One of the biggest annoyances about smoking cigarettes is the smell that lingers on you and your clothes, even after washing them multiple times. Hand sanitizer promises to take care of this problem but does it work? Let’s find out.
How cigarette smoke absorbs
Cigarette smoke comprises thousands of chemicals, including over 70 known to cause cancer. These chemicals stick to surfaces like walls, clothing, and skin. When you smoke, the chemicals in cigarette smoke enter your body through your lungs. But they can also be absorbed through your skin.
That’s why your clothes and hair can smell like smoke even if you don’t smoke yourself. And it’s why smokers often have yellow fingers and nails.
It enters through your lungs, then travels from there into the bloodstream. From there, it passes into a network of tiny blood vessels called capillaries that carry oxygen to every cell in your body. In those capillaries, nicotine combines with a protein called albumin (a type of human blood plasma).
It gets deposited on any nearby surface- like lung tissue or parts of the lining around each hair follicle. It stays there for days or weeks after smoking stops because those layers never get replaced during routine cell turnover.
How does hand sanitizer get rid of the cigarette smell?
First, let’s understand how hand sanitizers work. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers work by denaturing the proteins in bacteria, which makes them unable to function.
The alcohol in the hand sanitizer helps break down the oils and chemicals released when you smoke, making them easier to wash away.
In addition, the moisturizing properties of hand sanitizer can help to soothe and protect your skin from the drying effects of smoking.
Methyl alcohol, the main ingredient in most hand sanitizers has a powerful ability to cut through grease and grime. Since cigarettes contain tar, nicotine, and heavy metals. Which are greasy or oily materials that are difficult for some people to wash off their hands, a good quality hand sanitizer can remove these smells.
Does hand sanitizer get rid of the smell?
Among others, hand sanitizer can remove the smell of garlic, onion, and fish. Hand sanitizers work by eliminating odor-causing bacteria from your hands. To eliminate any smells on your hands, the ingredients in the hand sanitizer need to react with your skin’s natural oils and dissolve any odor-causing substances.
Does hand sanitizer kill nicotine?
The reason hand sanitizer can kill nicotine is because of its alcohol content. Alcohol is a known solvent that kills bacteria and viruses like the ones found in tobacco smoke. For hand sanitizer to effectively remove nicotine from your hands, you need to rub it on your hands for about 15 seconds (or until all the skin is covered). It also helps if you use an unscented hand sanitizer with high alcohol content (70% or higher).
How long does cigarette smell last on hands?
Cigarette smell can linger on your hands for up to two hours, even if you can’t smell it yourself. This is because the oils in cigarettes stick to your skin. Hand sanitizer may help to remove the scent, but it depends on the ingredients. If you’re concerned about smells, try washing your hands with soap and water.
How do you use hand sanitizer?
The alcohol content helps to mask any odors or lingering smells from your hands. Alcohol is also not an irritant, which means it won’t make your skin dry. And since most hand sanitizers are water-based, they won’t leave oily residue behind like other products.
Steps to follow are:
- Put some hand sanitizers on your palms and rub them together.
- Put more of the product on one palm than the other (this will allow for less time needed to work with the product)
- Rub both palms over each side of your face, neck, head (and hair if desired),
- Rinse off with warm water;
- Apply hand lotion to moisturize.
Does hand sanitizer work?
Most hand sanitizers contain alcohol, making them so effective at killing germs. However, alcohol can also be pretty good at masking smells. So while hand sanitizer might not remove the cigarette smell from your hands, it will make it less noticeable.
Finally, if all else fails, just stay away from people who smoke, or quit smoking if you are one. So you don’t have to deal with the smoke smell!