- Washing your hands with soap and water can prevent the spread of viral illnesses like colds and the flu, and it’s the best way to keep bacteria from entering your body.
- Plain soap is fine – according to the FDA, there is no data to prove that antibacterial soaps are more effective than regular soaps.
- Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Hand Soap is our top pick because it’s free of harsh chemicals, lathers well, and the variety of scents smell great.
- This article was reviewed by Tania Mucci-Elliott, MD, who specializes in infectious diseases related to allergy and immunology for internal medicine at NYU Langone Health.
- Due to the new coronavirus, many of these products have been selling out or appearing at prices well above market retail. We’re doing our best to keep this guide updated with in-stock purchase links.
- We advise against the stockpiling of hand soap beyond reason so everyone can get fair access to the supplies they need; see why two experts say that’s more harmful than helpful here.
When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention talk about handwashing, they don’t pull any punches. The CDC website bluntly states that “hand washing saves lives,” calling good hand hygiene “like a do-it-yourself vaccine” against myriad ailments.
Let’s cut to the chase: You know handwashing is important. You need to do it before meals, after using the bathroom, following contact with anyone who might have been ill, and so forth. It’s important to make sure you’re washing your hands the right way.
It’s estimated that 97% of people fail to wash their hands properly. To ensure you’re not one of them, follow this simple protocol recommended by Dr. Elliott: wet, lather, scrub for twenty seconds, rinse, dry. To make sure you hit 20 seconds, many recommend singing a song to hold yourself accountable. There are plenty of popular songs with 20-second choruses to keep this exciting.
Any decent hand soap will kill off most of the germs on your skin. Dr. Elliott confirms that plain soap and water will work just fine. According to the FDA, there isn’t enough science to show that over-the-counter antibacterial soaps are better at preventing illness than plain soap and water.
Here are our picks for the best hand soap:
- Best hand soap overall: Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Hand Soap
- Best hand soap on a budget: Softsoap Variety Pack of Liquid Hand Soap
- Best moisturizing hand soap: Jergens Extra Moisturizing Cherry-Almond Hand Wash
- Best antimicrobial hand soap: Dial Original Gold Antimicrobial Soap
- Best foaming hand soap: Method Foaming Hand Soap
- Best luxury hand soap: Aesop Resurrection Aromatique Hand Wash
Prices and links are current as of 7/15/20. At the time of our update, Dial Gold Liquid Hand Soap was out of stock at all retailers. We decided to leave links in the story in the case that it becomes available.
The best hand soap overall
If you want to avoid harsh chemicals, then a bottle of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Hand Soap is the way to wash.
Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Hand Soap is not actually an organic or even a 100% natural product, but it's made using 98% naturally derived ingredients, and that's pretty darn close. Also, if you want truly clean hands, as in hands that are free of dirt and grime as well as microbes, you really do want to allow a bit of chemical cleaning.
The unique, refreshing scents of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Hand Soaps will invigorate you even as the soap lifts away dirt and kills off germs, and the aloe vera and olive oil used in some of the formulas will leave your fresh-smelling skin hydrated and nourished, too. Those that lack these ingredients can be a bit drying, but not so much that it's a cause for concern.
What you won't find here are parabens, phthalates, artificial colors, or animal testing. Also, the bottle is partially made with recycled plastics, so that's nice, too.
Mrs. Meyer's liquid hand soaps lather up quickly, and the scents left behind are mild but lingering. How do I know all that? Well, you'll hear later in the article about how we use Method in one of our bathrooms. Guess what brand you'll find in another? Yeah, you guessed right: This one.
A product reviewer from TreeHugger loved that Mrs. Meyer's soaps manage to be effective while still being "biodegradable," also noting that they "do not contain ammonia, chlorine or phosphates."
Pros: 98% naturally derived ingredients, great scent, earth-friendly brand
Cons: Can leave skin feeling dry
The best hand soap on a budget
Softsoap Liquid Hand Soap smells good and cleans well, but what really counts here is the low price.
The first thing you'll notice about a bottle of Softsoap Liquid Hand Soap is that it's larger than most other hand soap dispensers. While a common size is 7.5 ounces, these bottles hold 11.25 fluid ounces of soap. Second, you'll notice that when you order a four-pack of these soaps, you pay about $1.50 per unit, a common price for pre-filled soap dispensers. So do the math, and you'll realize that you're effectively getting 15 ounces of soap for free thanks to the large bottle size.
In case that was confusing, let me be clear: This is cheap hand soap. But it's cheap in price only. Softsoap is trusted by families, schools, offices, and other locations all around America not only because of its price but also because it works well. That claim is backed up by dermatologist testing.
