You should wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds , and many health organizations recommend a full 40–60‑second procedure for the most thorough clean.

Core recommendation

  • Most public health guidelines (like CDC and major clinics) say to scrub your hands with soap for a minimum of 20 seconds under clean, running water.
  • The World Health Organization’s full step‑by‑step handwash technique is designed to take about 40–60 seconds from wetting to final rinse and dry.

Why the time matters

  • Germs cling to skin oils, nail edges, and between fingers; 20+ seconds of rubbing lets the soap surround and lift them off so water can rinse them away.
  • Studies and guideline summaries show that shorter scrubs (under ~15 seconds) remove significantly fewer microbes than washes in the 20–30+ second range.

Easy timing tricks

  • Hum the full “Happy Birthday” song twice while scrubbing; that’s roughly 20 seconds before you rinse.
  • If you prefer counting, aim for a slow count to 20 while you rub palms, backs of hands, between fingers, and around nails.

Quick step‑by‑step

  1. Wet hands with clean running water.
  2. Apply soap and lather well (palms, backs, between fingers, thumbs, nails, wrists).
  3. Scrub for at least 20 seconds , ideally following the full 40–60 second technique when you can.
  1. Rinse thoroughly under running water.
  2. Dry with a clean towel or air dry.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.