Home > Blog > Is Your Handshake Like Warm Laundry? Or a Damp Fish?

Is Your Handshake Like Warm Laundry? Or a Damp Fish?

With so much public concern about the H1N1 virus and other contagious germs, hand sanitizer dispensers are popping up everywhere! We see them at schools, the grocery store, office buildings, and just about everywhere else we go.

While these alcohol-based gels are an extremely effective way to kill germs and protect our health without breaking stride, they do have one major drawback… clammy hands!

When the alcohol evaporates, it always takes some body heat from your skin along with it. This leaves skin feeling chilled until your circulating blood warms it again. The same thing happens when we wash out hands. A little body heat leaves your skin with the evaporating water.

While this isn’t generally an issue for most people… it can certainly make for an uncomfortable handshake – for both people! How can you radiate warmth and brilliance… if the first impression you give someone is a clammy hand?

Posted by Margaret in Everyday Etiquette and tagged first impressions, hand sanitizers, handshakes.