As for the aromas, some people find it a bit too intense, but most people love them. I know I do - I've used this stuff countless times.
Pros: Low price, does not leave a residue, trusted brand
Cons: Scent too cloying for some people
The best moisturizing hand soap
Every time you use Jergens Extra Moisturizing Cherry-Almond Hand Wash, your hands will enjoy the cleanliness and moisturizing you get from this soap.
I'm not a huge fan of lotions, to be honest. In fact, I kind of hate the way creams feel on my hands, and I avoid using them as much as possible. But I'm also no fan of dry skin. Thus you can imagine my pleasant surprise when my wife introduced me to Jergens Extra Moisturizing Cherry-Almond Hand Wash. And by "introduced" I mean that's the stuff that happened to be in her bathroom all those years back when we were dating.
This stuff is hand soap first and foremost: It cleans the grease or grime off your hands and kills off germs in the process. But it is infused with Jergens moisturizing lotion and leaves your hands feeling supple and nourished, yet without that vaguely oily, clammy feeling that lotion leaves behind when used on its own.
So whether you hate applying lotion to your hands after washing or if you don't much mind it but would just as soon save time and make cleaning and moisturizing a one-step process, this stuff a great go-to.
Truth be told, I'm not a fan of the scent, but I love the hydrated skin without the need for lotion application.
Pros: Highly moisturizing, gentle cleansing, good price point
Cons: Smell off-putting to some
The best antimicrobial hand soap
Whether you work in a hospital, school, or you want to keep your home reliably germ-free, Dial Original Gold Antimicrobial Soap will eliminate 99.9% of the microbes it contacts during a washing.
If you've spent much time in hospitals, medical clinics, schools, daycare centers, and other areas prone to heavy concentrations of germs, you've probably already washed your hands with Dial Original Gold Antimicrobial Soap hundreds of times. Each time you used it, you killed off millions of potentially dangerous microbes.
Using this time-tested soap to keep your hands clean may just be the single best way to prevent contraction or spreading of bacterial or viral illnesses, short of moving into a clean room for the cold and flu season.
If you associate Dial soap with dry hands, then don't worry: The brand has addressed that. While still the essentially made using the same old germ-killing formula, Dial Original Gold Antimicrobial Soap is now also infused with moisturizers.
For the record, not only will this low-cost soap kill off microbes, but it also cuts through grease, lifts dirt, and cleans out cuts and scrapes. In fact, many tattoo artists will recommend it as the gentle soap you should use while healing.
Pros: Kills 99.9% of germs, light and pleasant scent, very low cost
Cons: Consumer complaints about packaging are common
The best foaming hand soap
One pump of Method Foaming Hand Soap is all you'll need to quickly work up a rich, cleansing lather that will leave your hands refreshed and smelling great.
In my house, we use Method dish soap, we've used Method laundry detergent, and in one of the bathrooms, we use Method Foaming Hand Soap. Why only in one? Because our son loves the smell of some soaps and hates others.
Frankly, I'm not a huge fan of foaming hand soaps - I prefer the good old liquid kind - but I readily admit that a big dollop of foamy soap lathers up quickly, and I certainly like the fresh, crisp scent of this soap.
I also appreciate the fact that Method Foaming Hand Soap is absent of alcohol, aluminum, parabens, and phthalates, and that the formula includes aloe and vitamin E. Also, there's an elegant simplicity to the design of Method hand soap dispensers that looks good there in the bathroom or beside the kitchen sink.
Pros: Lathers up quickly, great scent, handsome and effective dispenser
Cons: Bottle does not last as long as traditional liquid soap
The best luxury hand soap
Using Aesop Resurrection Aromatique Hand Wash leaves hands feeling moisturized and supple but genuinely imparts nutrients into the skin.
Alright, let's address the elephant in the room right away: Aesop Resurrection Aromatique Hand Wash is expensive. It sells for about $39 a bottle, in fact. But one 17-ounce bottle will last a single user for many weeks or even months depending on the frequency of use.
The rich, potent, but never cloying aroma of this soap, a scent blending mandarin orange, rosemary, and cedar, will delight you every time you smell it. As for how your hands will feel after washing with this pricey elixir?
Aesop Resurrection Aromatique Hand Wash is formulated with skin-suppling ingredients that can rejuvenate hands dried out by climate, work, or age, leaving skin feeling better and better the more often it's used. And again, that scent.
A writer with InStyle said Aesop Resurrection Aromatique Hand Wash smells "divine" and "makes your hands soft and smooth."
Pros: Wonderful scent, nourishing formula, handsome bottle design
Cons: Very expensive
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