Nikolaj Nyholm

Life hacks: SquidSoap

by  | Comments: 214 September 2006

In the spirit of hacks: How do you make people spend the necessary 20 seconds to properly wash their hands? The way Squidsoap does it.

SquidSoap works by applying a small ink mark on a person's hand when they press the pump to dispense the soap. The ink is designed to wash off after the hands are washed for about 15-20 seconds, which is the time recommended by most doctors.

The point being that "Dirty hands are a leading cause of the spread of infection and food-borne illness. Whether it's due to laziness or lack of education - our failure to wash our hands is costing the U.S. economy billions every year and causing thousands of unnecessary illnesses and deaths."

Unfortunately there's a cracker angle to this -- avoid getting your hand on the soap pump at all.

(via Bruce Schneier)

Comments: 2

Keith Peters [14 September 2006 07:43 AM]

"Unfortunately there's a cracker angle to this -- avoid getting your hand on the soap pump at all."

Yeah, just don't wash your hands. If they really want to force the issue, put an ink dispenser on the door handle, the flush handle, etc. :)

casey [14 September 2006 10:53 AM]

Its probably not a good enforcement tool, but I can see the value in teaching kids how to wash their hands with visual feedback!