We know this because more than 400 of those schools have contacted us unsolicited for our Soapopular and Hy5 alcohol-free product—after local school officials concluded that
Alcohol hand sanitizers, while they do kill germs, are a pretty counter-intuitive product.
1. Alcohol destroys protective skin cells
2. Alcohol causes skin to become dry/irritated; increasing risk of exposure to easily-transmitted germs/viruses
3. Alcohol has no efficacy if applied to dirty/soiled hands. This is exactly why companies such as Purell advise “wash hands before applying”
4. If one is to wash hands before applying, then why would you put alcohol into a kids hands thereafter??
5. Alcohol loses its germ killing effectiveness within seconds after applying to the skin.
6. Flammable.
7. Potentially toxic.
8. Cannot be applied to skin that may have cuts/abrasions

The vast majority of non-alcohol hand sanitizer products use the exact same active ingredient that can be found in Bactine antiseptic or J&J’s Bandaid brand Foaming Antiseptic. As such, the efficacy of non-alcohol hand sanitizing products with regard to the broad spectrum of pathogens (including H1N1( is well-documented. And when considering that these products:
1. Provide extended persistency
2. Non-drying/non-irritating
3. Antiseptic
4. Non-flammable
5. Non-toxic

It’s otherwise a pretty simple decision to make when deciding what makes sense to put into our kids hands.

Jay Berkman
MGS Brands, Inc.
d/b/a MGS Soapopular