Review and Giveaway: Lysol No-Touch Hand Soap System (CLOSED)

As with most families, we tend to go through a lot of hand soap. There’s washing of the hands before and after every meal, plus whenever the bathroom is used and of course, just when hands (or faces) tend to get dirty from playing outside, etc. It’s always been a struggle for me to a) get the kids to actually remember to use soap when they wash their hands – my oldest was the most difficult for this, b) use the right amount of soap – little hands don’t require huge amounts of soap to get clean, and c) actually use the soap to wash their hands with, not play in the sink with – my 4-year-old tends to be the culprit there. This winter especially it’s seemed like I’ve been reminding someone to wash their hands day in and day out – with the concerns of H1N1 and other viruses out there, it’s so important that hand-washing happen often and well. Which is why the new No-Touch Hand Soap System from Lysol is so helpful to have in the bathroom.

What it is:

The new Lysol Healthy Touch No-Touch Hand Soap System is an effective solution to the problem of having to touch germy soap pumps when washing your hands. Since the CDC recommends hand-washing as the best way to avoid spreading germs to others (and getting sick yourself), it’s more important than ever to have ways to make it more fun and effective for everyone in the family. A recent study (data on file with Lysol) showed that soap pumps can harbor hundreds of bacteria that unsuspecting families might be transferring from the pump to their hands while washing. The No-Touch Hand Soap System is automated and removes the need to actually pump the soap yourself. From Lysol:

LYSOL^®, the number one surface disinfectant brand recommended by pediatricians, has expanded its fight against germs into personal care with the introduction of the No-Touch Hand Soap System – a revolutionary way to help keep hands healthy.  For use in the kitchen or bathroom, it helps stop the spread of germs by automatically sensing hands and dispensing antibacterial soap that kills 99.9% of bacteria, including E.coli, MRSA and Strep.

“One of the most useful lessons parents can teach their children from an early age is to practice proper and frequent hand washing,” says Dr. Laura Jana, pediatrician and mother of three.  “Moms are so busy juggling schedules every day that the last thing they want to worry about is whether their children are spreading and collecting germs via their hands, especially during cold and flu season.  Products such as Lysol’s new hand washing system can help make teaching and reinforcing hand hygiene easier for everyone and rewarding for mom.”

Hands may come into contact with millions of germs at home and in the community every day.  Consequently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends hand washing as the number one way to avoid getting sick and prevent the spread of germs to others. Parents should teach their children to wash their hands throughout the day – before eating and after using the bathroom – and the entire family should follow these CDC-recommended steps:

• Wet hands with clean running water and apply soap.  Use warm water if it is available
• Rub hands together to make lather and scrub all surfaces, including underneath the nails and back of the hands
• Continue rubbing hands for 20 seconds, long enough to sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice
• Rinse hands well under running water
• Dry hands using a paper towel or air dryer.  If possible, use a paper towel to turn off the faucet

The system uses a motion sensor to determine when a hand is in position in order to dispense the soap. Soap refills come in three scents – Soothing Cucumber Splash scent, Cleansing Green Tea & Ginger™ scent and Refreshing Grapefruit Essence™ scent, and you can choose from either the Soothing Cucumber Splash or the Cleansing Green Tea & Ginger when purchasing a starter kit.

Courtesy of Lysol and Porter Novelli PR, we received a starter kit of the No-Touch Hand Soap System in the Soothing Cucumber Splash scent to try out and review.

Here’s my our take on it:

Out of the box, the dispenser was easy to load and then I just simply set it next to our bathroom sink. Previously, our soap dispenser had migrated all over the bathroom counter, depending on who was using it and how far she could reach. My youngest daughter would usually have to move it much closer to the end of the counter, just in order to get enough leverage to actually be able to pump soap out. So I would usually move it back afterward. That’s a lot of hands all over it, a lot of times. This one definitely works without having to touch it – at all. When I put it next to the bathroom faucet, even my 4-year-old can reach it easily, so it never needs to be moved – and I’ve been very firm that there’s no reason for anyone to need to touch it at all.

