A study of the efficacy of antimicrobial detergents for hand washing: using the full-hand touch plates method.

We studied the effects of four kinds of antimicrobial detergents, 4% chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG), chlorbenzarconium (CBC), 10% povidone-iodine (PVI), 0.3% triclosan (TRI), and one non-medicated detergent (NMD) using the full-hand touch plates method. Before and after 3 minutes of hand scrubbing with a brush, bacterial colonies on the hand surface and subungual bacteria were counted. CHG, CBC, and PVI were excellent antimicrobial detergents against hand surface bacteria, but most of the subungual bacteria remained. The subungual space was the most difficult region from which to eradicate bacteria. TRI was much less effective than hand soap against hand surface bacteria.