim. He is very good about soaping the tops of his hands and between his fingers, though. Kids can be so goofy.
I don’t know why I have a hard time remembering this at home when this is what time when this is what we tell the kids at school.
Katherine, With the full blast, there’s also a big splashy mess too : ) At least they like washing though…
Kisha, I have trouble remembering this too. I think it’s just breaking habit. Maybe a special sticker/ribbon on your soap dispenser would help?