In the UK there is a major TV advertising campaign for a hand-washing product.
It's a plastic bottle filled with an antiseptic wash, quite like a few others I suppose, but the Unique Selling Point is that you do not need to touch any part to dispense the liquid.

The claim is that germs gather on the little pump handle that other bottles have and transfer to your hands. This mighty product detects the presence of a hand and automatically dispenses the liquid. (A bit like the taps found in some washrooms.).
But hold on a second: when I wash my hands, I put my left hand under the spout, and press the pump with my right, thus dispensing the liquid onto my left palm.

I then wash both hands in water. So, if any germs had transferred from the pump to my right hand, they would be washed away by the liquid... Unless I've been doing something wrong all these years...

A surgeon once told me that if I washed my hands with any soap for twenty seconds they would be as clean as I would get them if I'd paid extra for one of these so-called antiseptic soaps. I've no idea if he was right or not but I've always wondered if there was a queue of germs waiting to party up to the very last second.

And worst of all, I think of that every bloomin' time I wash my hands for only nineteen seconds!

Sir Hugh Pennington summed up hand washing recently and affirmed any soap will do and don't need very hot water as until it's almost boiling the heat makes no extra difference. The time was also the same and rinsing is vital as well or you leave some of the junk behind. And remember to wash between the fingers as well. So the old fashioned method does the job just as well, I'm sure as the UK's top public health expert he's put fingers on thousands of petri dishes to see the different results and they've all come out the same.

As much as I wash my hands, it's down to a routine.

What bothers me is after I go through the process of sterilization, without paper to dry, and turn off the tap, I recontaminate by touching the handles.

The water less alcohol hand cleaner is incredibly pointless. It claims to kill the majority of germs people come into contact with. My problem with this is people need to be exposed to germs to build/maintain an immune system. By using so many sanitizers, we are lowering our ability to fight infection and creating more powerful germs and bacteria.

That is exactly what I yell at the telly each time I see the automatic soap dispenser advert mentioned in the initial post.

The system of handwashing in our public toilets is probably the best it can get, you put your hands in the space over the basin and some soap is dispensed into your hands for you to rub into your hands, then the water flows so that you can wash them and rinse them off, then hot air blows them dry. No need to touch anything, other than the door to get out which of course some people who haven't washed their hands will have touched. You can't win.

Amen to that! It's not only that problem but it seems that living in a super clean environment leads to the overwhelming epidemic of allergies seen in the community these days. These life threatening allergies are virtually unheard of in communities which aren't as cleanliness conscious as some places in the West. We shouldn't live in a cholera laden sewer but neither should we live in an operating theatre. Bugs are part of the world and it seems they are an essential part of developing our immune system.

The problem that I find with the antibacterial alcohol cleaners is that they do nothing for getting the grime off my hands. Plus, when washing my hands in public restrooms, the water is never hot enough to supposedly kill the germs. The water heaters must be in other parts of the building because it never comes through the taps. And these new faucets only allow a few seconds of water to flow. I get tired of putting my hands under the taps to allow the flow, then when the water stops, having to move away from the taps then putting my hands under them again to get the water started. It never fails that the first tap I go to, nothing comes through, then having to move to the next sink (if there is one) and waving my (now soapy) hands to activate the automatic flow. I like the places that have actual working faucets and soap dispensers in the restrooms, then when leaving, having the antibacterial pumps right outside the room next to the doors.

And there is another problem with public restrooms. Many now only have hot air driers, but fewer driers than basins.
On travelling through an airport recently I noted that the restroom had 12 basins, but only two hot air driers.
Faced with having to wait until a drier becomes free, it's no wonder that any many simply walk out without going anywhere near the basins.

Between the throne and the sink is the door lock handle! You can't get there from there. The wash your hands sinks should be in the stall with you. That way your hands, the door, its handle and its lock could stay clean.

Hot air driers would have to be the silliest invention since the leaf-blower. They simply add another step between washing your hands (as ClaraSue said, in tepid water), and wiping them on your pants. They just do not do what they are designed to do!

Give me an old-fashioned paper towel any day.

Don't worry about the water being hot enough to kill the germs on your hands. If it is hot enough to kill germs then you will also have third degree burns and lose your skin anyway. Your skin is one of the most important barriers that prevents infection. Get a cut or a burn on your skin and that will let bugs in. A good wash with water that's at a comfortable temperature is fine with a little soap to remove any grime is fine.

As much as I despise the hand sanitisers in general they do have a purpose. A friend of mine was on a cruise recently and many people came down with a gastro bug. On a cruise you have to use a hand sanitiser before you enter a restaurant. The thing that probably spread the bug around was the hand rails. Everyone touches the handrails as they go up and down the stairs. So when I go on my next cruise I might take a wee bottle of hand sanitiser to use if I've been handling the stair rails. I don't want to ruin my holiday huddling in my cabin being ill! We also use the sanitisers at work (in a hospital) to quickly clean our hands between patients. They are fabulous for that. Now to teach the doctors.. *sigh*

Our most "modern" public washrooms have motion detectors to start the water flow (sinks AND toilets). There are no taps or buttons to push. And there are plenty of air dryers for everyone. I suppose eventually that most washrooms in "advantaged" countries will eventually catch up.

Personally, being a farm girl who did not have running water or indoor plumbing until the age of 7, I suppose it's amazing I survived until now LOL. Not ALL "germs" are necessarily a "bad" thing (please note that I wash my kitchen counters with bleach and vinegar, alternately - I'm not trying to imply that it's okay to just "let things go" indiscriminately lol). But if you live in a TOTALLY antiseptic world, you will never build any immunities to ANYthing. Also, keep in mind that the "antibacterial" soap people so freely use kills most of the natural organisms that live in whatever river/water system your sink or toilet drains to.

disclaimer, yes Tizzabelle, I totally agree that in hospital/surgery situations all possible precautions MUST be utilised.

There is an interesting study on the evolution of our intestinal bacterial flora
and another on the bacterial colonies to be found in the home. I do believe that some bacterial globalization is good for us and boosts immunity. Having said that, I don't really want to share germs with someone who is a fast food cook no matter how good it may be for me as I have had my fair share of food-poisonings and I hate them. I think sometimes these things go too far and yet sometimes they are good ideas. For folks who are in areas where water isn't avaialable, such as the portable toilet on the sixth golf hole, an alcohol hand wash is a good thing and more hygenic than doing nothing. All in moderation, I think