Radox Hand Gel Sanitizers

I'm a teacher so I'm forever being coughed and sneezed on, or at least touching things that have been touched by hands that have been coughed and sneezed on. At the moment, I'm the one doing most of the coughing and sneezing so - although I could gleefully snigger and yell "payback time" ! - I'm very conscious of trying not to spread my germs around too much. (They'd only come back to me tenfold anyway !) But I can't go running out of the classroom to wash my hands every five minutes, after I've coughed or been coughed on, so hand sanitizers are great. Especially on occasions like parent-teacher evenings when I have to shake about 100 hands a night. That's 100-handfuls of germs for me and 100 people I could pass my germs on to. I don't even want to think about how many different germs are on the door handles to the classrooms !

Having young kids at home, I'm always telling them to wash their hands too. Wash your hands before you eat your snack, before you sit at the dinner table, after playing outside, after blowing your nose, after playing with the dog ... Having watched Juliette wash her hands, I've noticed that speed is of the essence so they're never as thoroughly washed as I would like. Again, hand sanitisers are the ideal solution because kids love them - they're much more fun and funky than boring handwashing with soap and water ! Sophie in particular loves taking them to school (after her start of year lessons on hygiene and swine flu prevention). They're also great to keep in your pocket or handbag if you've got a baby, so that you can have a quick squirt after changing nappies and before feeding.

Since the swine flu outbreak, companies selling hand sanitizers seem to have popped up all over the place ! It's reassuring to see a big, well-known brand like Radox coming in to the market, as I've known their products for years and trust them to make safe, high-quality goods.

The manufacturers say "Radox’s Hand Sanitizer kills 99.9% of all bacteria leaving you reassured that your children are safe from bugs and germs when you're not there". Reassuring as that is, that's what all the hand sanitizer manufacturers say, so what's Radox got to offer that the others haven't ?

Well, personally, what I love about these ones are the gorgeous smells and the fact that they offer three different properties. The blue one is Radox Clean & Protect with thyme and tea tree oil (natural antiseptics), which smells fresh like shower gel and not at all horrible and medicinal as I was expecting. It would be a good one for the men as it smells like aftershave to me ! It is very liquid so I thought my hands were going to stay unpleasantly wet but within a matter of seconds, they were totally dry with no sticky residue at all.

Radox Clean & Moisturise with chamomile and jojoba oil - the white bottle - is slightly thicker and does leave the skin on your hands feeling conditioned. The final variety, the green Radox Clean & Refresh with lime and coriander, is fruity and refreshing. After squeezing a tiny dollop on my hands and rubbing it in, I sniffed them and recoiled - it smelt so astringent that it made my eyes water ! But ten seconds later, the unpleasantly intense smell turns into a much less powerful, zingy shower-gel smell. This might all sound familiar because the Hand Gel variants mirror those in the Radox liquid soap range, using the same fragrance, colours, ingredients and names.

Hand sanitizers are ten a penny these days and the choice is overwhelming but I have to say that I was impressed with the Radox Hand Gels for a number of reasons. Firstly, the fact that they disappear to nothingness, leaving no hint of sticky or greasy residue on your skin. Secondly, they're from a company that has stood the test of time and proved that its products are high quality. Thirdly, the packaging - the bottles are just the right size for slipping into a pocket or handbag and don't leak at all. But the big selling point for me is the lovely fresh and fruity fragrances - even when you're not worried about germs, they're great for neutralising odours that linger on your hands after chopping onions, using bleach or changing a toxic nappy !

star rating : 5/5

RRP : £1.29