[b] i hope this will be a great help i got this issue from my book and i think it's interesting so. MODERATORS : if you think this is NON-sense erase this thanks .[/b] [b] yup, they do work but only if there is enough alcohol concentration in them. Sanitation experts say that to be alble to kill germs your sanitizer should contain 60-95% alcohol concentration. So better check the label and make sure you apply the right amount--if your hands are very dry within 10-15mins. , after rubbing and wetting all the sides with the gel or foam, you are not using enough. But given the fact that your hand sanitizer has enough alcohol in it, it is still advisable to wife off or wash your hands with soap and water first before the application. This is because alcohol, Unlike water "does not cut through grime well, so dirt blood ,feces & other body fluids or soil" will still be on your hands unless you rinse them off. you see, there are thousand of bacteria that live on your skin and some of them are resident or natural bacteria, these so called GOOD BACTERIA are the ones that actually protect you from passing bacteria which carry infections & disease. And when you wash or scrub too much often you are stripping away not only the bad bacteria but also the good bacteria that fight off the bad ones . This proves to infections, that too much of something is bad enough indeed . [/b]