You can see the motion sensor on the bottom of the front part of the dispenser – the soap comes out of the arm that sticks out of the top. There’s something on the bottom that keeps it from sliding – one worry I had was that the dispenser would slide into the sink, but that hasn’t happened in the weeks we’ve been using it. I also was concerned that our cats might accidentally set it off when they jump up on the counter (sigh), but I haven’t seen any evidence in the sink of soap having been dispensed in it. I’m actually very impressed – the motion sensor is sensitive enough that you don’t have to shake your hand in front of it – as you have to do for ones I’ve tried in public restrooms here and there. But I’ve cleaned around and even moved the dispenser without any problems. Just in case, there is a switch in the back to turn it off so that you can move or clean the dispenser (or refill it) without having to worry about soap being accidentally dispensed. We’re still using the original refill that came with it, but I will definitely buy more once we run out – I’m glad that the soap refills are for antibacterial soap, since that’s what I normally buy. There are moisturizers in it too – which is something definitely appreciated, especially in the winter months when my hands usually get really dry.

One thing that I wish you could do is to adjust how much soap comes out. My hands are bigger than my kids’ are – and my husband’s are even bigger than mine. My 4-year-old doesn’t need as much soap to get her hands clean, and I do think that she doesn’t need quite the amount that she gets. But that’s not been too big of a deal, and we don’t seem to be going through this soap any faster than we did the traditional dispensers we were using before – especially since the kids don’t keep pumping and pumping more soap than they truly need either. I’m definitely planning to buy another No-Touch Hand Soap System to put at our kitchen sink too. That’s the sink I generally use, and I seem to be the one who’s gotten sick the most often this year.

The bottom line:

Whether you’re concerned about transferring germs between family members and guests using your sink to wash their hands or just looking for a simple way to effectively dispense a measured amount of soap per use, the Lysol Healthy Touch No-Touch Hand Soap System is a good option to provide antibacterial, moisturizing soap in one of three pleasant scents as even just one more weapon in parents’ arsenal against germs.

Where can you find it?:

LYSOL Healthy Touch No-Touch Hand Soap System Starter Kits are now available at Walmart for a suggested retail price of $9.97 (includes 1-dispenser, 1-8.5 oz. hand soap refill and 4 AA batteries).  Hand soap refills (8.5 oz.) are available at Walmart for a suggested retail price of $3.47.  Starter kits and hand soap refills will also be available at grocery, drug and mass stores nationwide, and can also be purchased online at Amazon (affiliate link).

Would you like to try it?:

I have the opportunity to give away a Lysol Healthy Touch No-Touch Hand Soap System starter kit to a lucky reader. If you’d like to have one of these dispensers to use in your own home to help your family stay healthier this year, here are the rules:

1. Enter by leaving a comment here to let me know where you’d like to put this dispenser in your own home. This is required – please don’t just say anything like ‘choose me’, or your entry will be discarded.
2. The contest will run until Wednesday, March 31st at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be selected through random drawing, contacted by e-mail, listed on this post and also submitted to PRIZEY. US entries only, please.
3. Please leave a valid e-mail address or other way to contact you! If the winner hasn’t responded within 3 days, an alternate winner will be chosen by random drawing.
4. If you’d like extra entries, you can:

• Subscribe to my RSS feed (click on the orange icon in the upper right sidebar) or subscribe via e-mail – leave me a separate comment to let me know.
• Mention this contest on your blog with a link back to this post, and leave a separate comment with the link to your post so I can find it.
• Either Twitter about, ‘Digg’ or ‘Kirtsy’ this post – leave me a separate comment with your username at whichever site(s) you chose (one extra entry per method).
• Become a ‘fan’ of this site on Facebook – there’s a link in the sidebar or you can click here.

So that’s a total of 7 comments/entries if you do all of the extra entry options.

Good luck! 

SORRY, THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED – the random number generator has chosen comment #18 as the winner:

Congratulations to Abby (no blog) who said, “I would put this in my 1st floor bathroom“! I will be e-mailing you shortly to work out the details.

This post courtesy of: Lysol and Porter Novelli PR, who provided the product(s) for both review and giveaway. No payment or compensation, other than product samples as described above, was received for this post. All opinions given here are solely my own or those of my family.