These are the 15 best hand sanitizers to help keep those germs at bay:

Stock is constantly changing but we’ll keep this updated so you can find the best deals. You can also consider sneeze guards for counters to double up on your protection.

You can’t be too careful when it comes to protecting yourself from germs and with Coronavirus spreading throughout the United States, it’s more important than ever take precautions. Ideally, washing your hands is best, but when you don’t have access to soap and water, you need some hand sanitizer.

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Clean hands keep you healthier

List most illnesses, according to the CDC, it's very possible that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) can be spread through touching a contaminated surface and then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes.

Regularly washing your hands is your first line of defense but it's not always possible to get to a sink when you need it.

Instant hand sanitizers are a godsend for keeping your hands and the hands of your loved ones germ-free.

What is the best hand sanitizer for Coronavirus?

Coronavirus (COVID-19) is likely just like any other virus or bacteria and can be inactivated with the anti-bacterial agents you'd use to prevent the spread of the common cold or flu.

The CDC's page on hand washing recommends a sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol when you aren't able to wash your hands.

Hand sanitizer effectiveness

The ingredients you'll find in most sanitizers are shown to be 99.99 percent effective in lab tests against common germs. Tricky microbes like norovirus and C-diff are the most likely to sneak by and require soap and water to get rid of, but many bacteria and viruses aren't making it out of a sanitizer battle alive.

Particularly for enveloped viruses like this coronavirus, soap and water are always going to be your best bet to break down its protective lipid barrier so reserve hand sanitizer for when you don't have access to soap and water.

If your hands are filthy, like toddler-levels of sticky, hand sanitizer is better than nothing but for it to be as effective as possible, you want to be working with skin that is free of debris.

Keep in mind, it can take between 15 to 30 seconds for the sanitizer to kill germs and is most active when wet. After you've applied your sanitizer of choice, keep rubbing it in until it's completely dry. Wiping your hands off while the gel is still damp will affect how well it works. Also remember than non-alcohol sanitizers may take longer to work.

What is in sanitizer?

You're going to find two major active ingredients in hand sanitizer.

Alcohol is the most popular choice and the one recommended by the CDC. The standard is no less than a 60 percent concentration in order to be 99.99 percent effective against germs.

Pros: it's effective, affordable, you can feel it working, and is recommended by the CDC.

Cons: bad smell, stings if you have cuts, dries out skin, it can cause alcohol poisoning if ingested.

The type of alcohol is important as well. Ethyl alcohol is the most common. The FDA released an advisory on June 19th, 2020 about certain hand sanitizer brands using methanol, also known as wood alcohol, in their sanitizers which is toxic. Needless to say, those brands are not featured in this list.

Benzalkonium chloride and benzethonium chloride are less common but effective anti-bacterial. It's a synthetic chemical that is 99.99 percent effective on illnesses-causing germs and is less harsh on the skin.

There have been a lot of panicky news articles coming out saying that benzalkonium chloride is useless, but it's been shown to inactivate influenza and other viruses as well as be effective against enveloped viruses (the same structure as the virus that causes COVID-19) in lab testing. Benzethonium chloride has also been shown to be effective when battling viruses.

Pros: effective, less of a smell, easier on skin, alcohol-free.

Cons: may cost more, harder to find, not the CDC's top recommendation.

Natural alternatives: Some more natural-centric bands may use a derivative of thyme called thymol which has also been shown to be highly antibacterial, but if you're in a high-risk group, you may just want to bite the bullet and go chemical right now.

Keep in mind: no hand sanitizer can guarantee it's 100 percent effective against the virus that causes COVID-19. It's simply too new of a virus and the data isn't there. The best we can do right now is make note of the CDC's recommendations and go off of what traditionally works on enveloped and other coronaviruses.

Your best course of action, as always, is handwashing with soap and water.

Other hand sanitizer uses

While you're stocking up, remember that alcohol sanitizers that aren't packed with moisturizers are also great for removing Sharpee stains, cleaning hard surfaces, removing glue and hairspray residue, drying out zits, and cleaning your glasses.

Some folks are doing a DIY sanitizer gel with rubbing alcohol and aloe vera gel because supplies are low so if that's the route you're taking make sure you're using a reliable recipe because too weak a concentration won't help and too high can cause burns.

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