Handwashing, step by step
The WHO technique, condensed. Soap and water beat gel on visibly dirty hands.
- Wet and latherWarm or cold water both work. Soap is what lifts the grease.
- Palms, then backsPalm to palm, then each palm over the back of the other hand.
- Between the fingersInterlace and rub. This is the most commonly missed area.
- Thumbs and fingertipsRotate each thumb in the opposite palm; scrub fingertips into the palm.
- Rinse and dryDry thoroughly — damp hands transfer microbes more readily.
When it matters most
- Before preparing or eating food
- After the toilet
- After handling raw meat
- After coughing, sneezing or public transport
Alcohol gel works on clean hands and against most viruses, but not against norovirus or C. difficile spores.
Questions about the Handwashing poster
- What’s on the Handwashing poster?
- 5 numbered steps, with a full worked run-through. The WHO technique, condensed. Soap and water beat gel on visibly dirty hands. Wet and lather — Warm or cold water both work. Soap is what lifts the grease.; Palms, then backs — Palm to palm, then each palm over the back of the other hand.; Between the fingers — Interlace and rub. This is the most commonly missed area.; Thumbs and fingertips — Rotate each thumb in the opposite palm; scrub fingertips into…; Rinse and dry — Dry thoroughly — damp hands transfer microbes more readily.. Alcohol gel works on clean hands and against most viruses, but not against norovirus or C. difficile spores.
- Who is the Handwashing poster for?
- Handwashing belongs to the Body & health section rather than to a school year, because health is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning prevention can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Handwashing poster?
- Twenty seconds, covering every surface. Most people miss thumbs and fingertips. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Handwashing belongs on the wall where that health work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Handwashing?
- Air Quality, Antibiotics and Blood Pressure sit alongside Handwashing in the Body & health section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Air QualityAntibioticsBlood Pressure
- Is the Handwashing poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Handwashing downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Body & health section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Handwashing poster print at?
- Handwashing is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Handwashing loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Handwashing on the same wall.
Browse every Body & health poster, or start from the full catalogue.