Portable Hand Washing Solutions: Everything You Need To Know

While everyone has always known the importance of handwashing - the past few years have made many of us rethink the ways in which we keep our hands clean. While at home it isn’t an issue - the big challenge in keeping your hands clean comes when you’re away from home, and especially when no running water is present. There are many options available for you to keep clean on the go - and some are more suited to certain situations than others. In this blog we will cover all the different portable hand washing solutions - and explore which ones are best for various situations.

 

The Importance of Hand Sanitation On-The-Go

By now we all generally know that washing your hands is important for your health, especially when you’re in public. But how important is hand washing, really? For starters, a number of infectious diseases can be spread from person to person by contaminated hands. These diseases include:

• Gastrointestinal Infections
• Influenza
• Colds
• Other illnesses transmitted via surfaces

Washing your hands properly with soap and water helps prevent the spread of the bacteria and viruses that cause these diseases. This makes hand washing when you’ve been in public or a group setting especially important - as you’re likely touching things that many other people have been touching, which increases the chances of catching these diseases exponentially. If you think about all the times you eat or or touch your face in public - those are all times that your hands should be washed. 

Portable Hand Washing Solutions

In the times when you’re away from running water and in a public place, you’ll need to figure out a way to wash your hands, especially if you’re going to be eating or touching your face. These types of situations, where you don’t have running water but need to wash your hands, come up frequently. It could be while you are:

• Camping
• At an event
• At a festival
• At a cookout
• At the beach
• Hiking

Plus many more. In all of these situations, in order to stay sanitary and clean, you’ll need to figure out a portable hand washing solution. 

Let’s look at the different types of hand washing solutions out there, both designed for individuals and groups, so that you can decide which is best for your situation.

 

Hand Sanitizer

Hand sanitizer has been widely adopted in the last few years as a result of the pandemic. It makes sense - it’s cheap, easy to carry around in a purse or bag and it’s supposedly very effective. It is the best solution for most people, but is it as good as actual hand washing?

According to the CDC washing your hands with soap and water is the best way to remove all types of harmful germs and chemicals. If there is no water and soap available, they do suggest using an alcohol based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. The CDC recommends using soap and water for hand sanitation over hand sanitizer in almost every situation, including before you eat. The only situation in which they suggest using hand sanitizer is before and after visiting a friend or loved one in a hospital.

Hand Sanitizer Average Cost: $5 - $20

PROS:

• Easy to transport
• Can be accessed at any time
• Great for personal use
• No water required
• Low cost

CONS:

• Not as effective as water and soap
• Hard to accommodate groups

Wet Wipes

There are wipes made specifically for hand sanitization, but much like hand sanitizer - they are not meant to fully replace hand washing. In almost all cases the CDC recommends washing with soap and water over hand sanitizing wipes. Much like hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes have to have at least 60% alcohol to be effective, and are only suggested over washing with water and soap before and after going to a hospital.

Baby wipes are not designed for hand sanitization and the CDC specifically does not recommend them for hand cleaning. The same goes for disinfecting wipes, as they are used for cleaning germs on surfaces and are not supposed to be used on your body.

Wet Wipes Average Cost: $1 - $5

PROS:

• Easy to transport
• Can be accessed at any time
• Great for personal use
• No water required
• Low cost

CONS:

• Not as effective as water and soap
• Hard to accommodate groups
• Can run out quickly
• Have to find a place to dispose of them

Portable Sinks

One solution that includes water and soap is a portable sink. You often see these deployed at festivals, events or in public spaces like parks and beaches. How they work is that a water tank is enclosed in a plastic shell that has a faucet and often a soap and paper towel dispenser built into it. There is typically a foot pump that, when stepped on, pumps the water up and through the faucet. The water pressure is typically bad and is not warm, but you don’t have to touch anything (besides the soap dispenser).

These are perfect for large group settings - ie. events, public spaces, festivals etc. They hold A TON of water, typically around 15 gallons. The problem is that they are very large and hard to transport, so really, they aren’t a great option for small to medium sized groups like cookouts, camping trips and parties.

 

Portable Sink Average Cost: $400 - $900

PROS

• Provides soap and water
• No-touch water dispensing
• Good for large groups
• Can hold a lot of water
• Intuitive

CONS

• High cost
• Large and difficult to transport
• Not ideal for small to medium sized groups

 

Water Coolers

A more makeshift way to set up a portable hand washing station is to use a water cooler. Igloo in particular sells a five gallon version of their water cooler with an attached soap dispenser as a portable hand washing station. This can work well for small to medium sized groups - for picnics, camping, cookouts, etc. Since it is a relatively small amount of water (usually around 5 gallons) it is also easy to transport. 

The issue mainly is that you have to touch the handle in order to dispense water. If you’re trying to be truly sanitary that’s not optimal (unless you’re using your elbow or something else). You can also waste a lot of water as you turn it off and on.

Water Cooler Average Cost: $20 - $50

PROS

• Provides  water
• Easy to carry
• Good for small to medium sized groups
• Holds a decent amount of water
• Intuitive

CONS

• Have to touch the handle to dispense water
• Can waste water when turning off and on
• Only suitable for small to medium sized groups
• Bad Pressure

Spraying Water Bottles

A lesser-known way of keeping your hands clean on the go is by using a spraying water bottle to spray your hands off. 

The RinseKit SPORT

The RinseKit Sport is a good example of this type of a spraying water bottle. How it works is there’s a cap that screws on a 32 oz. water bottle. It has two straws that reach down into the water and there's a hand pump on top. When you pump the air into the bottle it compresses the air in the bottle. Once it’s fully pressurized, there are two buttons on the cap that release water at two different settings: spray and mist.

When fully pressurized, the spray function of the RinseKit Sport can spray up to four feet with great pressure. If you’re looking to wash your hands at a campsite, you can simply pump it up, set it on a table or surface, press the button and run your hands in front of the spray. It works great and is super easy to set up literally anywhere.